Editors' Note

Abstract

Jim Rodgers was a founding member, a former Vice President, President, and Executive Director of the National Association of Forensic Economics. Jim was also a recipient of the NAFE Past Presidents Award.Jim was a friend and supporter of the Journal of Forensic Economics. He was a member of the JFE Board of Editors and, along with Bob Male, was one of the original editors of papers that make up the JFE state paper series.In this issue, to honor Jim's memory, we are reprinting his 2002 paper on “Valuing Losses of Pension Benefits” In our opinion, this paper, along with his 2000 paper on “Estimating the Loss of Social Security Benefits,” is among the most important contributions that Jim made to forensic economic practice. In the paper reprinted here, Jim provides a typology of different types of retirement plans. He explains when it is appropriate and when it is not appropriate to use a simple percentage-of-earnings approach to estimate the value of lost pensions in personal injury, wrongful death, and employment termination litigation.Jim's paper on estimating the loss of Social Security benefits argues that the employer contribution to Social Security valued at either 6.2% or 7.65% of earnings is just plain wrong. Jim maintains that there is a weak connection between the percent of earnings contributed by employers and the actual value of the Social Security benefits received by workers. Because of this weak connection, Jim argues that damages experts should either ignore Social Security benefits or compute the present value of reduced Social Security benefits directly. On a more personal note, Steve Shapiro recalls one of his last telephone conversations with Jim. He complained about a damages report, which valued lost Social Security benefits at a fixed 6.2% of wages. Jim expressed frustration at forensic economists who did not want to read the body of relevant literature and instead took unwarranted shortcuts when preparing reports.In our next issue of the JFE, we anticipate including papers by Jack Ward and Steve Shapiro that they will be presenting at a special NAFE Session to honor Jim at the January 2023 Allied Social Sciences Associations Meeting in New Orleans.We remember Jim for his keen intellect, his ability to identify core issues in forensic economics problems, his affable sense of humor, his engaging Texas drawl, and his knack for making people feel welcome and at ease. He is missed.