Stan V. Smith, Ph.D.

Biography

Stan V. Smith is a Chicago-based forensic economist and the chairman of Smith Economics Group, Ltd. He holds a B.S. in Operations Research from Cornell University (1968), a master's degree with a concentration in economics from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (1972), and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago (1997), with his doctoral thesis titled "Jury Verdicts in Drunken Driving Cases" and support fields in finance and econometrics. Smith developed the underlying methodology for valuing the loss of enjoyment of life as distinct from lost earnings or human-capital value. The 1985 Illinois case Sherrod v. Berry, involving a police shooting of an unarmed man, addressed that valuation approach. He co-authored Economic/Hedonic Damages: A Practice Book with Michael Brookshire (1990), along with subsequent supplements. Before turning to forensic economics full time, Smith worked as a staff economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (1973–74) and at a Chicago bank, was an associate economic analyst at an investment-banking consultancy (1974–77), founded an underwater-artifact recovery company (Seaquest International, 1977–81), and served as a principal/managing director at Ibbotson Associates (1981–85), where he originated the Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation (SBBI) data series later published by Ibbotson/Morningstar/Duff & Phelps. From 1970–73 he was a research assistant to Nobel laureate economist Eugene Fama at the University of Chicago. He taught as an adjunct professor at DePaul University (1990–1994), where he created the nation's first forensic-economics course ("Advanced Remedies"), and has lectured at the University of Chicago. Smith has been a member of the American Economic Association and American Finance Association since 1985, served on the Board of Editors of the Journal of Forensic Economics from 1990 and as a term vice president of the National Association of Forensic Economics (2000–2003), and has been a NAFE member since 1988. He has authored more than 60 articles and book chapters on hedonic damages, loss of enjoyment of life, household-services valuation, credit damages, and jury-verdict analysis, appearing in outlets such as the Journal of Forensic Economics, the Journal of Legal Economics, the ABA Journal, and various state bar publications. He has appeared on CNN's Larry King Live (1989) and as a Fox News (WFLD) contributor (2008–2009), and has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal and National Law Journal. Smith has been retained several thousand times over a 20-plus-year consulting career. Past client relationships include Chicago firms such as Kirkland & Ellis, Jenner & Block, Schiff Hardin, and Wildman Harrold.

Credentials & Certifications

• Ph.D. Economics (University of Chicago)
• Master's degree, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business

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