A wrongful death lawyer represents families who lost a loved one because of someone else’s carelessness or recklessness. They navigate the applicable laws and work with the victim’s loved ones to seek and recover compensation based on the circumstances of their death and the case’s recoverable damages.
When you hire a wrongful death lawyer to handle your case, they will manage all aspects of the legal case so your family is able to focus on more important things, such as grieving and spending time together. Tasks a wrongful death lawyer will handle include:
- Assess the Wrongful Death Case for Free
- Explain Who Is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Case
- Determine Your Case Filing Deadline
- Manage All Communication About the Wrongful Death Case
- Identify the Liable Parties
- Gather Evidence That Proves Liability
- Determine a Value for Your Wrongful Death Case
- Speak to a Member of Our Wrongful Death Team Today
Assess the Wrongful Death Case for Free
Wrongful death attorneys generally provide free initial case consultations for those who lost loved ones in car accidents, premises liability cases, construction accidents, falls, dog bites, and medical malpractice cases, to name a few. This consultation provides an opportunity for the lawyer to assess the case and determine the likely options. It also gives you, as a prospective client, a chance to ask questions.
For a free legal consultation, call 516-932-0400
Explain Who Is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Case
Your attorney will determine who is eligible to file the wrongful death case. Under Estates, Powers & Trusts § 5-4.1, family members cannot “immediately” sue in a wrongful death action. The only way a family member can become legally empowered to commence a lawsuit is if they are also the victim’s personal representative. Only the personal representative—known as the administrator or executor—will represent the decedent’s loved ones. In order for a family member to be appointed, the personal representative of the estate of the departed loved one is to petition the court for such an appointment. This is something that your wrongful death lawyer will oversee to make certain it is done properly and promptly.
Determine Your Case Filing Deadline
The attorney will also determine the timeline for the case. There is a limited time to sue under Estates, Powers & Trusts § 5-4.1. However, the attorney will want to go to work long before this deadline arrives. The sooner they know about a case and begin their investigation, the more time they have to complete case paperwork and gather crucial evidence.
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Manage All Communication About the Wrongful Death Case
When a wrongful death lawyer begins work on a case, one of the first things they do is establish contacts with the involved insurance companies. They manage all communication about the case. This eases the burden on the client, protects the case, and starts the process of presenting the arguments advancing the client’s case in the most compelling way.
Insurance companies sometimes use tactics that could reduce the value of a case. When a lawyer handles all communication, it greatly reduces this risk. For example, the attorney knows how to handle an early, low-ball offer. It might seem like a lot of money to an individual, and the immediacy of the offer can be tempting, but it is almost certainly grossly inadequate to appropriately compensate for the victim’s death.
The attorney typically manages all case updates and takes calls from the client, too. Team members often help with these tasks, but much of the direct communication should come from the lawyer.
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Identify the Liable Parties
A key step in building and handling a wrongful death case is determining what happened and identifying the liable party or parties. Like personal injury cases, most wrongful deaths happen because of another party’s careless or reckless actions. Generally, the lawyer must identify that party and gather evidence to show their negligence.
With strong evidence, they will hold the negligent party liable. This occurs either through negotiating an appropriate settlement from the insurance company or taking the case to trial and receiving a verdict and payout.
Gather Evidence That Proves Liability
The evidence necessary to hold a negligent party liable and recover compensation differs from case to case. The attorney must satisfy the four elements of negligence and compile evidence.
It is not enough to accuse the potentially liable party of being careless and causing the victim’s death. To show negligence occurred, the following four elements must be proven:
- Duty of care
- Breach of duty
- Causation
- Damages
For example, a property owner owes guests a duty of care to prevent unreasonable hazards. If they had a broken deck railing but did not repair it, this breach of duty could cause a serious or fatal injury when the rail gave way.
To document these four elements, the attorney and their team conduct an investigation and gather evidence. This evidence varies based on the circumstances of the case. Some evidence available could include:
- A report filed by responding police officers or other first responders
- Video of the incident
- Photos of the scene at the time of the injury
- A scene survey
- Physical evidence
- Eyewitness statements
- Accident reconstruction
- Relevant medical records
- Expert witnesses, including medical experts and economists
With this evidence, the lawyer compiles a compelling case to present to the insurance company to support the claim. Alternatively, it might become evidence at a civil trial where the judge or jury will evaluate the case and determine the appropriate compensation, if any.
Determine a Value for Your Wrongful Death Case
Many wrongful death cases end with a negotiated settlement with an insurance company. Before an attorney will negotiate and attempt an appropriate agreement, they must determine a settlement range for the case. This requires gathering documentation of the expenses and losses and assigning a value to the non-economic damages.
In general, the following types of damages are recoverable in many wrongful death cases:
- Funeral costs and burial expenses
- The victim’s final medical treatment and care expenses
- Loss of the decedent’s financial support
- The support and services the victim previously provided
- Any conscious pain and suffering the victim endured
Speak to a Member of Our Wrongful Death Team Today
Friedman & Simon, L.L.P. provides free initial consultations for those who lost loved ones in negligence accidents. If someone else’s carelessness or recklessness caused your family member’s death, we will assess your options and determine how we would handle your case. We even have multilingual staff that will assist you in Spanish, Greek, Bengali, Tamil, and Kannada if you are more comfortable discussing your case in another language.
Call us today for your free case consultation.
Call or text 516-932-0400 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form
