The unexpected death of someone in a family brings a complete disaster to the rest of the family. Besides the mental trauma of losing a family member, they also face social and financial issues. In most cases, the loss results in long-term trauma.
If the death is caused by someone else’s wrongdoing or negligence, the law has several measures to help the family members. Through a wrongful death claim, anyone can seek compensation for the loss and punishment of the in-fault person or party.
To help you in such cases, wrongful death lawyers are there if you don’t have any experience with it.
Who are Wrongful Death Lawyers?
Wrongful death lawyers, also known as wrongful termination lawyers, are the lawyers who help the family member of a person who has been deceased because of the wrongful works of someone else to file a lawsuit and proceed further. They have experience in this field.
What Kind of Lawyers Handle Wrongful Death Cases?
According to law, wrongful death claim lawsuits can be handled by any kind of attorney. Anyone with permission to handle cases in court can work on wrongful death cases. So you won’t have to face any issues while choosing someone to handle such a case.
However, to ensure the maximum possibility of winning the case, you have to pick someone expert in handling such cases. I’ll discuss the process of hiring one a bit later. Before that, let’s see how a wrongful death lawyer can help you to win the case.
What does a Wrongful Termination Lawyer Do?
A wrongful death attorney or lawyer helps you with your case in many ways. Check what they can do for you.
Investigate the Death: When you hire someone to handle the case, they can investigate the death properly to be sure about the fault of the accused party. Without proper proof, nothing can be claimed in court.
The investigation helps them to find out the exact guilty person for the death and the proof behind the claim.
Collecting the Evidence: Collecting evidence is a must if you want to win the case. But you may not be able to do that.
In the case of an accident, talking to the witnesses, collecting CCTV footage, etc., are important. If it is a workplace accident, collecting useful information about the employer, talking to others, checking video footage, etc., are important.
Your lawyer does all these and collects evidence while investigating the death.
Strengthen the Claim: Besides determining the right person in-fault, the attorney or lawyer helps you to strengthen the case by picking the right person to place the lawsuit (as not anyone can file a wrongful death lawsuit), the right way to do this, and many more.
Explain Your Legal Rights: You have some legal rights as a family member of a wrongful death victim. The lawyer or attorney explains your legal rights. Besides, they can help you with an idea of the possible result of the lawsuit.
Determine the Amount of Compensation: The compensation area for wrongful death claims is wide and different from other cases. In such cases, the attorney or lawyer helps you to determine the areas and the exact amount you should ask for as compensation.
Represent You in Court: A wrongful death attorney can represent you in court. Lawyers can’t do this as they need to go through a process to be able to represent someone in court.
In most cases, a family member doesn’t know how to file a lawsuit or present the claim. An attorney does this for you.
Handling Out-of-the-Court Settlements: In many cases, the person in-fault for wrongful death or their representative communicates with you to settle it outside the court. Their aim is to settle it, spending as less money as possible.
Facing them needs strong negotiation skills. In a broken mental situation, you won’t have the ability to negotiate with their lawyer. Your lawyer can talk to them and handle the settlement.
When to Hire a Lawyer for Wrongful Death?
As per the law of your state, you may handle a wrongful death case of your family member on your own. However, it is recommended to hire an attorney or lawyer to support you as soon as possible. You already know how they can help you in each step of the process.
If you start working on the case alone, determining that you’ll handle it, you might face several issues like the complexity of the situation, tough process, not knowing a lot of things, etc. In such cases, you should hire a lawyer or attorney to aid you throughout the procedure.
Even if you file the lawsuit by yourself, hiring an attorney to present your case in court is recommended because they know how to do it—experience matters.
Process to Find the Best Wrongful Death Lawyer?
To help you in such cases, you’ll find a lot of lawyers around you. But you need to pick the best one if you want to win. The process stated here can help you with it.
Step 1- Search for Good Wrongful Death Lawyers
First, you need to look for good lawyers in this field. A common way of searching for a good one is by asking people around you. Ask your friends, family, and neighbors to recommend someone experienced with handling such cases.Â
Also, try searching for good lawyers around you using search engines. There you’ll find several recommendations.
Go to the local bar community and look for someone to help you in the case. This is another good way.
Make a list of the attorneys or lawyers you have been suggested in these three ways.
Step 2- Evaluate the Options
After you have a list of good wrongful termination lawyers in your area, it’s time to evaluate the options to find the best one.
You can check their websites as a part of the evaluation. You’ll get updates about their recent cases, work history, experience, etc. Also, you’ll find some reviews from clients there.
But in case of review, you should check in an authentic review site. Several sites are there to rate and review services, maybe specifically legal ones. Check those sites to get a better image.
Also, check the reviews of people around you.
Step 3- Communicate with Them Directly
In the previous step, eliminate most from the list. Keep only 5-6 best options. Then communicate with them directly over the phone. Ask about your case, their experience, and their charge. In this phase, most of them would offer a free consultation. Try to pick this opportunity to meet them face-to-face.
In this communication, focus on their offers and communication skill.
Step 4- Pick the Best One
After communicating with all of them, it’s time to select one.
In this step, select someone based on experience, ability to invest enough time in your case, communication skills, and your comfort. If you’re not comfortable with the attorney, you can’t express exactly what’s happening and what happened.
I guess this process will help you to find the best wrongful termination lawyer around you.
What is the Cost of a Wrongful Death Attorney?
To get the best lawyer for such an accident, you need to spend a lot for sure. Don’t worry, as you don’t need to start selling your property for that.
Most attorneys or lawyers out there follow a contingency payment process to receive fees. The process is very simple- if you win compensation, send them a percentage as a fee. If you lose, you don’t have to pay anything.
Yes, this much flexibility is available for you.
The best part of this plan is that you don’t have to worry about money immediately. Work with the lawyer on the case in a clear head. If you win, pay the fees when you receive the compensation.
Also, lawyers who follow such plans are often sure about winning the case. If they don’t win, they won’t get the fee. That’s why they don’t want to spend time on a case where the winning possibility is low.
Typically, the contingency fee a lawyer claims for such a lawsuit is around 30%-40% of the total compensation amount. You’ll find someone rarely who asks more than 40% or less than 30%.
The fee depends on several things, including the case’s features, the lawyer’s experience, the time needed to spend on it, etc.
You’ll find some lawyers asking for a fixed fee, payable after winning the case. If you have such flexibility, you can hire them too. But if you need to spend before starting the case, I suggest avoiding them.
Other Costs Regarding the Case
Besides the cost of an attorney, you need to spend a sum of bucks in several other fields of the case. For example- while filing the case, you have to pay a court fee. Also, collecting the papers regarding the case would cost you some bucks.
If you need an expert opinion on any part of the case, you have to pay for the opinion and time they spend on it, including the time they travel to and from and stay in court.
These are the most common costs regarding filing a lawsuit. An expert lawyer can give you a better idea about it.
Compensation Areas for Wrongful Death
Exactly how much you’ll receive from a wrongful death claim can’t be specifically told as it depends on several economic and non-economic factors related to the death. Let’s discuss the factors and fields that impact compensation for wrongful death.
Economic Factors
- The amount spent on medical bills when the person was alive after the accident
- The money spent on the funeral
- The amount the deceased person would contribute to the well-being of the family members
- Contribution of the victim to family member’s insurance plan or pension plan
Non-economic Factors
- Pain and sufferings
- Loss of consortium, companionship, and advice
- Loss of security and marital care
Non-economic factors are not measured by money. So, the compensation is typically fixed by the court.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Depending on the state, the right to file a wrongful death case varies. In some states, only the first relatives can do that. In some states, the restriction is slightly wider. Let’s see who can file a wrongful death case.
Spouse: The spouse of the deceased person has the first right to claim compensation for wrongful termination. It is applicable in every state.
Children: After the spouse, children have the right to file a wrongful death claim. However, in some states, the law is strict about it. A child can do that only if the spouse of the deceased person is unable to file a lawsuit. In other states, if the spouse is unwilling, a child still has the right.
Siblings and Parents: In the case of siblings and parents, the right is not allowed in most states. They can’t file a wrongful death claim. In other states, they can file a wrongful death claim under several limitations.
Estate Representative: In some states where the deceased person’s relatives can’t file a lawsuit for wrongful termination, the legal estate representative has the right to do that. Still, several restrictions are there.
Most Common Types of Wrongful Deaths
Wrongful deaths may take place in different ways. But some common cases happen more frequently than others. Below are the most common reasons for wrongful death.
Car Accidents: Car accidents include crashes between two or more cars or vehicles and accidents when cars run over pedestrians or cyclists. Over 30,000 people die in car crashes every year in the US. The most common reason behind such an accident is a drunk or drugged driver.
It also happens frequently because of over-speeding, driving recklessly, violating a traffic law, or distraction of the driver.
Truck Accidents: Around 15-20 types of trucks are seen on the roads of the US every day. So, the frequency of truck accidents is very high. As trucks are huge, the result of most truck accidents is at least one death.
Handing commercial trucks is tough. Drivers need to be extremely focused while driving. But because of drinks, drugs, or distractions, they often drive carelessly, and accidents happen.
Medical Malpractice: This refers to wrong or partially wrong treatment or care of a doctor or medical caregiver. Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, wrong surgery, wrong medicine, etc., are the most common types of medical malpractice. The case of leaving a tool inside the patient during surgery is also common.
Such actions often cause death, especially when the patient is already in a critical situation.
Medical malpractice happens because of stress, distraction, or negligence of the doctor or caregiver.
Workplace Accidents: If the workplace has heavy machines operating, the people related to it should be careful. Workplace accidents happen because of technical issues in a machine, not using safety equipment, careless roaming around the machines, etc.
It can happen because of the carelessness of the authority too. Improper training of the workers, inability to provide proper safety equipment, not fixing damaged machines, etc., are some other common reasons for workplace accidents.
Product Issues: If a product causes the death of a person, the manufacturer can be sued. A fault in the product is the common reason behind it. For example- an electronic device explosion because of a manufacturing fault can kill someone. Also, if a medicine becomes contaminated in production, it can cause wrongful death.
Under-developed manufacturing processes, wrong machines, violating standard rules, under-tested products, etc., are some of the reasons behind product issues.
Intentional: An intentional act of killing someone is another common reason behind wrongful deaths. It happens because of seeking revenge, mental illness, etc.
No matter the reason, you can sue the person who has killed your family member.
Visit Us More To Know Bout How Can a Truck Accident Lawyer Help?
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can I claim compensation for wrongful termination even if the deceased person has some fault in the accident?
Well, it varies. Even if the person deceased has a fault in the incident, you can receive compensation for the wrongful death. This is measured by the degree of fault of the deceased person. If it only partially impacts the occurrence, the court will approve partial compensation.
For example- if the deceased person has 25% fault in the accident and the total compensation claimed is $100,000, you’ll receive $75,000 after deducting the 25% from the overall compensation.
It depends on the law and court. Talking to the lawyer directly about it would be better.
How long does it take to settle a wrongful death case?
There is no specific set time within which you’ll get the result of your claim. It depends on a lot of issues. In the best case, you can settle the thing within a few months. If it is the worst case, you won’t get things settled.
The average time to complete such a case is around 12 months.
What is the statute of limitations for such cases?
It differs from state to state. The typical statute of limitations for a wrongful death lawsuit is two years. However, it is extended to three or four years in some states.
Some states have special rules about the statute of limitations if the person filing the wrongful death claim is a minor or someone with a mental illness.
If the deceased person didn’t have a job, can I get compensation?
Yes, you can get the compensation. But in such a case, the loss of future income part should be removed from the compensation claim. However, in some states, if the person was searching for a job, the court may consider the previous work history and allow some amount as a loss of future income.
Do I need an attorney in wrongful death claims?
If you want, you can claim compensation for wrongful death by yourself. However, hiring an attorney is always recommended to increase the possibility of winning. You already know that they can do things that are tough for you.
If you try to do it alone, you may waste a lot of time. Also, after losing someone close to you, your mental state won’t be stable to handle the processes and investigate others. Having a lawyer means you have a supportive person with experience handling these situations.