Wrongful Death

Wrongful Death

In the wake of suffering great loss, pursuing justice and compensation related to a loved one’s death can either be a task that is used as a welcome, productive outlet for a portion of one’s grief or it can serve as an overwhelming, unwelcome, and frustrating challenge. Our team has extensive experience representing the interests of surviving loved ones. As a result, we are intimately familiar with both approaches to exploring one’s legal options in the wake of a wrongful death. We respect both approaches and will do our utmost to manage your legal needs with your state of mind in our minds.

Although you may not feel ready to handle the legal and financial “sides” of your loss, it is important that you not wait to schedule a free consultation with our legal team. Waiting too long can result in a reduction of the number of legal options available to you, a devaluation of the compensation you’re entitled to, and/or unnecessary stress. Ideally, you’ll meet with our team well in advance of when the financial ramifications of your loss will begin to affect your family’s finances. That way, we can pursue compensation on your family’s behalf in ways that prevent you from having to grapple with the full weight of your loved one’s medical bills, funeral costs, lost earnings, etc. No amount of compensation will make up for your loved one’s loss. But if your family can benefit from compensation that you’re rightfully owed, our firm would be honored to help you secure the maximum amount of compensation to which you’re entitled under the circumstances.

Comprehensive Representation for Families of Injury Victims

When pursuing justice on behalf of a departed loved one, you deserve representation that is reputable, knowledgeable, respectful, compassionate, and tenacious. Our comprehensive and client-focused approach to representation of surviving loved ones has earned a reputation for excellence throughout Southern California. We do not, however, take this representation for granted. We treat every new wrongful death case we represent with the same focus, determination, and dedication that allowed our team to earn this reputation in the first place. Please allow us to further explain what you can expect from our approach to representation in a no-risk, confidential, free consultation today.

Wrongful Death Claims – An Introduction

A wrongful death claim is a kind of personal injury claim. This process requires the surviving loved ones (or estate representative) filing the case to answer the same three foundational legal questions as personal injury plaintiffs do when filing claims related to non-fatal injuries. These questions are:

  1. Did the defendant owe the injury victim a duty of care under the law?
  2. Did the defendant breach their duty of care to the injury victim by engaging in reckless, negligent, or intentionally dangerous conduct?
  3. Did the defendant’s breach of care serve as a substantial factor in the cause of the victim’s injuries?

The primary difference between a standard personal injury claim and a wrongful death claim is the inclusion of a final question into this foundational set: Did the victim die as a result of their injuries sustained – in substantial part – due to the defendant’s breach of care?

The wrongful death claims process doesn’t compensate surviving loved ones for the pain and suffering felt by the injury victim. Instead, it seeks to compensate surviving loved ones for the financial losses that they have incurred as a result of their loss. For example, wrongful death damage awards frequently include compensation for funeral costs, lost earnings, loss of companionship, etc. The victim’s pain and suffering, if actionable must be addressed in a survival action.

wrongful death

When Should Eligible Loved Ones File a Survival Action?

Survival actions may be filed when an injury victim suffered pain, while conscious, as a result of their injuries, before they passed away as a result of those injuries. When determining whether a damage award is proper in a survival action case, a jury is tasked with evaluating how long the victim was conscious while suffering, the degree of both consciousness and suffering involved, the severity of physical pain felt by the victim, and whether the victim understood and feared their own impending death.

Know that survival actions and wrongful death actions are filed simultaneously as parts of a broader case. This approach saves surviving family members the time, money, and stress associated with pursuing two separate cases.

Who Is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Case in California?

California law allows both a personal representative of the injury victim’s estate and several qualifying loved ones to file wrongful death actions and survival actions in state civil court. Qualifying loved ones include:


  • A surviving spouse or domestic partner
  • The deceased’s surviving children
  • The “issue” of any of the deceased’s children who have predeceased the injury victim
  • Other qualifying dependents of the injury victim, including eligible minors unrelated to the deceased but who relied on the deceased for a certain degree of financial support
  • The parents and/or legal guardians of deceased minors, as well as other injury victims under specific circumstances

If your relationship to the deceased is not noted above, know that – in rare cases – other loved ones may qualify to file suit. Our firm can clarify whether your relationship meets any of the exceptions to this broad, general rule.

Common Wrongful Death Case Types

Just as there are many reasons why personal injury cases are filed, there are many causes of injury that lead to wrongful death suits. Some of the most common causes of wrongful death in Southern California include:

When Individuals Sustain Fatal Injuries While Working

During your free consultation, please alert our team if your loved one passed away while engaging in work-related activities. If your loved one was eligible for workers’ compensation coverage at the time of their death, you may be eligible to receive workers’ compensation death benefits. Unlike personal injury damage awards, which are generally paid in a lump sum, these benefits are paid in installments over time.

Civil Liability for Criminal Wrongdoing that Leads to Death

If your loved one lost their life as a result of another’s criminal wrongdoing, you may have been led to believe that criminal accountability is the only way that your family can seek justice at this time. On the contrary, your family can file a civil suit for damages regardless of whether a criminal case has been opened in regards to your loss and regardless of whether a prosecutor’s case is ultimately successful or not.

The criminal justice system and the civil justice system are distinct in the U.S. Each employs different rules of evidence, different rules of procedure, and different standards of proof. As a result, it is generally much easier to hold someone accountable for wrongdoing via a personal injury suit than it is via a criminal case. If you grew up in or before the 1990s, you are probably already aware of a famous example that clearly illustrates this dichotomy. Former actor and athlete O.J. Simpson was famously acquitted of all criminal charges related to the murder of his former wife and her friend. However, he was also famously convicted of their wrongful deaths in a civil trial and ordered to pay tens of millions of dollars to their surviving loved ones.

If your loved one died due to another’s criminal negligence, recklessness, or intentionally dangerous conduct, you can file a civil suit regardless of their status within the criminal justice system. Please schedule a free consultation with our team today to learn more.

Why It’s Important to Explore Your Legal Options Now

The costs associated with a loved one’s death can be overwhelming. In addition to the expenses tied to your loved one’s funeral or memorial and burial, you may soon find yourself burdened with medical bills arising from care of their injuries before they died, grappling with the impact of their lost earnings, and reeling from your own loss of productivity now that you’re saddled with grief. It is, therefore, critical to speak with an experienced member of our legal team as soon as you can. Exploring your legal options before these costs weigh down your family’s finances can help to prevent significant stress and monetary challenges down the road.

Additionally, it’s important to speak with an attorney as soon as you can for two purposes related to any legal options available to you that you may ultimately choose to exercise. First, the law only allows you so long to file insurance claims, personal injury lawsuits, and workers’ compensation death benefits claims before you’ll be barred from receiving compensation to which you’re otherwise rightfully entitled. Second, the strength of your case, should you choose to file one, may turn – for better or worse – on the strength of evidence presented by both sides. When you alert us to your situation, we can help to preserve evidence that may lead to a winning case, should you choose to file one.

Exploring your legal options while newly grieving can be overwhelming. Please trust that, given our extensive experience with families just like yours, we are aware of the stress you’re under and we will do everything in our power to make the process of protecting your rights and clarifying your options as stress-free as is possible under the circumstances.

Contact Us Today for a Free Wrongful Death Case Evaluation

If you have recently lost a loved one and you either know or suspect that another’s negligence, recklessness, or intentionally dangerous conduct contributed to your loved one’s cause of death, please schedule a confidential, free, no-risk consultation with our firm’s reputable legal team today. Meeting with a lawyer experienced in wrongful death matters does not commit you to pursue legal action of any kind. Instead, it will allow you to ask questions and to – should you choose – empower us to preserve your legal options until you’re ready to commit to the plan of action that is right for you and your family at this time.

Our firm takes great pride in our extensive experience representing the interests of surviving loved ones of injury victims. Although no amount of compensation can make up for what you have lost, pursuing rightful compensation and justice can grant you and your family peace of mind and the means to navigate the financial consequences of your loved one’s passing. Please allow us the opportunity to clarify your rights and explain your options today in a free consultation setting. We look forward to meeting with you.

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