If you believe someone is at fault for your loved one’s death, either through the deliberate actions or negligence of an individual, organization or company, or through a faulty product or service, you may be considering filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Although your grief over your loss may seem overwhelming, it is important to act quickly to determine your state’s statute of limitations on wrongful death personal injury lawsuits. A wrongful death attorney can provide you with valuable assistance.

Statute of Limitations on Wrongful Death Lawsuits
The time limit from the date of the injury to the final date by which a lawsuit must be filed is called the statute of limitations. Regardless of how much evidence you have or how egregious the responsible party’s actions were in causing your loved one’s death, if you do not file within your state’s statute of limitations, you may lose your right to file. Some states permit as little as one year for the statute of limitations on wrongful death cases, while some allow as much as three years.

So, if your spouse was injured and killed in a traffic accident caused by faulty break pads that prevented the car from stopping, you may have as little as one year from the date of the fatal accident to file your wrongful death lawsuit.

Complications in Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Keep in mind that wrongful death lawsuits can be among the most complicated and legally challenging of all personal injury lawsuits.

• Consider a situation in which the accident referenced above seriously injured your spouse but did not result in immediate death; you could file a lawsuit seeking a personal injury settlement. But, in this same situation, imagine that you do not file for a personal injury settlement in the eighteen months before your spouse dies from the injuries sustained in the accident. If your state only allows for a one-year statute of limitations on personal injury cases, you may have forfeited your right to file a wrongful death case. The personal injury statute of limitations would have run out before your spouse’s death occurred.
• In the same accident scenario, if the brake pads were not faulty, but it turned out that the brakes were deliberately tampered with by an individual, you could bring a wrongful death suit against that person. But if the tampering evidence is not discovered until eighteen months after the accident, it is possible that your state’s statute of limitations may start on the day that tampering evidence is discovered. This is often called the “discovery” rule.
• Wrongful death cases can be further complicated by jurisdictional issues. If your loved one lived in Texas, but died in a skiing accident in Colorado while wearing faulty skis manufactured by a company based in Wisconsin, which state’s wrongful death laws would apply to your situation? In which state would you file your suit?

Seek Assistance from a Wrongful Death Attorney
Due to the complications noted above in wrongful death law, as well as the emotional, mental and financial toll that losing a loved one can take, consider immediately contacting a Wrongful Death Lawyer in your area. Your state’s State Bar Association website can provide you with a list of attorneys in your area licensed to practice Personal Injury and Wrongful Death law.

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If you are injured and believe someone else is to blame, your first step should be to find the best possible personal injury attorney to represent your needs. Start by finding an attorney who is licensed to practice Personal Injury Law in your state. A quick Internet search will direct you to your state’s Bar Association, which licenses and monitors all attorneys. In most states a lawyer can receive accreditation as a “Personal Injury Lawyer,” so start by downloading a list of those attorneys in your area. Some attorneys may note specialties such as “Brain Injury Law,” for example. This may not refer to a State Bar licensing but ratheran area of experience or interest.

Many people choose an attorney based on who has the funniest commercials or biggest billboards. Abundant advertising is not a guarantee of competent legal services and attention to your needs, just proof of a large advertising budget.

Once you have a list from your State Bar’s website of attorneys in your area that are licensed to practice Personal Injury Law, you may be overwhelmed. Typically, large cities have plenty of personal injury attorneys. Start narrowing down the list by contacting firms who can meet with you in person for a free initial consultation within the next few weeks. If an attorney wants to charge a fee to hear your story, consider contacting someone else. If you’re injured, you probably cannot afford to wait two months for an initial consultation.

Seek recommendations for a personal injury lawyer from personal friends or family members. Consider the source of the feedback, though. If your uncle didn’t like his attorney, how meaningful is that if your uncle never likes anyone?

Next, review the attorneys’ websites. Pay particular attention to attorneys’ biographical information. Did they attend a well-respected law school? How long have they been practicing Personal Injury Law? Try internet searches to find comments from past clients about the attorneys, although keep these in perspective: one irate client may not tell the whole story as he rants on and on in a social media posting, while ten satisfied clients of the same attorney may never think to post their praise online. If nothing else, comments from people you don’t know about an attorney can help you with specific questions to ask during your initial consultation.

Once you narrow your list down to five or less attorneys, schedule your consultation appointments. Be prepared for these interviews. Write down in advance questions you want to ask; take notes during the interview on the attorney’s responses. If you take any documents with you, like doctor’s reports or photos of the accident scene, be sure to leave your originals at home and take only copies. Questions to ask your personal injury attorney can include:

• What types of cases has the attorney previously handled (wrongful death, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, food safety violations, etc.)?
• How many cases has this attorney represented?
• What were the case outcomes?
• What was the compensation amounts for similar personal injury cases?
• Who would work with you, the attorney in your interview or someone else in the firm?
• How many paralegals will work on your case?
• What is the attorney’s fee?
• Did the attorney seem to value you and your time?

Try to meet anyone in the firm that would be part of the legal team representing you and tour the office. It is also important to  ask for references from past clients.

Once your interviews are complete, make a list of “pros and cons” for each lawyer. Be sure to note whether you liked the attorney and whether they seemed trustworthy. You will potentially spend a good team of time with your personal injury attorney, and you need to feel comfortable with this person. After making the right preparations and asking the right questions, you can select your personal injury attorney with confidence.

In wrongful death lawsuits, you have three types of damages: economic, non-economic, and punitive. Each vary from state to state, mainly in terms of what kind of compensation you can get and who you can get it from. The first step in any wrongful death case is to hire a lawyer, one experienced in wrongful death claims in your state. Since state laws can differ, you want a lawyer close to you.

How much can you get?
This is perhaps the big question you have, and a tough one to ask. Be clear here, because if you feel this person or entity needs to be punished and that your family needs to be protected, you deserve high compensation. Wrongful death claims vary in scope and size: just as no two deaths are exactly alike no two cases will be alike. Once you understand the full scope of how much the death of a loved one has hit you both economically and emotionally, and once you can see how at fault the person is, your lawyer can come up with a number.

What are economic damages wrongful death lawsuits?
Say for example your wife has surgery in a hospital and mistakes are made. She passes away, and the hospital and its staff are clearly responsible. You and your wife both worked, you have several kids, and you have a mortgage. It’s more than understandable for economic damages to come to protect you and your family. This would be the expected earnings your spouse would have, any loss of benefits, any medical and funeral expenses, and much more. In other words, how much the death has cost you for the future is how economic damages are calculated.

What are non-economic damages?
You may think non-economic damages would be less. You cannot put a price on grief for a loved one who was robbed of life. That’s why non-economic damages, such as damages you suffer mentally and emotionally, can be even higher than the economic damages. It’s hard to put a price on it, and state laws are designed to help those who suffer the loss of loved one through wrongful death.

What are punitive damages?
Finally, punitive damages are your clear right to punish those responsible. Using our previous example of the hospital mistake, if the mistake would not have been made by a competent doctor or nurse, you can punish the hospital further. Punitive charges the defendant with making a clear mistake; it happens quite often in DUI (driving under the influence) deaths.

Who can help?
You really can’t know how large the damages will be until you consult with your lawyer. It’s quite likely you will be getting offers for settlements before even going to trial, as is common in personal injury law. In any case, an experienced wrongful death lawyer is your right hand in punishing those responsible for a loved one’s death and the pain and suffering it caused.

Where a loved one has died, compensation is the last thing on your mind. This is natural. However, before you make any key decisions, especially if you believe a person, company, or government entity is at fault, you should be aware of your rights and how the laws work. Your best choice is to hire an experienced personal injury lawyer who can help you with the legal end while you focus on getting through it. It would be nearly impossible to do this yourself, mainly because the laws involving fault and wrongful death can be complex from state to state.

This blog guide will help you make some decisions when it comes to wrongful death. First, let’s go into more detail on hiring legal representation.

Why a lawyer?
A personal injury lawyer may seem to be the wrong kind of person you need. They want your money, right? Actually, an experienced personal injury lawyer helps protect you and your family’s rights, and also ensures the parties at fault pay. Legally, the best thing you can do is sue the persons responsible for causing you and your family such pain and suffering. But how do you hire a personal injury lawyer? How can you tell the difference between the ones who care and don’t?

Hiring a personal injury lawyer is first about focusing locally. You want a lawyer who knows the state laws, so if the wrongful death occurred in California, you would want a California personal injury lawyer, obviously one close to you. The next step is to go over court room experience, how well you communicate with this lawyer, and how available they are. Price is an issue too, but a subjective one: they’ll get money from the settlement, which can sometimes be quite large.

A lawyer is valuable because he or she can help decide this case for you, and explain your options.

Can you sue?
One question you may ask your personal injury lawyer is if you are allowed to sue on behalf of the deceased. This can be complex, and a lawyer can best answer your questions. Obviously a spouse or child can sue; these are the most common. State laws can differ after that, as sometimes distant family such as brothers, sisters, or grandparents can sue. Some states even allow anyone economically effected by the death to sue.

Who can you sue?
The persons, companies, or government agencies can be sued. This all depends on fault and state laws. One common suit is against hospitals, where medical negligence can lead to neglect. The point is that someone competent would not have made the same mistake. If a surgery was botched, there are many who can be sued. If you are hit by a drunk truck driver, as another example, you may be able to sue both the driver and the company who owns the truck as both can be at fault.

How much can you get?
There is much more to go over, and we’ll be highlighting key wrongful death issues this week on Personal Injury Blog. One important point you should know is that wrongful death suits, perhaps not surprisingly, can be bring you and your family damages. These damages certainly won’t make up for what happened, but they are to both protect your families financial future and to punish those responsible.

This post shows you what  a wrongful death claim is, who can file, how to hire an attorney, and what to expect in terms of compensation.

What is a wrongful death claim?
Wrongful death occurs when someone dies because of another  person or entity. By entity, we mean a company or organization. Perhaps  the hospital your husband was staying at made key mistakes which cost him his life … or your car had a fault in it leading to a tragic accident … or another person is at fault for a death because of drinking and driving. There are many cases where a wrongful death claim  can be made beyond those too.

So you understand the basics, that wrongful death occurs when a loved one is killed because of the actions of someone else.

Every state in the country has some kind of wrongful death laws, though they are different. It’s wise to seek professional counsel if you’re certain you have a wrongful death claim;if you’re not sure, an experienced lawyer can help.

Who can sue?
Who is allowed  to file for wrongful death? Most common is family filing for it. A claim will be filed by a representative on behalf of the family. Most common is immediate family, but also life partners, financial dependents,and putative spouses. All states allow for  immediate family, such as a son or husband, to file. Some states also allow life partners to file a claim. The laws can be different from state to state. Also, if you are dependent on someone for your income or to take care of you, some states allow for a wrongful death claim. In any case, you’ll be working with a representative who will serve you as a party of interest. A representative is usually the executor of the estate for the person who died.

Who can be sued?
There are many options for wrongful death claims. For example, if you’re husband was killed in an automobile accident, perhaps the other driver had been drinking or made a serous mistake, you can prove fault with the driver.  You might also sue the employer at fault for an automobile accident, such as a semi-truck driver’s employer. Or if a car had a a defect, you can quite often sue the car manufacturer if it cost  a life. In some instances, you may also sue hospitals for wrongful death. Car accidents are very common, but they are not the only claims allowed.

How will they pay?
Certainly, there are emotional and economic damages involved in a wrongful death claim. While it may seem insensitive to go over the value of a person who didn’t need to die, it’s right  to do so. The people who hurt you must pay for what they’ve done. In wrongful death claims, there are economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. You could have a right to lose wages, hospital bills and more. For non-economic, you may feel the need for psychological help because of grief, and these can be covered. Punitive damages occur when the mistake clearly didn’t need to happen, when it was a very grievous error.

The actual amounts  of wrongful death claims can vary. It’s wise to hire an experienced attorney to fight your case. Not only will your attorney fees be covered in the final settlement, but you’ll also have someone who can increase the final settlement and punishment.