About Wrongful Death Lawsuits
A wrongful death lawsuit is a type of legal action that seeks damages for a death resulting from the careless or intentionally harmful actions of another. Typically, a wrongful death lawsuit pairs with a separate but related lawsuit called a survival action which seeks damages for the harm suffered by the deceased person prior to death.
Every state has its own laws that govern who may file a wrongful death lawsuit and what kinds of damages parties can recover. At a minimum, through a wrongful death lawsuit the surviving spouse, family members, or estate representatives of the deceased can typically obtain compensation for expenses related to the death and for the harm incurred from the loss of the deceased person’s income and role in a marriage or family.
Common Types and Causes of Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Below are the scenarios which constitute ten of the most common types and causes of wrongful death lawsuits in the country.
Wrongful Death Car Accidents
Severe car accident injuries such as brain trauma and internal organ damage can lead to death immediately following a collision or some time after. Multiple parties may face wrongful death liability to the families of victims of these accidents, including:
- The careless and reckless drivers involved in car accidents
- The automotive manufacturers whose defective product(s) caused catastrophic mechanical failures which lead to fatal accidents
- Government entities whose poor design, construction, and maintenance of roads lead to deadly car accidents
Learn more about the types and causes of car accidents and their lawsuits here.
Truck Accident Wrongful Death
Large trucks can cause widespread destruction when they collide with smaller vehicles and road structures. In an impact, the disparity in the size and weight of a truck versus a car can result in serious injuries and fatalities to the car’s occupants. Parties with liability for fatal truck accidents may include:
- Fatigued or reckless truck drivers
- The trucking company that hires the drivers
- The cargo owners or loaders
- The truck owner or the company responsible for keeping the truck in safe operating condition
Wrongful Death Motorcycle Accidents
Motorcyclists face constant hazards on roads, from inattentive drivers who fail to spot a motorcyclist before turning left into its path, to driving in large truck blind spots, to uneven road surfaces created by construction projects. Collisions throw motorcyclists from their rides, pitching them onto the rough and hard road surface. Severe head trauma and massive skin burn known as “road rash” can inflict deadly injuries from motorcycle accidents.
Defective or Dangerous Products — Product Liability Wrongful Death
The manufacturers of the goods we consume in our day-to-day lives have a special obligation to the public. They must never sell a product that poses an unreasonable danger to health and safety when used as intended. Unfortunately, manufacturers often knowingly make mistakes in the design or assembly of a product, and then fail to warn the public of the hazards associated with those faulty items. As a result, consumers are injured or made ill, which oftentimes leads to death for which the manufacturers should be held liable.
Wrongful Death in Workplace Accidents
American employees face numerous risks while they are at work. Construction sites teem with dangers that include working at lofty heights, on uneven surfaces, and with large and dangerous equipment. Workers in manufacturing and heavy industry face the possibility of crush injuries and mechanical accidents. Even an ordinary office environment can put employees in peril of long-term toxic exposures, repetitive stress injuries, and burns. Workers’ compensation covers workers and their families against a death that results from a workplace injury.
Premises Liability Wrongful Death
Owners and operators of both residential and commercial property owe a duty to visitors to their premises to keep them safe from harm. They face legal liability when someone dies because of an unsafe property condition that they could have fixed and/or warned about. Some of the most tragic deaths that result in this type of liability involve young children, such as in cases of accidental drownings in backyard swimming pools, vicious animal attacks, and unsecured construction sites.
Dangerous Drug Wrongful Death
Medication is used to treat illnesses, relieve pain, and prolong lives. Unfortunately, the remedies meant to keep us alive and healthy, when taken in the wrong dose or combination, or when they are defective, can cause fatal health complications. Doctors, pharmacists, and drug manufacturers all may face legal liability when a patient dies from ingesting a medication.
Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death
We put our supreme trust in medical professionals to care for us when we get sick or injured. Doctors, nurses, and other health care workers are required to provide a reasonable standard of care to patients. While medical professionals usually have the best of intentions when they treat or examine patients, sometimes they make mistakes or don’t follow proper protocol. When those actions or errors lead to preventable fatalities, they can be held liable for medical malpractice.
Aviation Accident Wrongful Death
Flying is an extremely safe mode of travel. Still, accidents happen, and most of them result in multiple fatalities. A plane crash virtually always attracts public attention, from news reports to federal investigations. Survivors of deceased aviation accident victims need skilled, technically knowledgeable legal representation to help them navigate the often complicated process of determining who may have legal liability to them for damages.
To be connected with an experienced aviation accident attorney, call 866-465-1419 or fill out the form below.
Drowning or Boating Accidents Wrongful Death
Any body of water, from a private swimming pool to the ocean, can represent a hazard to those who do not know how to swim, do not recognize potential dangers like currents or cold temperatures, or who put their safety in the hands of people who make negligent decisions while operating a watercraft. When a drowning or boating accident ends in a death, anyone who is deemed to have been responsible for keeping others safe from danger on or near the water could face legal liability.
Hiring The Best Wrongful Death Attorney
Surviving spouses and family members of people who are killed by someone else’s careless, irresponsible, or intentionally harmful actions require skilled, experienced, and resourceful legal counsel to help them obtain the compensation they deserve. A top wrongful death attorney will guide grieving victims through the chaotic and traumatic aftermath of a tragic loss to ensure they enact justice for their deceased loved one and that they receive fair compensation, as they are entitled to by law.
How The Law Center Can Help
The Law Center assists spouses, families, and estate representatives in locating and connecting with leading local wrongful death attorneys who specialize in the particular type of case of the circumstances of the victim. To speak with a wrongful death lawyer today, call 866-465-1419 or fill out the form below.