If you are in a position where you are considering hiring a wrongful death attorney, please accept our condolences. We understand how important it is that you find the right representative to manage your case. Before hiring our Long Island wrongful death lawyers, put your mind at ease by asking the following four questions:
- Has our law firm managed cases similar to yours?
- How will we manage your case?
- What will we require of you throughout your case?
- What is our fee structure like?
- Exploring Our Wrongful Death Lawyers’ Case History
- Determining How Our Wrongful Death Team Will Manage Your Case
- Clarifying Your Role in Your Wrongful Death Case
- Paying for Our Wrongful Death Law Firm
- Our Wrongful Death Lawyers Are Eager to Answer Your Questions
Exploring Our Wrongful Death Lawyers’ Case History
A wrongful death could occur as the result of any type of accident. The first question to ask a wrongful death lawyer, therefore, is if they have experience with your specific case type. Our team has managed cases involving:
- Car accidents
- Truck accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Bicycle accidents
- Nursing home abuse
- Medical malpractice
- Construction accidents
- Premises liability, including slip and fall accidents and dog bites
Each of these case types presents different challenges and requires knowledge of legal practice areas that are similar in some respects but are also different in very significant ways to resolve. In addition to finding a firm with wrongful death experience, you should ask specifically about the firm’s experience with cases that closely match your situation.
Asking About Wrongful Death Case Results
You are welcome to research or ask about how much money we have recovered for past wrongful death clients. However, please be aware that everyone’s case is unique, and so are their case results. Appropriate compensation looks different for everyone.
Once we get the chance to investigate your situation and start putting a case file together, we will be happy to discuss your case’s worth and how we will go about pursuing the money you need.
For a free legal consultation, call 516-932-0400
Determining How Our Wrongful Death Team Will Manage Your Case
You want to make sure you thoroughly understand what a wrongful death lawyer does before you hire one. This means asking about the legal process that you are about to go through. Our wrongful death attorneys will walk you through every step we might take based on your specific situation, including:
- Investigating the circumstances of your loved one’s death
- Compiling evidence of the liable party’s identity and the extent of your family’s suffering
- Specifying and quantifying all of the types of damages you qualify for, including pain and suffering prior to death, final medical bills, funeral expenses, loss of financial support, and loss of companionship
- Engaging in ongoing communications with the at-fault party’s insurer that explains the details of the fatal accident and what compensation you are seeking
- Negotiating a pretrial settlement with the insurance company, if they are willing to do so in good faith
- Preparing to take the liable party to court, if their insurer refuses to make an acceptable settlement offer or fails cooperate at all
- Either going through with the trial by representing you in court or accepting a pre-verdict (“last-minute”) offer to settle
You want a legal representative that is capable of handling all of these tasks. For example, not every law firm will go to trial. Since you cannot predict whether or not your case will get that far, you want a firm like ours that is willing to represent you from beginning to end and has valuable trial experience.
Coping With Challenges That Arise During Your Wrongful Death Legal Action
Some cases go relatively smoothly, with the liable party’s insurance company offering an appropriate settlement in a timely manner. Unfortunately, many others run into obstacles, such as:
- An at-fault party that denies liability
- An insurance company that will not negotiate or levels counterclaims against your family (e.g., blaming your loved one for the fatal accident)
- A lack of evidence or contradictory evidence that makes it difficult to figure out what really happened
- The presence of multiple potentially liable parties, each of whom must be dealt with individually, requiring additional investigation and communication
The best wrongful death lawyer for your case is the one that will anticipate and plan for challenges like these. Feel free to ask about what obstacles your case might encounter and how our law firm has overcome such issues in past cases.
Clarifying Your Role in Your Wrongful Death Case
Once you hire someone to manage your case, they will be responsible for handling the day-to-day legal tasks associated with filing your claim or lawsuit, negotiating with the insurance company, and avoiding unnecessary delays or problems.
That said, you should remain in charge of your case, so you will want to find out how our law firm will:
- Communicate with you on a regular basis.
- Explain all of your legal options at key points in your case and help you make critical decisions when the time comes.
- Help you identify what materials you already possess (e.g., bills, receipts, and photographs) that will serve as strong evidence. You should turn over such materials to our team for inclusion in your case file.
- Travel to visit you if you are unable to get to our law office in Jericho.
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Paying for Our Wrongful Death Law Firm
Different firms expect to be paid in different ways. By asking about our fee structure up front, you will avoid unexpected surprises down the line. For example, our legal representatives will tell you that:
- We charge no attorneys’ fees at the start of your case
- We work on contingency, which means we do not expect you to pay an hourly rate. Instead, we accept a percentage of your settlement, whatever that turns out to be, in return for our services.
- If we do not win your case, you will never have to pay us.
Make sure you understand our firm’s fee structure before you sign a contract. In addition to asking about attorneys’ fees, you will want to know about potential legal expenses, such as court filing fees, that you might be expected to cover.
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Our Wrongful Death Lawyers Are Eager to Answer Your Questions
Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., understands that no two clients are the same. Our multilingual team will answer every question you ask our wrongful death lawyers and fight hard to get your family appropriate compensation from the liable party. Call for a free consultation today.
Call or text 516-932-0400 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form