A wrongful death lawyer represents families who lost a loved one because of someone else’s carelessness or recklessness. We navigate the applicable laws and work with the victim’s loved ones to seek and recover compensation based on the circumstances of their death and the case’s recoverable damages.
If you lost a loved one in an avoidable accident, we are deeply sorry for your loss. When you hire our Long Island wrongful death lawyers to handle your case, we will manage all aspects of the wrongful death lawsuit so your family is able to focus on more important things, such as grieving and spending time together.
- Wrongful Death Attorneys Do Everything Possible to Attain Justice
- Why Might You Want to Hire Our Wrongful Death Attorneys?
- When Will Our Law Firm Take on a Wrongful Death Case?
- How Will You Get Your Wrongful Death Settlement?
- Speak to a Member of Our Wrongful Death Team Today
Wrongful Death Attorneys Do Everything Possible to Attain Justice
When you lose a loved one in such a sudden and unexpected manner, you might want to file a legal action against the at-fault party immediately, or you might only be interested in processing what has happened. Either way, you could benefit by consulting with our attorneys.
Our wrongful death lawyers perform all legal tasks on our clients’ behalf. Tasks we will handle include the following:
Assess the Wrongful Death Case for Free
Our wrongful death law firm provides free, no–obligation initial case consultations for those who lost loved ones in:
- Car accidents
- Other motor vehicle accidents
- Premises liability cases
- Construction accidents
- Dog bites
- Medical malpractice cases
This consultation provides an opportunity for our legal team to assess the situation and determine your likely options. It also gives you, as a prospective client, a chance to ask questions.
Explain Who Is Eligible to File a Wrongful Death Case
Under Estates, Powers & Trusts § 5-4.1, family members cannot directly file suit in a wrongful death action. The only way a family member can become legally empowered to commence a lawsuit is if they are also the victim’s personal representative. Only the personal representative—known as the administrator or executor—will represent the decedent’s loved ones.
In order for a family member to be appointed, the personal representative of the estate of the departed loved one must petition the court for such an appointment. This is something that our wrongful death attorneys will oversee to make certain it is done properly and promptly.
Determine Your Wrongful Death Case Filing Deadline
Our law firm will also determine the timeline for your case. There is a limited time to sue under Estates, Powers & Trusts § 5-4.1. However, we want to go to work as long before this deadline arrives as possible
The sooner we know about a case and begin our investigation, the more time we have to complete case paperwork, gather crucial evidence, and build the strongest case possible for you.
Manage All Communications About the Wrongful Death Case
When our wrongful death lawyers begin work on a case, one of the first things we do is establish contact with the involved insurance companies. We manage all communication throughout the case. This eases the burden on the client, protects the case, and starts the process of advancing the client’s case in the most compelling way.
Our legal team also manages all case updates and takes calls from the client. Our team members often assist clients with these tasks, but much of the direct communication should come from your lawyer.
Identify the Liable Parties in Your Loved One’s Wrongful Death
A key step in building and handling a wrongful death case is determining what happened and identifying the liable party or parties. Like personal injury cases, most wrongful deaths happen because of another party’s careless or reckless actions. Generally, we must identify that party and gather evidence to show their negligence.
With strong evidence, our attorneys will hold the negligent party liable. This occurs either through negotiating an appropriate settlement from the insurance company or taking the case to trial and receiving a verdict and payout.
Gather Evidence That Proves Liability for the Wrongful Death
To document the liable party’s negligence, our legal team conducts an investigation and gathers evidence to prove wrongful death. This evidence varies based on the circumstances of the case. Some evidence available could include:
- A report filed by responding police officers and/or other first responders (such as an Ambulance Call Report, for example)
- Video of the incident
- Photos of the scene at the time of the injury
- A scene survey
- Physical evidence
- Eyewitness statements
- Accident reconstruction
- Relevant medical records
- Expert witnesses, including medical experts and economists
With this evidence, our law firm works to compile the strongest possible case to present to the insurance company to support our client’s claim. Alternatively, it might become evidence at a civil trial where the judge or jury will evaluate the case and determine the appropriate compensation, if any.
Determine a Value for Your Wrongful Death Case
Many wrongful death cases end with a negotiated settlement with an insurance company. Before our attorneys negotiate and attempt an appropriate agreement, we must determine a settlement range for the case.
This requires gathering documentation of your expenses and losses and assigning a value to non-economic damages.
In general, the following types of damages are recoverable in many wrongful death cases:
- Funeral costs and burial expenses
- The victim’s final medical expenses
- Loss of the decedent’s financial support
- The support and services the victim previously provided
- Any conscious pain and suffering the victim endured
For a free legal consultation, call 516-932-0400
Why Might You Want to Hire Our Wrongful Death Attorneys?
There are multiple reasons why hiring our wrongful death lawyers to assist you with your case is a good idea:
- First and foremost, you have already endured a great and preventable loss. The grief you understandably feel could distract you from making the right decisions for your legal case.
- You probably have little to no legal experience and more specifically, little to no experience prosecuting personal injury and wrongful death claims The insurance company will not go easy on you just because you are mourning: they will take any advantage available to them, including your lack of experience.
- The wrongful death has already created a major financial burden for your family. Our legal team will assist you with legal expenses and charge nothing upfront, which makes getting justice for your loved one much more affordable.
- The legal process is often very complex and time-consuming. It often takes a long time to settle wrongful death cases, and even an innocent, seemingly minor mistake could put your case in jeopardy. If you want to avoid pointless delays and errors, our legal team will take care of everything.
The most important task that our wrongful death lawyers do for people like you is to give you space to grieve.
The Insurance Company Could Make Your Wrongful Death Lawsuit Harder
Insurance companies sometimes use tactics to reduce the value of a case so they do not have to pay as much. That includes:
- Pressuring you to accept the first settlement offer they make, even if you know it does not meet your needs or you have not had a chance to figure out your case’s value yet
- Insisting that their client did nothing wrong and should not have to pay for your losses
- Asking you to record a statement about the accident, which gives them the chance to go through your words repeatedly in search of “contradictions” to use against you
When our law firm handles all communication, it greatly reduces this risk. For example, our attorneys know how to handle an early, lowball offer. It might seem like a lot of money to an individual, and the immediacy of the offer can be tempting, but it is almost certainly grossly inadequate to appropriately compensate for the victim’s death.
Handling Wrongful Death and Personal Injury Cases Simultaneously
Hiring our wrongful death legal team is especially useful if your case involves complex circumstances. For example, if you yourself sustained a severe injury in the same accident that cost your loved one their life, how can you sue for both your loved one’s losses and your own?
The answer is to seek legal advice as soon as possible. Our team is here to make sure you understand your options and enable you to take action right away, even if you are still in the hospital.
When Will Our Law Firm Take on a Wrongful Death Case?
As previously mentioned, our firm is equipped to handle wrongful death cases of all kinds. The only requirement is that negligence somehow played a factor. For instance, if a doctor does everything right and the patient still passes away, this is not medical malpractice: it is a bad medical outcome that no one could have prevented.
If, however, the doctor dismissed the deceased person’s concerns and therefore did not accurately diagnose their condition, or failed to timely provide treatment that is consistent with the generally accepted standard of care, this could be grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit.
How do We Prove You Deserve Wrongful Death Damages?
It is not enough to accuse the potentially liable party of being careless and causing the victim’s death. To show negligence occurred, the following four elements must be proven:
- Duty of care: The at-fault party had a legal responsibility to protect others by taking prudent precautions and avoiding unnecessary risks.
- Breach of duty: The at-fault party chose to behave negligently despite their duty of care.
- Causation: The at-fault party’s negligence is what caused the fatal accident.
- Damages: The fatal accident led to your and the deceased person’s injuries and financial losses.
For example, a property owner owes guests a duty of care to prevent unreasonable hazards. If they knew they had a broken deck railing but did not repair it in a timely and proper (i.e., safe,) manner, this breach of duty could cause a serious or fatal injury when the rail gives way.
Wrongful Death Lawsuits Versus Criminal Charges
You should realize that wrongful death lawsuits are not the same as bringing criminal charges against the party responsible. Both are important to the legal process, but they play distinct roles:
- A wrongful death case allows you to seek financial compensation for your losses
- Criminal charges allow law enforcement to prosecute the at-fault party and, if they are convicted, decide what an appropriate punishment is
If there are criminal charges pending against the liable party, our wrongful death attorneys could use this as evidence to show that they did something wrong and owe your family damages.
It Is Better to Hire Our Wrongful Death Team Sooner Rather Than Later
You should know that you have the right to hire or change your wrongful death lawyers at virtually any point in the legal process. Even if you have already started your case, you are welcome to get in touch with us and find out what our legal team will do for you.
That said, there are certain advantages to hiring our fatal accident attorneys as early on in the process as possible. These advantages include:
- Having access to time-sensitive evidence that might not hold up well over time, such as clear recollections from witnesses or security camera footage
- Being able to steer you away from common mistakes that could delay or do serious harm to the recovery potential of your case
- Relieving you of the burden of handling your wrongful death lawsuit or claim by yourself
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How Will You Get Your Wrongful Death Settlement?
Our legal counsel works as hard and as fast as possible for every client, but it still might take a while to settle your case. Once we have negotiated an appropriate settlement or won a jury award, it is time to decide whether you want to receive that money through a:
- Lump sum, when you get the entire amount at once
- Structured settlement, when you receive regular payouts over a period of time
There are pros and cons to both wrongful death settlement payout options. You will feel more confident in your decision if you have access to one of our legal professionals and have the opportunity to go over your options first.
Complete a Free Case Evaluation form now
Speak to a Member of Our Wrongful Death Team Today
Friedman & Simon, L.L.P., provides free initial consultations for those who lost loved ones in negligence accidents. If someone else’s carelessness or recklessness caused your family member’s death, we will assess your options and determine how we would handle your case.
We even have multilingual staff that will assist you in Spanish, Greek, Bengali, Tamil, and Kannada if you are more comfortable discussing your case in another language.
Call us today for your free case consultation.
Call or text 516-932-0400 or complete a Free Case Evaluation form