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Determining Damages
Wrongful death compensation can include:
The term “damages” carries a much different meaning in the legal realm. It does not mean damage like a car may suffer due to a broken windshield. Legally speaking, the term means is the monetary value of that broken windshield. Regarding a wrongful death lawsuit, there are two kinds of damages that the family of a deceased worker can pursue: wrongful death damages and survival damages. Wrongful death damages compensate the family for the suffering they have experienced due to their loved one’s tragic and untimely death. Survival damages allow the closest living relative to pursue damages the victim would have pursued had the injuries he or she suffered not proven to be fatal.

Wrongful death compensation can include:

Medical and funeral expenses as a result of the accident and fatality.
The loss of monetary support the deceased provided before his or her death.
The resulting mental and emotional trauma caused by the family member’s death.
The loss of consortium and unique familial love that only the deceased could provide.

Survival Damages
Compensation for survival damages include:

Medical expenses due to the construction accident.
The victim’s lost wages during the time period he or she would have been expected to have stayed in the hospital had he or she survived the accident, or wages the victim would have lost as a result of any long-term disabling injuries caused by the accident.
The deceased’s physical pain and suffering he or she experienced.

Hurdles to Obtaining Just Restitution in a Construction Wrongful Death Case
There are very few options a company not subscribing to workmans’ comp has in defending itself from a wrongful death lawsuit as a result of workers’ comp laws designed to punish these companies for not buying the insurance. Such a company basically has two ways to avoid compensating the families of deceased workers: proving Sole Proximate Cause or proving that the worker was a contractor and not an employee of the company.

Sole Proximate Cause
This is the only true legal defense a non-subscriber has, and it means that the worker was 100 percent responsible for his or her death. Since a non-subscriber basically has to use this defense, you can count on the trial becoming very disturbing. The reason is the company will try and ruin your loved one’s reputation by making him or her out to be routinely irresponsible and incompetent, to put it nicely. If the company can prove this in court, and that your loved one’s negligence was the cause of his or her death, they can get out of having to pay anything for the tragedy your family has experienced.

Even though the company didn’t see fit to pay for workers’ comp insurance, you can bet that company will spend whatever it takes to defend them from your lawsuit. That company will pay a lot of money to a defense attorney, and that attorney will drag your loved one’s memory through the mud. These defense lawyers are extremely well compensated for what they do, and they are very good at it. You need a lawyer working on your side with the experience and skill necessary to combat this tactic and defend your family member’s reputation.

The Employer/Employee Relationship
While this is not, legally speaking at least, a true defense option, a non-subscriber can still avoid compensating a bereaved family if it can prove that the deceased worker was not a “true employee,” but rather a contract employee. In Texas, contract employees are responsible for maintaining their own workplace safety. So it only follows logically from the company’s perspective that if the worker was not an actual employee, why should the company be expected to compensate the family for that worker’s death?

This is a rather flimsy, desperate effort to avoid liability, but it must still be respected. The law may not agree with the company’s perception of your deceased loved one, and may still regard the victim as an employee even if the company claims otherwise. The wrongful death attorneys with our office are very experienced in proving the existence of an employer-employee relationship. We know how to find contracts and pay stubs, and interview co-workers in order to prove one of the standards for proving that relationship listed below:

The employer withheld taxes or Social Security from your family member’s paycheck.
The employer provided the necessary tools your loved one used to perform his or her job.
The deceased worker followed a specific work schedule established by the employer.
The employer inspected, oversaw, or managed your family member’s work at regular intervals.
Your family member signed a form or otherwise did something that limited his or her rights, such as taking a drug test or signing a document stating he or she complied with the rules spelled out in an employee handbook.
The employer hired your loved one for an undetermined period of time, and not just for a single job.
Your family member was paid on an hourly or salary basis, and not job-by-job.

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Loss of Future Earnings
Attorney Discusses the Loss of Future Earnings After a Wrongful Death

If your loved one dies as a result of the negligence of another, do you know what kind of compensation you’re entitled to? If your spouse has tragically died because of an unfortunate accident, are you worried about providing for the future of your family? The experienced Texas wrongful death lawyers at our Law Office understand your worry during this difficult time and will seek to provide just compensation for your loved one’s loss of future earnings.

What Does Loss of Future Earnings Mean?
Loss of future earnings is the money that the spouse, children, or another financial dependent would have received had the provider not died. It is only one of the damages that can be sought in a wrongful death case. It can be a difficult value to compute to ensure that you receive just compensation for your loved one’s lost income. Courts can often interpret the loss of future earnings in a wide variety of ways, so having competent legal help on your side is of the utmost importance.

Problematic Issues in Calculating Loss of Future Earnings
Let’s suppose that your loved one was 30-years old at the time of their passing, and was then making $50,000 per year. With an estimated 35 more years of possible working potential at the same rate of pay, the base value of future lost income would be $1.75 million. Due to many variables, calculating the loss of future earnings is seldom this straightforward. For example, would your loved one have never gotten a raise? Surely that should be factored in as well. What about inflation?

Defendants at fault will seek to reduce their payouts by trying to base the final value on the fluctuations of the market during the victim’s possible working future. The competent attorneys at our Law Office can help the opposite occur by seeking to raise the base value of the suit based on former cases and testimonies of witnesses. Essentially, our attorneys help to prove that your loved one would have most likely received a promotion or a raise as part of their future earning potential.

Certain cases can be even more troubling. What if your loved one had been working at a restaurant as a waiter in order to pay for the medical school that they were also attending, and suffered a fatal accident before becoming a doctor? Should loss of future earnings be based on their hourly wage as a waiter or their future wages earned as a potential doctor? The attorneys at our Law Office know the intricacies of presenting such a case while keeping an eye on making sure you receive fair compensation for your loved one’s future, rightful, earning potential.

Wrongful death attorney
Losing a Loved One Doesn’t Have to Mean Loss of Future Earnings
Proving a fair amount of potential earnings on the behalf of the bereaved is typically a complex issue best left to capable attorneys. Our Law Office seeks to mitigate prolonged future pain as a result of possibly not receiving just compensation for your loved one’s loss of future earnings by seeking to show their most likely future earning potential.

With 20 years of experience in such cases, we are well prepared to prove your case and show the courts why you and your family are entitled to just compensation. Lessen your worry about the future of your family by contacting our wrongful death attorneys. We are here to help you in your time of need.

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Texas Wrongful Death Attorney on Fatal Accidents in Texas

When a person loses a loved one due to a tragic accident, that person loses an incredibly important part of his or her life and is left with a lot of unanswered questions. Who is to blame for this? How did the accident happen? Do I have grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit to hold those responsible for the accident accountable? Do I need a seasoned and skilled Texas wrongful death attorney?

The lawyers at our Law Office have been handling wrongful death litigation for two decades, so we are all too familiar with the feelings you are experiencing after the loss of someone close to you. If you want to pursue legal action, we want to make sure you are as well informed as possible regarding the legal options you have, and the hurdles you will have to surmount in order to succeed in your case and obtain the just restitution you have coming for the loss of your loved one.

The Purpose of a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Texas
There are three main purposes for the initiation of any wrongful death lawsuit in Texas:

Making sure the negligent party or parties responsible for negligent actions or inaction that led to the death of an innocent person being held accountable.
Forcing negligent parties, through the use of monetary incentives, to change their behavior so more people do not suffer injury going forward.
Ensure that the loved ones of the victim obtain fair compensation so they are not subjected to monetary stress as well as the mental trauma they are already experiencing.
Of course, no amount of monetary compensation can come anywhere close to replacing your lost loved one. If the deceased family member was the main provider, however, your family is experiencing some major monetary problems because of your loss. The Texas wrongful death lawyers with our Law Office can help alleviate the monetary problems you are going through. Our lawyers are passionate about helping ease the financial burdens faced by families who are going through an incredible loss. We not only want to make sure those responsible for your tragedy are brought to justice and held accountable for their wrongdoing, but we also want to help you recover monetarily. By getting the just restitution you have coming to you, you can concentrate on recovering, both emotionally and physically, from the loss you have experienced.

The Compensation You Can Recover in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Texas
From a legal perspective, the term “damages” refers to financial compensation that the loved ones of a deceased family member can recover – not the actual harm that was experienced by the family member. In a comprehensive wrongful death civil suit, there are two kinds of damages that can be pursued: wrongful death and survival damages. Wrongful death damages are designed to provide compensation to a grieving family for the emotional and financial strain they have experienced since the death of their family member. Spouses, children, parents, and other dependents can all seek to obtain wrongful death compensation, and there can be multiple wrongful death damage claims in a single wrongful death lawsuit. Wrongful death damages that can be obtained include compensation for:

Medical bills the victim incurred prior to his or her death.
Funeral expenses.
The loss of financial support the victim provided prior to his or her death.
The emotional and mental trauma the family suffers due to the loss of the family member.
The loss of unique love and consortium only the deceased family member could provide.
On the other hand, survival damages are designed for only the closest living relative to obtain compensation commensurate to the value of a lawsuit the deceased could have filed had he or she survived the accident and had been injured. Basically, the deceased’s closest living relative serves as, more or less, a proxy for the victim, and inherits the personal injury lawsuit that the deceased would have been able to file. Anyone seeking survival damages can also pursue wrongful death damages. However, a victim’s brother or sister can only seek survival damages if he or she is the victim’s closest living relative. The right to pursue survival damages starts with the spouse, then goes to the children, parents, and then siblings. Again, only one family member can pursue a survival damages suit, but all family members can seek to obtain wrongful death damages. Survival damages include:

Medical bills the victim paid before death.
Damage to property wrongful death lawyer
Salary lost because of time the victim, had he or she survived the accident, would have spent in the hospital recovering from his or her injuries.
The loss of future earning capacity as a result of long-term disabling injuries.
Physical pain and suffering experienced by the victim.
Emotional and mental trauma suffered as a result of the accident.
Restitution for disfigurement.

Survival damages and wrongful death claims differ completely. They require completely different legal strategies in order to be successful. In addition, each plaintiff incurs a varying amount of damages, and therefore, each wrongful death damages claim has to be handled on an individual basis. Both of these forms of litigation – survival damages claims and wrongful death claims are very complex and intricate. That does not even take into consideration what you have to do to surmount the hurdles presented by the opposition’s defense lawyers. If you have no legal experience, you will have no chance at winning a lawsuit, because you don’t have the required familiarity with the procedures involved. We have dealt with wrongful death litigation for two decades, and we’ve seen – time after time – unrepresented plaintiffs see their case dismissed because of a legal technicality that unrepresented person had no idea existed.

Please do not let this happen to you. The Texas wrongful death lawyers with our Law Office can protect your rights and help you obtain the compensation you have coming to you. We have the seasoning and experience needed in order to ensure that all of the details associated with legal procedures are properly taken care of. We will cut off all the defense’s attempts at finding legal loopholes and make sure that those whose negligence resulted in your loved one’s death are held accountable. We do so not only to get you the compensation you deserve but also to make sure the negligent party changes its behavior so that no one else has to experience a similar kind of pain. That could be one way that at least a shred of something good might come out of the tragedy that robbed you of your loved one. We are not just interested in making money for our clients. We also want to help prevent accidents from happening down the road. This is a vital part of wrongful death law in Texas, and we are extremely passionate about it.

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Do You Have Grounds for a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

There are many instances where wrongful death cases are anything but black and white. As a result, the family members of a lost loved one might not know if they have grounds for pursuing wrongful death litigation. It is imperative to remember that wrongful death lawsuits are civil cases. A defendant need not break a law in order to be the target of a suit. Think about a scenario where a driver who is speeding hits a man crossing the street and kills him. The driver committed standard negligence – a temporary lack of focus or reason – and thus will not face any criminal charges. The family members of the victim, however, can initiate a civil wrongful death lawsuit against that driver. This, in fact, will be the only way justice can be pursued since the driver will not face criminal action for his negligence.

In addition, a civil suit involving a wrongful death may be filed against the negligent party, even if that party is facing criminal charges because of the death that resulted from that party’s actions. If that driver in the scenario mentioned above was intoxicated when the accident occurred, he or she would probably be facing criminal charges such as intoxication manslaughter for causing the fatality. Family members of the victim can, even if the driver is convicted of criminal charges, still file a civil suit. In Texas, the law states that a wrongful death has to meet four criteria in order for the family members of the deceased to be able to file a wrongful death claim. These criteria include:

The inactions or actions of another party or parties resulted in the death of the victim.
The party or parties were guilty of committing some sort of negligence when the accident occurred.
The accident victim is survived by family members who are eligible by law to try and obtain wrongful death or survival damages.
The family members of the deceased have experienced some kind of measurable monetary damages because of the death of their loved one.

Recoverable Damages Amount Limits in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit, Plus the Required Standards of Proof Plaintiffs Must Meet
There are some cases where the ability of a plaintiff to recover damages via the means of a lawsuit may be constrained due to limitations. There are other cases where plaintiffs are required to satisfy a higher standard of proof than might be required in traditional wrongful death lawsuits. Legislators, for example, have been convinced by effective lobbying that medical expenses were going through the roof because of excessive legal action. As a result, new medical malpractice legislation was enacted that placed limitations on the amount of damages that could be recovered in a medical wrongful death lawsuit. They also raised the standard of proof that plaintiffs had to meet in medical malpractice cases. This legislation served its intended purpose in that it reduced the amount of frivolous lawsuits, but it also had the unintended and unfortunate effect of making it far tougher for victims of legitimate medical malpractice to obtain the just restitution they have coming to them.

To make matters worse, a significant portion of any settlement that is reached merely reverts to the doctor to pay for outstanding medical expenses. Therefore, there are many lawyers who will refuse to take lawsuits involving medical malpractice cases.

There are similar problems that can occur in workplace-related wrongful death lawsuits because of workers’ compensation insurance laws. Many people believe that workers’ compensation laws were enacted in order to assist injured employees in recovering from their injuries. However, this is not the truth. Workers’ comp laws were designed to protect employers against litigation. If the employer of your deceased loved one purchased or subscribed to workers’ compensation insurance, the monetary compensation you will be able to secure will be far less than the harm that has been done to you and your family. That does not mean, however, that you cannot seek fair restitution from other parties. The Texas wrongful death attorneys with our Law Office are very familiar with the process of identifying responsible third parties who do not enjoy the protection afforded by workers’ compensation laws. As a result, we can go after them in order to try and obtain the fair compensation you deserve in the form of wrongful death damages. For example, let’s say a faulty piece of machinery resulted in the death of your family member. If this is the case, you can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the equipment manufacturer. Also, if your family member’s employer committed gross negligence that led to the fatal accident, you can still try and obtain damages against that employer even if the company was a workers’ comp subscriber at the time of the accident. If this is the case, there are no limits to the amount of monetary compensation you may be able to obtain. The catch is that the standard of proof in this instance is exceedingly high to meet, so you need an experienced attorney on your side.

As was previously mentioned, lawsuits involving wrongful deaths are significantly more intricate and complex than they may seem at first sight. That is not even taking into account the very formidable opposition you will encounter. You have very little chance of winning your case without having a seasoned and skilled Texas wrongful death lawyer on your side. You are allowed by law to represent yourself in your lawsuit, but if you choose to do so you are almost guaranteed to be disappointed. The best way to handle the complex nature of this litigation and to have the best chance of winning is to make sure you enlist the assistance of an experienced attorney. The Texas wrongful death attorneys at our Law Office will help protect you and your family’s legal rights and make those responsible for causing your tragic loss pay dearly for their negligence.

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Hurdles to Winning Your Case

When a wrongful death claim is filed, you need to know you will be dealing with seasoned defense lawyers and extremely skilled insurance adjusters. A wrongful death claim can be much more expensive than a personal injury claim, and multiple wrongful death and survival damages claims can cause the value of your suit to increase exponentially. Because there can be so much money at risk, the defendants and their representatives will spend whatever it takes in order to avoid losing the suit. The defense will hire high-powered attorneys and will bring in experts who can re-create accidents in order to prove they were not responsible for the death of your loved one. Insurance companies will spend incredible sums of money as well in order to keep from having to pay a wrongful death claim, so they will use their most aggressive and experienced adjusters in these kinds of cases. They have specialists on hand 24/7 who work to prove a fatality victim was responsible for his or her own death through his or her own negligence. There are many instances where a defense team was able to mobilize and build a case against a victim before the victim’s family even found a lawyer – and that’s especially the case if the deceased was an employee of a big corporation.

As much pain and suffering as you and your family are experiencing, you simply must begin taking action and start building the foundation for your litigation. It is imperative that a timely and thorough investigation commences in order for you to have the best chance possible at succeeding in your wrongful death case. When an accident takes place, the scene of the accident begins to undergo almost immediate change. This is especially the case when the accident scene is a highway or a construction site. Weather conditions can erase evidence and machinery can be moved. Other pieces of evidence can also quickly disappear. Surveillance video can be taped over and witnesses can either change their story or decide they no longer want to be involved. The faster you procure legal assistance, the sooner your lawyer can start gathering evidence. Our Texas wrongful death attorneys will immediately launch a detailed investigation as soon as a client hires us. We examine and sequester any equipment or vehicles that are involved in an accident, search for photographic or video evidence, find and interview witnesses, scour police reports, and collect forensic evidence. Through 20 years of handling wrongful death litigation, we’ve recognized the vital importance of an immediate and thorough investigation.

How the Attorneys with Our Law Office Can Help You
For two decades, the Texas wrongful death lawyers with our Law Office have assisted the family members of victims to obtain survival and wrongful death damages for the devastating losses they have experienced. This is obviously one of the most difficult periods of time you will ever encounter, and you are going through a very tough grieving process. The filing of a lawsuit is probably not at the top of your mind at this time, but it is incredibly important that you act as soon as you possibly can. We are here to ensure that the process of litigation does not become overwhelming to you.

Our Texas wrongful death attorneys can deal with all the circumstances of your case and help you recover monetarily so that you can concentrate on healing emotionally from the trauma that has affected you and your family. Our law firm has helped hundreds of families of Texans who were wrongfully killed obtain millions and millions of dollars and we have defeated every major insurance carrier in the country. Insurance companies are well aware of our reputation for success, and so will typically offer fair settlements to our clients rather than taking the chance at losing much more money in a court case. This helps family members of wrongfully killed loved ones get to the process of healing from their emotional trauma without having to experience the added stress of legal action. If you are considering hiring legal representation, or simply are looking for answers to the myriad questions you probably have surrounding the circumstances of your case, please call us for a confidential and free consultation so we can tell you how we can help you get the compensation you deserve.

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Why Bring a Texas Wrongful Death Claim?
There are two good reasons to sue when there are fatal auto accidents. First of all, it gives the possibility of surviving family members recovering monetary losses. Yes, it may seem strange because money may never replace the absence of a loved one or spouse, or save the anguish that follows fatal auto accidents. But you must understand that the losses resulting from fatal auto accidents are frequently monetary, too. Surviving victims face high health care expenses and repair fees after fatal auto accidents, as well as other losses. There is also the lost income of the victim. There are funeral fees that may be extremely expensive. There is even a loss of all future earnings. To cover the cost of these, there are the survival and wrongful death damages. Our firm will cover these, so you may understand why you should file legal action. Bringing a claim against the defendant may aid you with the monetary aspects of recovery. Getting paid by the party or parties liable go far to aid the family members of the victim get back on their feet and start getting better.

There is also the issue of the punishment of the liable party, to make sure that no one else gets injured as you and your family members have been. When you file legal action against the parties who were the cause of the fatal auto accidents, your loss is not suffered completely in vain. You punish the perpetrators of the accident. If you punish them through the courts, it lessens the likelihood they will make the same errors that might jeopardize other families in the future. You will protect other people from what you’ve suffered.

You Need a Fatal Auto Accidents Lawyer
Our Law Office has never seen a non-lawyer bring a wrongful death legal action with success. With so much money on the line, it is not a risk you can afford to take. Your own monetary well-being and your family members might be threatened if you don’t handle it properly. Our fatal auto accident lawyers will give you the experience and knowledge to properly and fully carry out your wrongful death legal action.

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There Are Several Factors Involved In A Wrongful Death Lawsuit

When several liable parties are involved, the damage may be assessed for each defendant, and there are legal options to follow against each defendant. Our fatal auto accident lawyers have 20 years of experience in the claims of wrongful death and our firm will make sure that those liable – which mean that all parties – are named and prosecuted, and then you may receive full compensation.

Naming the accused is not always easy in fatal auto accidents. It is because there are so many people on the road. One or more of such persons and entities may make errors that may lead to fatal auto accidents. First on the list are other drivers. Their actions are frequently the direct cause of fatal auto accidents. Sometimes the drivers are just careless or reckless in their behavior. They may drive too fast, run through red lights, ignoring traffic stops, disregard road conditions or take curves too fast. Then there are other drivers, pedestrians, and even third-party entities that may have been involved.

What You May Pursue in Compensation for A Wrongful Death
Under Texas wrongful death law, a civil legal action for negligence and wrongful death will usually contain two types of damages and the possibility of several different claims. The damages are damages for wrongful death or survival damages.

Survival damages, conversely, include all the damages the victim might have claimed for compensation if he had survived the accident. Basically, the plaintiff who is a survivor has the ability to pursue injury damages, standing up for the victim who died. In most claims, the applicant who is pursuing survival damages will also pursue damages for wrongful death. There may be only one survival damage claim for a wrongful death legal action since there is only one personal injury legal action to inherit, and that claim is typically inherited by the closest and most direct living relative (spouse, then child, then parent, then siblings). These sorts of damages are usually:

Mental and emotional damage that was caused by the incident
Any damage to property
Compensation for disfigurement or any other long-term injuries
Any health care expenses paid before the victim’s death
Absence of future earnings potential
Absence of wages from time spent in the hospital
Physical pain and anguish
Compensation for wrongful death includes all the pain and anguish (both monetary and emotional) that the plaintiff has suffered owing to the death of the victim. The spouses, children, parents, and some other beneficiaries may claim these sorts of damages. Any number of claims for damages may be applied for in a wrongful death legal action. These sorts of injuries frequently include:

Absence of monetary support provided by the victim before death
Compensation for the absence of companionship and consortium by reason of the death of the victim
Funeral expenses
Health care expenses
Compensation for psychological and emotional anguish that was caused by the absence of a loved one

You must understand that claims of wrongful death damages and survival damages claims are different and each must be sought through unique legal tactics. Also, each legal action of wrongful death is sought in a trial and must be treated individually because plaintiffs generally have basically little variance in the amounts of damages. These damages must be shown on an individual basis. Even before examining your legal opposition, the prosecution of such lawsuits is complex and technical. Most laymen simply do not have the experience and or knowledge of administrative procedures needed to file these sorts of lawsuits effectively. Our firm has seen countless tragedy stories about laymen filing their own legal action for wrongful death forgetting a minor detail, resulting in a court of law order to reduce damages or even cause the claim to be thrown out.

Do not allow it to happen to you. The Texas fatal auto accident attorneys in our Law Office have over twenty years of experience in Texas wrongful death law, and our firm will be sure to cover all the bases at your trial and not have any loopholes that allow a defense lawyer to get your claim thrown out. Our firm will aid you to obtain proper compensation for your family members. However, our firm will also do everything we can to force the defendants to reform their actions so that your loved one’s death was not in vain. Our firm hopes to make sure they avoid such fatal auto accidents in the future. It is a key part of the Texas wrongful death legal action, and our professionals do not allow it to go neglected.

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You File a Suit to Pursue Compensation and Justice

If you want to recover, you will have to fight for it by filing a claim. To do it correctly, you need a proven fatal auto accident lawyer. When you have lost a loved one due to a fatal auto accident, you have the right to claim compensation for two kinds of damages, known as survival damages and wrongful death damages. Wrongful death damages are for the losses of surviving members of the family members. Survival damages are those that have been incurred by the victim had they survived.

Survival damages, as we mentioned, include compensation for health care expenses incurred before the death of a loved one, the absence of wages of your loved one, any damages the loved one would have incurred if the injury would have been a long-word instead of fatal, and physical anguish and pain. Wrongful death damages include compensation for health care or funeral expenses, absence of the expected monetary support from a loved one, emotional or psychological pain as a result of the absence of your loved one, and absence of consortium and companionship.

No amount of money can replace the loved one that you lost. However, claiming compensation for your loss may help you recover and aid in providing for your family members. Some damages may be extremely subjective, such as putting a dollar amount on the absence of companionship or your loved one’s pain or anguish before they died. Also to the overall assessment of the total damages incurred in a fatal auto accident claim, there are other variables that have to be considered in making a claim.

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Why Bring a Texas Wrongful Death Claim?

There are two good reasons to sue after a fatal auto accident. First of all, it gives the possibility of surviving family members recovering monetary losses. Yes, it may seem strange because money will never replace the absence of a loved one or take away the anguish that follows fatal auto accidents. The losses resulting from fatal auto accidents always include monetary needs. Surviving victims face high medical expenses and repair bills after a fatal auto accident, as well as the lost income of the victim. There are funeral fees that may be extremely expensive. Survival and wrongful death damages cover these expenses. Filing a claim against the defendant may aid you with the monetary aspects of recovery. Getting a settlement will help the family members of the victim get back on their feet.

There is also the issue of the punishment of the liable party, to make sure that no one else gets injured as you and your family members have been. When you file legal action against the parties who were the cause of the fatal auto accident, your loss is not suffered completely in vain. You punish the person/s responsible for the accident. If your claim goes through the courts, the likelihood is that they will not make the same errors that might jeopardize other families in the future. You will protect other people from what you’ve suffered.

You Need a Fatal Auto Accident Lawyer
Our Law Office has never seen a non-lawyer win a wrongful death claim. With so much money on the line, it is not a risk you can afford to take. Your and your family members financial well-being will be threatened if you don’t handle it properly. Our fatal auto accident lawyers will give you the experience and knowledge to properly and fully carry out your wrongful death legal action.

There Are Several Factors Involved – Wrongful Death Lawsuit
When several liable parties are involved, the damage may be assessed for each defendant and there are legal options to follow against each defendant. Our fatal auto accident lawyers have 20 years of experience with wrongful death claims and our firm will make sure that all liable parties are are held responsible and that you receive full compensation.

Naming the accused is not always easy in fatal auto accidents. Their actions are the direct cause of fatal auto accidents. Sometimes the drivers are just careless in their behavior. They may drive too fast, run through red lights, ignore traffic stops, disregard road conditions, or take curves too fast. However, there may be other drivers, pedestrians, and even third-party entities that may have been involved.

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What Compensation You May Pursue For A Wrongful Death

Under Texas wrongful death law, a civil action for negligence and wrongful death will usually contain two types of damages and the possibility of several different claims. The damages are for wrongful death or survival damages.

Survival damages include all the damages the victim might have claimed for compensation had he survived the accident. The plaintiff
(the survivor) has the ability to pursue injury damages for the victim who died. In most claims, the applicant who is pursuing survival damages will also pursue damages for wrongful death. That claim is typically filed by the closest and most direct living relative (spouse, then child, then parent, then siblings). The usual damages:

Mental and emotional damage that was caused by the incident
Damage to property
Compensation for disfigurement or other long-term injuries
Health care expenses before the victim’s death
Absence of future earnings
Absence of wages from time spent in the hospital
Physical pain and anguish

Compensation for wrongful death includes all the pain and anguish (both monetary and emotional) that the plaintiff has suffered due to the death of the victim. The spouses, children, parents, and some other beneficiaries may claim these sorts of damages. Any number of claims for damages may be applied for in a wrongful death legal action. These sorts of injuries frequently include:

Absence of monetary support provided by the victim before death
Compensation for the absence of companionship and consortium as a result of the death of the victim
Funeral expenses
Health care expenses
Compensation for psychological and emotional anguish that was caused by the absence of a loved one

Claims of wrongful death damages and survival damages claims are different and each must be sought through unique legal tactics. Each legal action of wrongful death must be treated individually. Most laymen simply do not have the experience and or knowledge of legal procedures needed to file these lawsuits effectively. Our firm has seen countless tragic stories of laymen filing their own legal action for wrongful death forgetting a minor detail, resulting in reduced damages, or even cause the claim to be thrown out.

Do not allow this to happen to you. The Texas fatal auto accident attorneys in our Law Office have over twenty years of experience in Texas wrongful death law and our firm will be sure to cover all the bases and close any loopholes that allow a defense lawyer to get your claim thrown out. Our firm will help you obtain proper compensation for your family members. However, our firm will also do everything we can to force the defendants to reform their actions so that your loved one’s death was not in vain. Our firm hopes to make sure they don’t fatal auto accidents in the future. It is a key part of the Texas wrongful death legal action, and our professionals do not allow it to go neglected.

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You File a Suit to Pursue Compensation and Justice

If you want to recover, you will have to fight for it by filing a claim. To do it successfully, you need a proven fatal auto accident lawyer. When you have lost a loved one due to a fatal auto accident, you have the right to claim compensation for two kinds of damages, known as survival damages and wrongful death damages. Wrongful death damages are for the losses of surviving members of the family members. Survival damages are those that have been incurred by the victim had they survived.

Survival damages include compensation for health care expenses incurred before the death of a loved one, the absence of wages of your loved one, any damages the loved one would have incurred if the injury would have been a long-word instead of fatal, and physical anguish and pain. Wrongful death damages include compensation for health care expenses, funeral expenses, absence of the expected monetary support from a loved one, emotional or psychological pain as a result of the absence of your loved one, and absence of consortium and companionship.

No amount of money can replace the loved one that you lost. However, claiming compensation for your loss helps you recover and provide for your family members. Some damages may be extremely subjective, like putting a dollar amount on the absence of companionship or your loved one’s pain or anguish before they died. To the overall assessment of the damages incurred in a fatal auto accident claim, there are other variables that have to be considered in making a claim.

The Challenge: Self-Interested Insurance Firms
When you have lost a loved one due to the negligence of another driver, do not expect to be compensated for the absence by the insurance company unless you file a claim. Insurance policies dealing with fatalities are extremely expensive for insurers. The insurance company may lose a large sum of money, frequently millions of dollars, in the case of fatal auto accidents. They will work as hard as possible not lose a penny. They may spend much more money to defend against the payment of claims. When insurers funnel resources to defend themselves against the payment of the auto accident, they bring every asset they have to fight against you.

There are complex variables in fatal auto accident claims that don’t exist in normal auto accidents due to the potential for a large settlement. These complexities will prevent even the most sophisticated victims from successfully pursuing their own claims when wrongful death is involved. Their only concern is the bottom line. Insurance companies are in danger of losing much more money when they pay the full auto insurance policy requirement for a fatality. They want to deny your claim or provide as little money as possible in compensation.

In expensive fatal auto accident claims, insurance companies use their best insurance adjusters. The high-level experts who deal with claims for these more expensive fatal auto accidents are not the same insurance adjusters who deal with ordinary, non-fatal, and non-injury motor vehicle accidents. Only the highly skilled work these claims. They gained their current positions by developing a reputation for being tough on victims of fatal auto accidents. They will no doubt be tough on your claim.

The insurance companies begin to construct a claim against you – the victim’s surviving family members – even before you decide to file a claim against them. They specialize in insurance law and understand gaps in the law that can be used to deny the claims of victims who do not understand the law as they do. You also have to be wary of the tactics that insurance adjusters may use to justify the refusal of your claim, especially fatal auto accidents. They may lead you to say something that can be twisted to say your loved one was at fault. Expect your words spoken to them to be recorded and might return to haunt you. There is only one right way to deal with insurance adjusters, and it is not to deal with them all. Instead, our team of lawyers will take their calls. At our Law Office, our firm does not allow insurance adjusters to speak to our clients at all. It’s best for you that our firm handles them.

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Seeking Justice After a Fatal Car Accident: Why You Need a Lawyer
The sudden loss of a loved one in a car accident is devastating. While no amount of money can replace your loved one, you have the right to seek compensation for your loss. This article outlines the complexities of wrongful death claims and why a proven fatal auto accident lawyer is crucial during this difficult time.

Types of Damages:

Survival Damages: These cover expenses incurred before your loved one’s death, such as medical bills and lost wages.
Wrongful Death Damages: These compensate surviving family members for losses like funeral expenses, lost financial support, and emotional pain.
Challenges of Wrongful Death Claims:

Insurance Company Tactics: Insurance companies aim to minimize payouts. They may employ skilled adjusters who use aggressive tactics to deny or reduce your claim.
Complexities in Law: These claims involve intricate legal issues beyond the scope of most individuals.
Why You Need a Lawyer:

Experienced Navigation: A lawyer understands the legal nuances and can negotiate aggressively on your behalf.
Gathering Evidence: Building a strong case requires meticulous evidence collection, which a lawyer can manage effectively.
Protection from Insurance Tactics: Your lawyer can shield you from manipulative tactics and ensure your rights are protected.
Our Commitment:

We understand your grief and are dedicated to obtaining the compensation you deserve. We handle all communication with insurance companies, allowing you to focus on healing.

Don’t navigate this alone. Contact our firm today for a free consultation.

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Unfair Settlements

In some claims, insurance adjusters try to convince you to sign a document to free them in exchange for a settlement. Such a settlement, when not solicited or reviewed by your lawyer, will probably be extremely low compared to what a fatal auto accidents claim is really worth. It is never in your best interest to sign any document without having a legal adviser review it. You don’t want to deal at all with high-powered insurance adjusters and agents without a lawyer to inspect everything they bring forward.

A proper and honest settlement offer may benefit victims’ families just as a low-ball settlement may definitely take away your legal rights to claim compensation. That is the reason a qualified and proven lawyer needs to handle your claim and review anything they put in front of you. Their settlement offer will require you to give up your ability to sue in the future. The other side understands you’re in a bad economic situation. Frequently, before you have a lawyer, they hope that you will be willing to accept a fast and easy cash offer – telling you that if you don’t accept it, it might literally be years before you get any compensation, or that this is the best that you may hope to get for the fatal auto accident. A proven fatal auto accident lawyer will tell you how much your claim is worth and they will help you assess whether or not the defendant’s offer is reasonable. Be sure to speak to a lawyer before giving away your legal and civil rights.

Seeking Fair Compensation
In a settlement, the plaintiff and the defendant go through negotiations to reach an agreement without the aid of a judge or jurors or the expense, time, and cost of a trial. When you accept a settlement offer, you may get your money much faster than you would if you had gone to trial. It is a good way to avoid the uncertainty that is always there when your fate is put in the hands of a panel of jurors who are selected at random. There is a problem in obtaining a good settlement offer from a defendant. It is not easy and it requires the assistance of a proven fatal auto accident lawyer to negotiate on your behalf.

Defendants do not want to pay you unless they understand you have a claim that will cost them more if they go to court and lose before a judge and jurors. Besides what they pay, there are lawyer expenses and other charges on top of your compensation. So that’s why they are willing to settle out of court.

You may not be able to reach a settlement and you may have to take your claim to court to win it. The plaintiff has the burden to show that the defendant or defendants should be liable for their damages and they have a specific list of four parts to show to the jurors. It is a heavy burden and you do not want to represent yourself. It is particularly true in claims as complex as fatal auto accident litigation.

You will need a solid trial strategy and organization of the physical evidence presented in a way that convinces the jurors and a judge. You also need a proven fatal auto accident lawyer to counter the tactics used by the defense. Your legal representative must demonstrate to the satisfaction of the jurors four essential parts of the law, duty, breach, causation, and damages. Demonstrating the first one – duty – means to show that the defendant in the accident had some kind of obligation to act in a way that would not hurt others. It is the easiest of the four parts to show because in most claims it is not difficult to show that defendants in cases of fatal auto accidents have a duty to drive in a safe manner.

When your lawyer has proven that the defendant has a duty of care, our firm must then show that the defendant’s conduct breached that duty of care in the accident. There is a lot of physical evidence and records that come into play when there’s a fatal auto accident and several parties might have been involved. It has to be proven that the defendant was careless in some way in breaching his duty. It is a key factor when trying to show to the jurors the liability of the defendant you name. Defendant’s breach of the duty of care means that he did something that a reasonable party would not do (or would not fail to do) to make sure that others on the road don’t get harmed.

Then our firm has to show causation. Several parties might have played a part in the fatal auto accidents – other drivers, pedestrians, etc. They may have been involved before or at the scene of the accident. Sometimes, defendants blame others or your loved one. If you do not have enough physical evidence to show that it was the defendant specifically named in your legal action, you may not win your claim.

At the end of the trial, you must show your damages. It’s not just the death of your loved one when our firm says “damages.” The word “damages” means money that the defendant pays you if you win your claim before the jurors and the judge. You may be entitled to damages for pain and anguish, health care fees, repair expenses, your loss of support through the absence of wages, the absence of future earnings, and all our firm discussed when our firm mentioned survivor and wrongful death damages.

It would not be sufficient to simply request your damages. You’ll have to show that you deserve that which you seek. It involves figuring the sum of your losses and putting a price on them. It means that you should have documentation of your damages in court to support your calculations. In most cases of fatal auto accidents, the amount of damages is an extremely touchy subject and it is subject to much argument.

The fair, proper and provable calculation of damages is not an easy task for laymen and unseasoned lawyers. It takes experience to calculate things like intangible losses such as your own emotional damage, mental anguish, absence of consortium, and your own ongoing health care expenses if you were injured in the auto accident that killed your loved one. Also, the calculation of the absence of future earning capacity is not as simple as picking up the latest accident annual salary of the victim and multiplying it by their remaining years of working life. Calculation of absence of earning capacity may be another obstacle for a novice. Damages for the absence of earning capacity are designed to compensate the plaintiff for the salary that the victim will not be able to earn in the future.

The fatal auto accident lawyers at our Law Office understand how to account for all losses and calculate the damages properly to enhance your potential compensation. Our firm also understands the type of physical evidence needed to show the defendant’s financial liability before a judge and jurors.

Our Law Office will make sure that your claim is solid and backed with both physical evidence and a compelling legal strategy. Our law firm has won positive, generous settlements and judgments in fatal fatal auto accidents for more than 20 years. Insurance firms, trucking companies, and others understand our reputation and frequently prefer to settle with our clients than to meet one of our fatal auto accident lawyers in the courtroom.

Contact Our Wrongful Death Law Firm
You have suffered one of the most horrific things in life – the loss of a loved one, be it a spouse, a child, a parent, or a sibling. You have been injured emotionally. You think in your heart that you have suffered an injustice. The fatal auto accident lawyers at our Law Office are here for you. Our firm has the dedication to make sure our clients get justice and proper compensation for their tragedy.

Our firm identifies all guilty parties and our firm builds a claim against them for the fatal auto accident that brought you to our site. Our firm puts pressure on defendants to provide an equitable solution for our clients. Our firm is developing winning strategies to fight vigorously in the courts if needed. Our firm will be there for you. Contact our Law Office. Our firm gives you a free consultation and explains all your options. Our firm is available anytime. The sooner you contact the stronger your claim will be later.

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What Are the Options for Damages?
When we refer to damages, we are referring to the ultimately quantifiable list of financial and emotional losses. This becomes more complicated than you would think, but in the majority of fatal sem- truck accident claims, there are two possible sets of damages the victim’s family can claim. These are damages for wrongful death and survival damages. When we are talking about wrongful death damages, we are talking about the damages resulting from the suffering that the family and the loved ones have incurred following the death of a family member and the additional losses that come if that person was a wage earner. When we talk about survival damages we are referring to the emotional and financial losses that come after losing a family member, the hospital bills, the wages lost, etc.

Wrongful Death Damages
The damages for wrongful death could include the compensation for any medical expenses suffered by the victim while they were in the hospital and the funeral expenses resulting from the accident. These are fairly black and white. They will be clearly marked on bills and can be easily presented to a jury. Wrongful death damages also include the loss of the financial support of the deceased as proved by his or her prior support to the loved ones. In cases where the primary wage-earner was the victim of the accident, the losses are particularly acute, seeing as how not only was all of that income lost, but also some current member of the family will have to find a better job, possibly undertake expensive training, and so forth. The severe emotional trauma and the mental strain caused by the loss of a loved one as well as the loss of an irreplaceable member of a family are two damages covered under wrongful death damages. They are more likely to be contested by the defense, who could claim that because these are intangible, they are not so easily quantifiable.

Survival Damages
The survival damages include the compensation for any lingering medical bills from the victim’s time in the hospital following the tragedy, as well as the money actually lost by the victim from their lack of work, as well as the lack of work for the family members who might have taken time off to be with the victim, all of this being due to the fatal accident. Survival damages also include some damages for emotional turmoil following the accident, as well as any physical pain and suffering undergone by the family as a result of the accident.

We understand that talk of compensation and restitution can be unsettling since no sum of money can give you back your deceased loved one or even begin to fully compensate you for the extremity of the loss you have suffered. At the same time, we also know that the period following a fatal semi-truck accident can be fraught with severe financial losses that come from the hospital bills, the funeral bills, the loss of wages, the loss of property, and the loss of future opportunity, as well as many other losses. The compensation is an important part of the process since it will help to provide financial security following the accident. It also has the additional and added purpose of holding certain parties accountable for their negligence. Here at our Law Office, we understand that this next step is important for the family and we know how to assist you so that you receive the most possible compensation you deserve for your loss. We will also fight to see that the responsible parties are held accountable for their actions.

Because so many of the damages include less tangible losses that come from emotional suffering and trauma and are therefore extremely subjective, it is vital that you retain the services of a wrongful death lawyer who has a great deal of experience and competence when it comes to accurately and adequately calculating the full range of total losses and damages resulting from the fatal semi-truck accident. The attorneys at our Law Office understand the process for building a complete and comprehensive fatal semi-truck accident wrongful death lawsuit that carefully separates and quantifies both wrongful death damages and survival damages. An issue that creates even more confusion in fatal eighteen-wheeler accidents is that there is often more than one liable party whose negligence could have contributed to the fatal accident. If you want to find all of the responsible parties and hold them justly accountable for their actions, then you need an experienced wrongful death attorney who knows all of the different strategies necessary to bringing a suit against multiple defendants and claiming damages from all of them. Just coming up with the list of damages is complicated enough as it is, but you will also need a competent and experienced lawyer who can either pursue the case in a court trial or force the insurance company to come to an equitable and just settlement.

Our Law Office has twenty years of experience in litigating cases like this and we understand the strategies necessary for building comprehensive and strong lawsuits to bring against all of the liable and responsible parties involved and then following through with a strong case for just compensation that the liable parties must pay our clients. Our fatal semi-truck accident lawyers understand what it takes to build and litigate a strong case that will see our clients to their goal of achieving just compensation for the terrible loss they have incurred as a result of the negligent actions that caused a fatal semi-truck accident.

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Why You Need a Lawyer

The availability of internet resources on law and certain legal situations might convince some non-legal experts to attempt to represent themselves in a situation where there has been a wrongful death resulting from a semi-truck accident. Remember that a successful case involves far more components than just a simple knowledge of the legal process and the law. You deserve to have an experienced attorney who knows all the complexities of the process and will be able to foresee any attempts made by the defense to have the case thrown out or to show that the victim was the liable party. You deserve a competent lawyer who knows how to account for damages and can build a strong case based on the evidence at hand as well as witness testimony. When non-legal people try to represent themselves, they generally end up destroying their own cases simply because they don’t have the experience necessary and the defense lawyers eat them alive. People think that because a case looks obvious that an insurance company will automatically settle because they don’t want to look bad in court, but the truth is that insurance company lawyers are a lot better at what they do than an untrained non-lawyer who attempts to represent himself or herself. The company will know that and work very hard to discredit that individual.

Let Us Help
The fatal semi-truck accident attorneys at our Law Office understand how to build a strong case for the protection of your right to just compensation for the loss you have experienced due to the death of your loved one. After 20 years of successfully litigating cases like this, we have dealt with most of the major insurance companies in the United States and they recognize our name and our reputation for success. If you have lost a loved one to a fatal semi-truck accident anywhere in the state of Texas, don’t hesitate to contact us. We understand how to deal with trucking companies and insurance adjusters, and we know how to build a strong case that will defend your right to just compensation for your losses. Since our success rate is so high, the insurance companies will often choose to settle out of court at an agreeable rate so as not to incur the extra expense of going to court against us and losing both the settlement and the court fees. Our goal is to do what is the best for our clients and we will work tirelessly to see that you receive the closure and compensation that you deserve for your losses. If you have any questions, then don’t hesitate to call us for a free consultation.

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IF You are Looking for an Attorney, Call our Law Office

It is just a fact of life that accidents are going to occur. Whether it’s on the road or on the job or even in the grocery store, it is inevitable that some sort of accident is going to take place. As a result, injuries are also an unfortunate inevitability.

Sometimes there’s only one person involved; a slip in the shower, or a trip over a curb, something like that. Other times, however, the negligence of another person or entity results in an injury. When that happens, you may be entitled to fair compensation for whatever losses you have incurred due to that negligence.

If you or a family member has suffered an injury due to the negligence of someone else, there are many attorneys who you can call on. However, you have to be extremely careful in selecting your legal representation. Personal injury lawsuits can be extremely complex and intricate, so you need someone with experience litigating, and more importantly, winning these kinds of cases. The personal injury lawyers with our Law Office would like to help you comprehend all the legal complexities surrounding your case and help you wade through the process with as little stress as possible. We will listen to the details of your case and help plot a strategy that can help you obtain the just restitution you deserve. Our lawyers have litigated personal injury cases for two decades. We’ve won thousands of personal injury cases. We’d like to do the same thing for you.

What, Exactly is a “Personal Injury?”
In legal parlance, a “personal injury” is the physical pain and associated mental or emotional trauma resulting from the actions or inactions of another party or of multiple parties. The person who suffered the injury, also referred to as the plaintiff, can try and obtain compensation for the injury he or she suffered from the responsible party or parties, known as the defendant.

The basis of all personal injury laws in the State of Texas is the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code. You will not be able to find any portion of the code that states defendants owe a single thing to plaintiffs. The code only gives a plaintiff the right to try and obtain restitution from the party or parties that caused injury to the plaintiff in order to make the plaintiff whole again.

You can buy a ticket to a concert that gives you the right to watch the concert. But that ticket doesn’t mean that a musician will be coming to your home to perform. Personal injury law follows a similar principle. Defendants are neither required nor expected to, out of the goodness of their hearts, offer you restitution. You, the plaintiff, have to take your request for payment to the defendant, oftentimes eventually to court, just like you have to take your ticket to the concert.

There is only one way you can obtain the compensation you are seeking from the defendant, and that is to prove that defendant was the sole proximate cause of the injury you suffered. In legal terms, the plaintiff carries the burden of proof. Unless you satisfy the requirements of that burden, you have no chance of getting the fair restitution you are looking for.

Do You Have a Case?
The term “duty” is a significant one to understand regarding any potential legal action involving your personal injury case. The law in the State of Texas, as in most states, says that every person owes every other person a legal duty to act as a reasonable person would in making sure they bring no harm to anyone. In other words, say you’re heading down I-30. You are expected and required by law, to safely follow traffic rules and drive in a manner that is safe for all the other motorists around you. Should you choose not to obey those rules and drive recklessly – even for a minute – and injure someone in an accident as a result, you are said to have breached your duty. You will be considered legally liable for the medical expenses and other financial burdens incurred by the injured party. If someone caused your personal injury by neglecting his or her legal duty to you, then you should have the basis of a lawsuit.

Again, though, in order for any attorney to be able to successfully pursue a personal injury claim on your behalf, you, the plaintiff, carry the burden of proof needed to demonstrate you were owed a legal duty of care by the defendant, and the defendant shirked that duty. As a result, you suffered an injury. The type of legal duty owed to you can vary depending on the context of the case and the type of party involved. The standard of care that one motorist owes to another differs significantly from the standard of care a doctor owes to a patient. It all depends on the situation surrounding the incident in question, and the intentions of those involved. For instance, a surgeon is, obviously, within his or her standard of care when working on a patient. However, if that doctor breaks into the patient’s home and stabs that patient with a steak knife, the doctor has then violated a legal duty. The two situations, from a legal standpoint, are different, even though the surgeon is performing the same action of cutting into his or her patient. Whether or not the surgeon has violated a legal duty is determined by the situation, context, and intentions surrounding his or her actions.

It is simple for any lawyer to prove obvious breaches of legal duty that cause a personal injury. However, proving the sometimes vague notion of negligence can be much more difficult.

Take the example of a construction company employee who suffers a concussion after a co-worker accidentally hits him on the head with a two-by-four. The employer in this instance could be held partially liable because it has the legal duty to provide employees with a safe workplace. However, if the person suffering the injury was a contractor and not an employee, then the employer would not be legally responsible. In Texas, contractors are responsible for their own workplace safety; the employer carries no expectation of providing a safe work environment to a contractor or temporary worker. This is another case of context determining liability.

It is imperative that you seek the help of a lawyer to determine whether or not the specific context of your personal injury case allows you to seek the recovery of damages.

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Three Elements Necessary for a Successful Personal Injury Case

In order for a personal injury case to have a chance at succeeding, it has to have three main components: liability as a result of the defendant violating a legal duty, such as negligence; damages, and a solvent and identifiable defendant. This is true in just about every personal injury case; there are almost no exceptions. The following sections go into these three components in detail.

Liability
When a defendant shirks a legal duty he or she owes to a plaintiff, then that defendant, in the eyes of the law, is liable for any damages that the plaintiff has incurred. Most of the time, a defendant is in violation of this legal duty through standard negligence, which is the temporary occurrence of recklessness or carelessness that causes an accident. It’s the most common form of negligence; basically, it’s caused by someone simply not paying attention at a certain time. That differs greatly from gross negligence, which is when a defendant causes harm to a plaintiff – even though accidentally – by engaging in blatantly reckless behavior, not of a temporary nature. For example, someone who gets behind the wheel while drunk and causes an accident that results in an injury to someone else can be considered grossly negligent. Even though that driver didn’t mean to hurt anyone, that doesn’t matter. He or she was still drunk, and as a result, was grossly negligent. Then there is the most severe of breaches of legal duty, the commission of a deliberate or intentional act that harms another, such as assault with a deadly weapon. Negligence is the most common of all liable acts, but you must prove that the defendant breached a legal duty, and your injury occurred as a result, in order to obtain compensation.

Damages
“Damages” can often be a confusing legal term. A lot of people think the term refers to the actual injury suffered by the plaintiff. In reality, though, “damages” is the monetary value assigned to not only the injury but also all its associated repercussions. A fractured skull, for example, is an injury. A damaging injury for sure, but legally it’s defined as an injury. The resulting medical bills, lost work salary, and lost future earning potential incurred by the victim due to the injury are damages. There are two kinds of damages to explore further: general damages and special damages.

General damages – These are non-financial, subjective damages that, by nature, are open to interpretation by lawyers, judges, and juries. Because they are subjective, you have to account for all of them and prove them so that you can get the maximum amount of compensation possible. These damages include physical impairment, pain and suffering, loss of consortium of a spouse/loss of unique familial love with a family member, emotional suffering, and disfigurement.
Again, since general damages are subjective in nature, it can be very difficult to not only assign a monetary value to them but also to prove them. The amount given for these kinds of damages can vary widely from case to case, even when two cases have similar circumstances surrounding them.

Consider the example of a fireman sprinting into a burning house to save a child. Let’s say the ceiling caves in, and both the fireman and child are severely burned as a result. They have suffered the same kind of injury, but the damages they can pursue are significantly different. The fireman experienced fear when the ceiling caved in, but not to the extent of the child. The fireman has undergone extensive training in learning how to deal with this kind of stress and has probably encountered similar situations in the past due to the nature of his job. The child, though, had never experienced anything like that fire and was terrorized by it. The fireman is also familiar with the kind of injury that he suffered, by either experiencing it himself in a previous fire or witnessing other firemen being burned. The child, on the other hand, had no such familiarity with burning and could have thought he was going to die.

Because the circumstances surrounding all personal injury cases can differ significantly, you should seek the help of a seasoned lawyer who can ensure that the value of the general damages surrounding your case are accurately determined.

Special Damages
These damages, unlike general damages, are typically tangible. Most often they are easily determined, but there are other times where they can still be somewhat subjective. Let’s look once again at the example of the fireman. He suffered serious injuries, injuries that might not allow him to ever work in that profession, or any other profession, for that matter, again. How do you determine the damages in this instance? It’s not enough to simply count the number of years he could reasonably have been expected to work, multiply that by his present salary, and ascertain the potential earnings he has lost. You have to take into account changes in his salary that may have occurred due to promotions, any specialized education courses he may have taken, and inflation. Experienced lawyers know how to do this.

Special damages include:

Court costs
Damage to property
Past and future medical bills
Lost wages
Lost earning potential
Special damages are especially crucial for most plaintiffs because there are many times where they include already paid for medical or other expenses, plus wages that have already disappeared. They need to recover these damages as quickly as they possibly can in order to be able to get their lives back on track.

Solvency
The last element you must meet in order to successfully pursue your personal injury claim is solvency. You must file your claim against a defendant who has the monetary means needed to compensate you for any damages he or she caused. Let’s say a homeless man runs into traffic and causes a driver to veer off the road and crash into a convenience store. The driver suffers two broken legs as a result of the crash. There’s no doubt that the homeless man is liable for the crash and the injury, but he is not solvent, so it really won’t matter. The homeless man doesn’t have enough money to provide the plaintiff with just restitution. This happens all too often to injury victims.

Knowing that solvency is a key to a plaintiff winning a personal injury lawsuit, many defendants will plead poverty in order to sidestep liability. This is yet another reason you need an experienced lawyer on your side. Many defendants will attempt to hide their money and feign being destitute in an attempt to avoid being held liable. But the personal injury attorneys at our Law Office are very adept at finding any money or assets that the defendant might be hiding. We typically run an asset check on every defendant, and we have a strong track record of unearthing assets that solvent defendants tried to conceal in order to avoid liability.

It is incredibly imperative that all damages are properly ascertained because you only get one chance to recover them in court. The personal injury lawyers at our Law Office know how to account for a plaintiff’s damages. We do so by putting together an itemized list and putting that list into a demand packet that is then given to the defendant or the defendant’s insurance company, along with the compensation that is expected to be awarded to the plaintiff.

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Our Wrongful Death Lawyers Can Assist You With Your Case

When a family loses a loved one due to an accident that was caused by the negligence of someone else, the surviving members often have several questions. How did this happen? Who is responsible? Do I have grounds to pursue wrongful death litigation in order to bring those responsible to justice? Should I hire an experienced wrongful death attorney?

For 20 years, the lawyers at our Law Office have helped bereaved families obtain millions and millions of dollars through successfully fought wrongful death lawsuits. We are well aware of the sense of loss and the incredible pain you are going through. If you would like to find out how we can assist you in pursuing justice for your loved one, we can help. Call us as soon as you can for a confidential and free consultation. We will help you understand all of your legal options and the hurdles that will be placed in front of you that can impede your efforts to get just restitution for your loss. We will listen to all the details surrounding your case, and spell out a plan to help you obtain the compensation you deserve so you can move forward in recovering from the tragedy that has befallen your family.

The Purpose of Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Texas
There are three main purposes for filing a wrongful death lawsuit in Texas. They are:

Making sure that the party or parties responsible for the accident are held liable for the negligent actions or inaction the led to the innocent victim’s death.
Compelling that responsible, negligent party to change their behavior so that, in the future, more innocent people are not injured.
Obtaining fair compensation for the victim’s family so that they can recover from the monetary setbacks they have suffered due to the victim’s death.
There is, of course, no way that any monetary sum can come close to providing enough restitution to properly compensate you for the immense loss you and your family have suffered. But it is likely that your family is undergoing some substantial financial stress, especially if the accident victim was your family’s primary provider. The wrongful death lawyers at our Law Office will work tirelessly to help you obtain just compensation for the loss you have experienced so you can turn your focus on recovering, both emotionally and mentally, from the accident that claimed your family member due to the negligence of someone else.

What Kind of Compensation Might you Obtain?
From a legal standpoint, the term “damages” means the monetary value assigned to financial and emotional losses that surviving family members of a lost love one incur after an accident. Those family members, also known as the plaintiffs in a court case, can attempt to obtain two different forms of damages in a wrongful death lawsuit: wrongful death damages and survival damages.

Wrongful death damages provide restitution to family members for financial losses they have experienced as the result of the death of their loved one and include emotional tumult as a result of grief. Spouses, children, parents, and, in some cases, siblings can seek these types of damages. A single, comprehensive wrongful death suit can be comprised of multiple wrongful death damages. These include:

Medical bills that occurred prior to the family member’s death.
Funeral bills.
The loss of financial support the victim provided his or her family before death.
Emotional and mental trauma experienced by the loved one’s family due to his or her death.
The loss of consortium and unique familial love that only the deceased could provide.
Survival damages, on the other hand, provide restitution for damages the victim could have tried to obtain had he or she not perished due to the accident but had survived with injuries. Survival damages differ from wrongful death damages in another way. Whereas in a wrongful death lawsuit, any family member can seek compensation for wrongful death damages, in the case of survival damages, only the closest living family member can seek compensation. This right moves down the line from spouse to child to parents to siblings. The kinds of survival damages that can be sought include:

Medical expenses
Property damage
Lost wages or salary
The loss of future earning capacity as a result of long-term disabling injuries
Pain and suffering the victim experienced
Emotional and mental trauma the victim experienced due to the accident.
Disfigurement compensation

Wrongful death and survival damages claims are different, so a different legal strategy must be developed for each. Each family member experiences different amounts of pain and suffering and financial loss, so the wrongful death claim has to be handled differently in each case. Both wrongful death and survival damages litigation can be very complex and intricate, and that is even before taking into account the opposition and the efforts they will undertake to defeat your case. In order to win, you need someone with substantial experience in the procedures associated with litigation. If you rely on an inexperienced attorney – or worse yet, try to tackle this litigation yourself – your case is almost guaranteed to fail. The wrongful death lawyers with our Law Office have two decades worth of experience in litigating wrongful death cases. We have heard way too many stories of legal laymen trying to represent themselves, only to see their case dismissed because of a legal loophole those laymen didn’t even know existed.

Please don’t let this happen to you. The wrongful death attorneys at our Law Office can use our considerable skill and experience to protect your rights and obtain the damages your family deserves. We know how to fulfill all procedural requirements and close whatever legal loopholes the defense may use in an attempt to avoid liability. We will hold them responsible and make them pay for the tragedy that has befallen your family. This is not only important from the perspective of getting the restitution your family deserves but also in making sure that the negligent party or parties responsible change their behavior. We will work to make sure those responsible never put another family through the pain that yours is experiencing. The attorneys at our Law Office take this critical component of wrongful death law in Texas extremely seriously.

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Determining Whether or Not You Have Grounds for Wrongful Death Litigation

There are some instances where wrongful death litigation is not black and white. It may be difficult for family members to ascertain whether they have a viable basis for a wrongful death lawsuit or not. These kinds of cases – and it’s very important to note this – are civil cases. A plaintiff can file a wrongful death lawsuit even though no laws were broken. If the driver of a car is driving too fast, and strikes and kills a pedestrian crossing through a crosswalk, that driver will not face criminal charges because he committed standard negligence. However, the victim’s family members can file a civil wrongful death lawsuit against that driver. This is the only way that the family can see justice done for that driver’s negligence.

Even if a negligent party is facing criminal charges in someone’s death, a wrongful death lawsuit can still be filed. If the above-mentioned driver was intoxicated at the time the accident occurred, that driver would probably be facing criminal charges such as intoxication manslaughter. The deceased’s family members can file a suit even though criminal charges are pending against the driver. In Texas, four conditions must be met in order for family members to be entitled to file a valid wrongful death suit:

• The responsible party or parties’ actions or inactions caused the victim’s death.
• The responsible party or parties committed some type of negligence that led to the accident and resulting death.
• The victim has surviving family members who can attempt to obtain wrongful death or survival damages.
• The family members have experienced some form of ascertainable monetary damages due to their loved one’s death.

Standards of Proof and Limits to Recoverable Damages in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

There are some instances where the ability of the plaintiff to obtain damages through the means of a wrongful death lawsuit may face some limitations. There are other cases where a plaintiff has to satisfy a more difficult standard of proof than in a more traditional type of wrongful death lawsuit.

One such example is wrongful death litigation involving medical malpractice. Lobbyists did an effective job of convincing Texas legislators that there were too many medical malpractice lawsuits, and as a result, medical costs were going through the roof. To combat these rising costs, legislators decided to pass new laws concerning medical malpractice that put a limit on the amount of monetary compensation a plaintiff could recover in a medical malpractice wrongful death lawsuit. They also raised the standard of proof that has to be satisfied in medical malpractice litigation. The legislation was successful in serving the purpose of reducing the number of frivolous lawsuits, but also had the unfortunate (and hopefully unintended) side effect of making it a lot tougher for plaintiffs in legitimate medical malpractice lawsuits to obtain the restitution they had coming to them. And those limits also mean a good portion of any settlement simply goes back to the doctor in order to pay for outstanding medical expenses. Thus, a lot of lawyers will no longer accept cases involving medical malpractice. The wrongful death lawyers at our Law Office, however, are very adept at taking on these kinds of challenging cases.

Wrongful death lawsuits that arise as a result of workplace accidents, and involve workers’ compensation insurance, can pose similar difficulties. Most people believe workers’ compensation laws were enacted to assist employees injured on the job heal from their injuries. However, just the opposite is true. These laws were enacted to protect companies from lawsuits involving employees either hurt or killed on the job. If the employer of your loved one purchased, or “subscribed to” workers’ compensation insurance, your family will substantially less compensation than you deserve for the emotional trauma you’ve gone through. But that does not mean you can’t try and obtain fair compensation through other means. The attorneys at our Law Office have a great deal of experience in determining negligent third parties that do not enjoy protection from workers’ compensation lawsuits, and we can seek to obtain wrongful death damages from them. If, for example, a faulty piece of machinery led to an accident that resulted in the death of your family member, you would be able to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer of that part. Even if the company that employed your family member is a subscriber to workers’ comp insurance, you will still be able to seek compensation through a wrongful death lawsuit if it can be proven that the employer’s gross negligence led to the victim’s death. In this kind of instance, the compensation you may obtain is not limited, as long as you have the convincing testimony and rock-solid evidence needed to justify that compensation. But the standard of proof in establishing gross negligence is extremely high.

As previously stated, a wrongful death lawsuit is a very complex and intricate piece of litigation; much more than it might look like at first sight. That’s not even taking into consideration the formidable opposition you will face in trying to get those responsible for the death of your loved one to be held accountable. To have any chance possible to succeed, you will need to seek the assistance of a skilled and experienced wrongful death lawyer.

You can attempt to represent yourself, of course. The law will not keep you from trying to do so. You must know going in that you have little to no chance of winning – and you won’t get a second chance to try. The opposition will have talent, skill, and resources that you can’t possibly match, and they will work extremely hard to defeat your case. Please contact an experienced attorney as soon as you possibly can, someone who will fight to bring you fair compensation and bring those responsible to justice. The wrongful death attorneys of our Law Office will work tirelessly to protect your family’s rights and make those responsible for the tragedy you have experienced pay dearly for their negligence.

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Wrongful Death Lawyer
Call the Attorneys at our Law Office to Speak to a Wrongful Death Lawyer

Have you suffered the tragic loss of a loved one due to the negligence of another person, either through someone’s actions or inactions? If you have experienced this tragedy, then you understand the severe emotional toll it takes on you and you know that taking the next step can be difficult.

The wrongful death lawyers at our Law Office understand the toll this experience has taken on you and can help you take the next step in this important struggle. Our fatal accident attorneys provide this article by way of information and empowerment so that you will know what your rights and legal options are, as well as what some of the obstacles and hindrances to achieving full and fair compensation as well as bringing the negligent parties to account for the accident in which your loved one was fatally injured or killed.

In the state of Texas, wrongful death laws and the legal procedures that surround wrongful death litigation are complex and full of subtleties that are a challenge for people who have studied the law, much less for a family who is in the midst of grieving the loss of a loved one. We hope that through this article we can provide some idea of what is involved in litigating these cases and what you can expect from the defense and from the lawyers you have retained to help you. After twenty years of experience in wrongful death lawsuits, the wrongful death attorneys at our Law Office have worked hard to gain a comprehensive knowledge of wrongful death law and deep competency in litigating cases where the negligence of a person causes the death of another. While we understand that talking about compensation for the death of a loved one is unsettling given how precious life is and how nothing can replace the vital member of the family you have lost, we will commit to making certain the negligent parties are brought to account for their actions, and that the grieving family is given the full and fair compensation they deserve. We hope that if you have suffered this tragedy, you will find this article useful. If you have any questions regarding wrongful death litigation or if you want to discuss your case, then call us for a free consultation.

Wrongful Death Litigation
In the state of Texas, wrongful death cases are a commonplace occurrence and are an unfortunate fixture of the courts. The types of cases that fall under the umbrella of wrongful death cases are numerous and cover situations where negligence while on the job gets a fellow co-worker killed to automobile accidents to any number of situations where the negligent action or inaction of a person results in the death of another person. The Texas state legislature has created a legal system, therefore, whereby there are certain frameworks in place that help the bereaved families and surviving loved ones pursue legal action against the negligent party or the defendant. Wrongful death cases are very serious, however, and have far-reaching ramifications that place them in a whole different category of difficult litigation from personal injury cases. The compensation for a wrongful death case can be quite high and the added bad reputation that defendants get when a jury judges them guilty is something that anyone would want to absolutely avoid. Texas civil law, therefore, holds what is called tortfeasors, that is, the convicted guilty party, responsible for the damages and the injuries that result from their actions, forcing those tortfeasors to owe a financial responsibility to the family of such victims should a wrongful death occur and the defendant is proved guilty in court.

It is not so simple for the grieving family of the deceased, however, as under the law the family bears the burden of proof to show that the negligent party is in fact guilty of negligence and did cause the death of the victim through either action or inaction. The defendant must be proven in court to have been the proximate cause for the death of the victim, a standard, which requires much investigation and a strong case since, as we all know, the standard in US law is that any defendant is innocent until proven guilty. Therefore, if you have suffered the loss of a loved one in a wrongful death situation, then you bear the burden of proving in court that the defendant was negligent and was the proximate cause of the death of the victim. Once you have shown that the defendant is the proximate cause of the death, you must show a carefully quantified list of damages that you expect to be compensated by the defendant, showing your eligibility through a precise listing of all of your financial burden that has come as a part of this experience of losing a loved one, as well as a quantified listing showing your emotional trauma. There are two different kinds of damages that the plaintiff has the option to prove under Texas law: there are wrongful death damages and there are survival damages.

Wrongful Death Damages
The wrongful death damages include a wide range of financial and emotional losses that can be tallied and shown in court. There is a strongly subjective component to wrongful death damages in that some of the damages are intangible, as with any claim for compensation for suffering and emotional trauma. Wrongful death damages are based on the legal idea that the grieving family of the deceased deserves to get restitution for any emotional trauma, as well as for the actual loss of the deceased family member. These damages could include quantifiable losses for emotional and mental pain and suffering, loss of an integral member of the family unit, loss of potential future revenue based on the wages that the deceased brought in, as well as any other loss that can be shown to take place in the absence of the victim. The idea is that the defendant in taking the victim’s life impacted the whole family consortium and has taken something from them all. These damages can often be difficult to show in court as they carry a strong intangible component and require the careful strategy of a lawyer to build into an argument for the total loss that the grieving family of the loved one has suffered as a result of his or her death.

Survival Damages
Survival damages are a much more objective set of damages that are essentially inherited by one of the deceased victim’s family members and equal the total set of damages that the deceased might have claimed for himself or herself if he or she had not perished. This would include any claims that could be made as a part of a personal injury lawsuit involving trauma, hospital bills, severe emotional anguish, as well as lost wages during convalescence, loss of future work opportunities based on injury, and any additional loss of property or opportunity. Whoever is the rightful estate executor of the victim can claim the survival damages and pursue a lawsuit based on these in court.

The Trial, The Suit, and the Settlement
Despite what people commonly think about wrongful death lawsuits, most do not end up in court in front of a jury. In the greater majority of wrongful death cases, the settlement is decided before the trial period even begins. The lawyers for the defense and the lawyers for the plaintiff will undertake a lengthy and comprehensive investigation, each trying to bring to light the facts of the case, but where the council for the plaintiff is working to help bring full and just compensation to the family of the victim, the council for the defense will be working hard to prevent the settlement from taking place by discounting the plaintiff’s claim and showing that the defendant was not liable or that the damages claimed by the plaintiff are too high or false. The council for the defense will contact the insurance company for the individuals involved and you can be certain that the insurance company will send a team of insurance adjusters who have had years of denying claims to show how each part of the claim is somehow false or lacking in proof in order to prevent the plaintiff from achieving any sort of fair and just settlement. During this period, the council for the defense, should the defense retain the legal assistance of an experienced and competent lawyer with years of experience in wrongful death cases, will be conducting another investigation. This investigation will take into account all the evidence available from the initial accident, although much of it can be compromised by either time or the actions of individuals who hope to conceal their role in the wrongful death of another. The attorneys retained to help protect the rights of the family of the victim will build a case that relies on all aspects of the investigation, on evidence gathered from the scene, on interviews, and on police reports. Once both the council for the plaintiff has gathered their evidence and built a preliminary defense, the outline of a proposed settlement will be sent to the defense attorneys who will then review the proposal and based on their impression of the negative exposure they could suffer if the case goes to court weighed against the possibility of having to pay the amount demanded, they will decide to either accept the offer, and pay the settlement, reject the preliminary offer but leave open the option for a compromise, or reject the offer outright and go to court. Before this point in the whole proceeding, everything will have taken place outside the legal realm and in the offices of the lawyers, but at this point, the motions that have been filed will require the attorneys on both sides to accept that a court case will happen. At this point, the whole case will rest on the courtroom skills of the attorneys and the investigations they have built.

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I Have Suffered the Wrongful Death of a Loved One. What Is My Next Step?

The number one most important first step if you have suffered this tragedy is to avoid signing any document that admits liability or any document that agrees to a settlement in exchange for an agreement on your part not to sue the defendant. In many cases, the grieving family of a victim feels like it is important to get closure in the situation and will agree to settle and give up their rights to sue. The settlement will not take into account so much of the loss that the family of the victim has experienced and can often be fully detrimental to achieving any sort of financial balance after the tragedy.

The next step is to retain the services of a competent and capable and experienced attorney who has worked in wrongful death law before and who understands how fast evidence will disappear following an accident such as this. The witnesses will start to forget what happened and whether any malicious intent will compromise the actual scene of the accident. The attorney you retain will need to begin the investigation immediately and start building a strong case for your damages and for the necessary settlement. Remember, as soon as the accident happens, defense attorneys and insurance adjusters are going to be working against you every step of the way, trying to gather evidence showing that your loved one was liable for his or her own death, trying to get you to settle for something less, and trying to build a case disproving your financial needs as stated in your list of damages. If you have experienced a tragedy like this you need a fatal accident lawyer who knows the ropes and can help you get the settlement you deserve.

Here at our Law Office, the wrongful death attorneys have been working for 20 years to help the aggrieved families of fatal accident victims get compensation as well as the justice that they deserve for the loss they have suffered. We know the situations and have dealt with law offices and insurance companies all over the state and the nation. They know us too. Our experience and our reputation for success will convince some defendants to accept an out-of-court settlement demand from us, but if they do not, we are eager to stand up for your rights in court. We will build an investigation that will protect your rights to just and fair compensation. If you have lost a loved one to a fatal accident anywhere across the state of Texas, then don’t hesitate to get the justice you deserve and call us for a free consultation.

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Intentions of a Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Texas Attorney on Why You Should File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

A wrongful death lawsuit has two primary goals: to secure adequate financial compensation to the family of the deceased and to prevent future accidents by bringing about changes with the negligence parties.

Under Texas civil law, defendants who may not be held accountable under criminal law can be held fiscally responsible for deaths they caused under civil law, so a wrongful death lawsuit is often the only way to bring the parties who caused your loved one’s death to justice. The laws governing wrongful death often overlap and can be very complex, so you will likely need the assistance of an experienced wrongful death attorney to secure the compensation you seek.

The unexpected and sudden shock caused by the tragic death of a loved one in a fatal accident can be devastating no matter where it happens — on the road, at work, or on someone else’s property. While nothing compares to the emotional loss you have sustained, the financial distress caused by the death of a family member can also be tremendous. On top of figuring out how to live without the deceased family member, surviving loved ones must also try to determine whether or not the family has legal recourse for compensation and whether or not they need a Texas wrongful death attorney. The attorneys at our Law Office have been successfully litigating wrongful death claims all over the Lone Star State for 20 years, and we want to help you understand that recovering from the financial setbacks is one of the primary intentions of wrongful death lawsuits.

What are Damages in Wrongful Death Lawsuits?
The surviving family members in wrongful death lawsuits have the right to damages. From a legal perspective, damages do not refer to the harm done to the plaintiffs but to the financial value of that harm. The loved ones of the deceased in most wrongful death lawsuits may pursue two types of damages: wrongful death damages and survival damages.

Wrongful Death Damages
Only spouses, children, parents, and in rare cases dependent siblings may seek wrongful death damages in most car accident cases. Wrongful death damages may include:

The victim’s medical expenses prior to death
Funeral expenses
Loss of future monetary support the victim would have provided
Compensation for mental and emotional trauma and the loss of the unique familial love provided by the deceased

Texas wrongful death attorney
Survival Damages
With Survival damages, the closest living relative may pursue compensation for the damages the victim could have pursued had he or she only suffered injuries in the accident and not died. The line of ascension for survival damages goes from spouse to children to parents and finally to siblings. Examples of survival damages include:

Medical bills.
Property damage.
Lost wages during the hospital stay the victim would have had if he or she had survived and recovered.
Lost earning capacity due to possible long-term severe injuries.
The victim’s physical pain and suffering.
The victim’s emotional or mental distress he or she would have endured during the rehabilitation process if he or she had only been injured.

Varieties of Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Someone can die due to someone else’s negligence in a variety of ways — due to an accident involving a wide variety of vehicles: cars, trucks, buses, planes, trains, and motorcycles; then can be wrongfully killed at work in dangerous jobs like construction or relatively safe jobs like clerking in a bank, and they die while visiting a property whose owner negligently ignored a responsibility to provide for the safety of his or her patrons.

No matter how the wrongful death occurred, resolving a wrongful death lawsuit is seldom easy and usually requires the expert touch of an experienced attorney.

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Automobile Accident Obstacles

In car and truck accident wrongful death cases, people often lie about their degree of liability in order to avoid fiscal responsibility and possible criminal charges for their negligence. You need the help of an attorney skilled in investigating the scene of like accidents to determine the negligence of all responsible parties and be able to prove it in the court of law. In all forms of wrongful death lawsuits, the burden of proof falls on the plaintiff to establish the negligence of the liable parties. Our attorneys have mastered the art of investigation in the 20 years we’ve been handling cases, and we leave no stone unturned: sequestering and examining all vehicles involved, gathering forensic evidence, locating and questioning witnesses, and searching for video or photographic proof.

On-the-Job Wrongful Death Cases
When it comes to wrongful deaths in the workplace, you are even more in need of representation. Just knowing how to proceed with such a case can be complex since how a case is handled depends heavily on whether or not the employer purchased workers’ compensation insurance. The handling of an on-the-job wrongful death claim differs entirely whether the employer was a subscriber who bought workers’ comp insurance or a non-subscriber who didn’t. Just like with vehicular wrongful deaths, on-the-job wrongful death cases often involve trickery and deception in which some employers feign having workers’ compensation insurance when they don’t, and other employers deny that their employees are actually employees, calling them contractors to avoid liability. Only an experienced lawyer can see through all of the lies and protect your family’s right to compensation and the ability to seek justice against those responsible for your loved one’s death.

Premises Liability Wrongful Death Cases

If your loved one was killed while visiting a property owned by somebody else, then you may have a wrongful death lawsuit under premises liability. The owners of properties have the duty to provide for the safety of visitors to their property. However, different duties or owed to different types of visitors, so you need the guidance of a skilled wrongful death attorney to determine whether your loved one had a duty of safety denied to him or her by the owner of the property on which he or she was killed. You will need an attorney who can hold that liable party responsible for his or her negligence.

An Experienced Civil Lawyer Can Help Bring You Justice
During the course of the investigation to establish grounds for a civil lawsuit to resolve a wrongful death, our lawyers occasionally find evidence to suggest the death was due to an intentional act, and we are able to pursue criminal justice against the perpetrators. In most cases, however, the monetary damages we are able to secure go toward ensuring that the responsible parties will not commit their negligent acts again. In the end, the result of more wrongful death litigation is fewer wrongful deaths.

If you have lost a loved one due to any type of wrongful death, then call us today for a free consultation and find out how we can help. We will answer any questions you may have about the specific details of your case and help you start down the road to recovery.

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Wrongful Death Statute of Limitations
What is the Statute of Limitations for a Wrongful Death in Texas?

If you’ve had the unfortunate experience to lose a loved one in wrongful death, grieving the loss can take many months to many years. However, during this understandably difficult and emotional time, it’s in your best interests to contact competent legal help before the statute of limitations expires and you’re no longer able to seek just compensation for your loss.

Additionally, certain exceptions exist that can allow for an increase in the time allotted for wrongful death statute of limitations. To further assist you in understanding the statute of limitations for wrongful death cases, our Texas wrongful death attorneys explain what that means, as well as the multiple exceptions that might benefit your case.

What is the Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Death Cases?
The statute of limitations equals the time that you have as a possible plaintiff to bring legal action against a possible defendant. In wrongful death cases, the statute of limitations allows two years from the accident’s date for a victim to resolve a claim or file a wrongful death lawsuit. However, the following exceptions can apply to certain instances. Contacting our competent lawyers can help you understand if such exceptions might apply to your case.

The Plaintiff Cannot File Due to a Physical or Mental Incapacity
A mother and daughter might be involved in an auto accident caused by the negligence of a drunk driver where the daughter dies and the mother is in a coma for five years. The mother has the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit, but she was physically incapable of doing so within the two-year statute of limitations. This is an exception that can result in an extension, allowing the mother to bring a wrongful death suit against the responsible parties.

Unknown Accident Cause or Unknown Defendant
A man may unexpectedly die and his autopsy shows little as to the cause of his death. Many years later a certain experimental drug that he was taking is shown to have contributed to his death. Even if two years have passed, the victim’s family may still be entitled to present a wrongful death suit. This is known as the “discovery rule” in Texas law and means that if a plaintiff doesn’t know what caused a wrongful death or who perpetrated the crime, the statute of limitations does not begin until that information has come to light. This allows for just compensation to be made to a victim’s family if pertinent information regarding a victim’s death was not known at the time of their passing.

Fraudulent Defendants
Some defendants in wrongful death cases might attempt to lie about their involvement in the death for two years, hoping that they’ll never be found out during the statute of limitations. If this perpetrator is found to have been lying about their involvement and can also be held responsible for wrongful death, an extension can be granted allowing you to seek fair compensation for your loss.

The Plaintiff is a Minor
Minors that can be plaintiffs in a wrongful death case have until the age of twenty years old to bring a suit against a possible defendant. Essentially, their statute of limitations for bringing a case starts when they turn 18, giving them two years from that time to seek justice for their loss.

Sometimes it’s better that a parent or guardian brings a suit on behalf of a minor before that minor is of age to do so themselves. Plaintiffs in many wrongful death cases are served best by quick action after the accident has occurred. Evidence can be lost over time and witnesses might not be as valuable years in the future when the minor can bring their own lawsuit. If a parent or guardian brings a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of a minor, a court-appointed ad litem third-party attorney will be assigned to the child to ensure that his or her best interests are being served by the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is not brought on behalf of a child while they are still a minor, that child retains the right to seek just compensation when they turn eighteen.

Unknown Date of Death
If a victim’s family is under the impression that their loved one has been missing for years, only to find out after two years or more that their loved one was in fact murdered, that family may be entitled to an extension. Since the victim’s family was not aware of their loved one’s death at the time it occurred, an extension may be granted so that the family can seek fair compensation.

Our Experienced Texas Wrongful Death Lawyers Can Help
Should you be in the position to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against a responsible party, it’s important that you act quickly and contact us to understand what your options might be. Wrongful death cases have a statute of limitations of two years. In instances like those described above, you may be able to extend that time.

Whatever the case may be, you should contact us as soon as possible after a wrongful death accident to allow us to help you understand which instance might fit your case. The competent Texas wrongful death lawyers at our Law Office have 20 years of experience in dealing with the intricacies of these kinds of cases. We’re here to help you in your time of need, and will seek to help you get fair compensation for your loss.

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