A wrongful death occurs when an individual dies as the result of another party’s negligence in, for example, a car or truck accident death or an accident at work. Families of wrongful death victims may file a wrongful death lawsuit against the negligent party. In a wrongful death lawsuit, the family of the victim is seeking economic and non-economic damages for the loss of their loved one due to another party’s improper conduct. The wrongful death laws from state to state can be very different, so please contact us so we can inform you of your rights to recover for a loved one’s death as a result of another’s negligence.
New York’s wrongful death laws were established to ensure compensation for families of wrongful death victims as well as to provide an incentive for others to act more carefully and safely with the health and welfare of others. In New York, the surviving family members can recover for the economic loss suffered as a result of the death of a parent, spouse, sibling or child. We have handled scores of wrongful death cases. Often, we will retain expert physicians and economists to fully articulate the true damages surviving family suffer.
A wrongful death lawsuit is a civil action, not a criminal action. The case will be decided based on the preponderance of the evidence. This means that the burden of proof lies with the family filing the wrongful death lawsuit. The family has to provide evidence to the court showing that the party in question should be held accountable for their loved one’s death. Our overall goal is to ensure the responsible party is brought to justice for their improper conduct and achieve full and fair compensation for the surviving family members.
We have handled many of these cases and will immediately and meticulously investigate the case and ensure all of the facts of the case are presented to the court in a clear and concise manner. Since the burden of proof is the responsibility of the victim’s family, having an attorney with wrongful death expertise is essential.