Personal Injury Attorneys
A wrongful death claim occurs when someone dies due to another person’s negligence. If you lost a loved one, you may be able to file a lawsuit for wrongful death. Before filing a claim, most clients have a series of questions to ask. Here are three questions that you may need to be answered before you file your wrongful death claim.
What Damages Can You Recover?
Every state has different laws when it comes to damages that you can recover during a wrongful death lawsuit. Often, the economic losses that you are allowed to recover include funeral and burial expenses, recovery of the deceased person’s earning capacity, loss of prospective inheritance and noneconomic damages. If your loved one experienced pain or suffering before his or her death, then you may be able to recover damages for that.
Do You Have to Go to Court?
Wrongful death claims do not always make it to trial. When it comes to civil court, clients often settle before they have to go to trial. Whether you go to trial depends heavily on the circumstances of your case. You must be prepared to go to court, even if there is a chance you won’t have to. Trials can be long and expensive, so always keep that in mind. An attorney can help you decide whether a trial is worth pursuing or if you should settle your case.
Should You Have Representation?
To pursue a wrongful death claim, it helps to have representation. While it is legal to represent yourself in a wrongful death suit, it may not be the best decision. Wrongful death claims are expensive to pursue. You need evidence, experts and witnesses. If you are having financial difficulties due to the death of a loved one, you may not be able to fund your case. A lawyer will have the resources to handle the claim. Most lawyers work for a contingency fee. This means that he or she receives a percentage of the settlement. In addition to resources, wrongful death lawyers have experience in litigation. Without experience, you may not know how to counter someone’s defense. Presenting your case may be more difficult than you imagine.
When it comes to wrongful death, you should not have to fight your case on your own. When you have representation, you are more likely to have the case end in your favor. To find out more about your next steps, contact a wrongful death lawyer in Washington, DC, like from Cohen & Cohen, today to set up a meeting.