Amarillo Wrongful Death Lawyer

Michael Grossman Discusses Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit After Losing a Family Member Due To Negligence

After a tragic accident in which a family member dies because of someone else's negligence, the surviving family member often is left with many disturbing questions. How did this ever happen and who caused this accident? Can I file a wrongful death lawsuit to bring those responsible to justice? Do I need to hire an Amarillo wrongful death attorney?

The attorneys at Grossman Law Offices understand the intense pain and horrible sense of loss that you are experiencing right now. We have been, after all, helping grieving families through wrongful death cases for over two decades. To help you learn how you may be able to pursue justice and to help you understand some of the hurdles that you may face we have prepared this brief informative article.

Some Reasons for Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Filing a wrongful death lawsuit fulfills three essential functions here in Texas:

• A lawsuit will hold the liable party or parties, whose negligence caused the death of the innocent person, fully accountable.
• A lawsuit will hopefully encourage the negligent party or parties to change their types of behavior so that similar accidents do not injure or kill more people in the future.
• A lawsuit will ensure that the victim's family receive fair and full financial compensation so that they can overcome the financial losses that they have suffered in the tragedy.

Obviously no amount of money can ever adequately compensate you after the tragic loss of a loved one. You must consider, however, that most likely you and your family have suffered a huge monetary strain because of the loss of your loved one, made even more significant if the deceased was the principle wage earner. The attorneys here at Grossman Law Offices can help you gain compensation for these monetary losses that you have suffered; this will enable you to concentrate on recovering both physically and emotionally. We seek to help you recover financially while at the same time ensuring that those guilty of this tragedy are brought to justice.

Wrongful Death Compensation

Damages is a term that describes the financial losses that you have suffered as a result of your loss. Damages does not refer to the actual injuries. The surviving family members may pursue two types of damages after the death of a loved one: wrongful death damages and survival damages. Wrongful death damages are meant to compensate the grieving family for any financial losses that they may have suffered; these include emotional distress caused by the bereavement. These damages may be sought by the spouses, children and parents of the deceased, and may be recovered for the following:

• Those medical expenses incurred prior to the victim's death.
• Funeral costs.
• Loss of the financial support provided by the victim before death.
• Emotional trauma and mental trauma suffered by family members because of the death.
• Loss of consortium that had been supplied only by the deceased.

Survival damages, in contrast, provide compensation for the value of the lawsuit that the victim could have pursed had that victim survived the accident and had only been injured. Only the closest family member may seek survival damages; in effect, this family member serves as a proxy for the deceased and basically inherits the personal injury lawsuit that the deceased would have been able to file had that victim lived. The right to pursue survival damages transfers from spouse to children to patents to siblings. Only one family member may seek survival damages while all surviving family members may seek wrongful death damages.

Survival damages may include:

• Medical bills
• Property damages
• Lost wages
• Loss of future potential income because of long-term injuries
• The physical pain and suffering felt by the victim before death
• Mental and emotional trauma felt by the deceased before death
• Compensation for disfigurement

Wrongful death claims and survival damages claims require entirely different legal strategies in order to be successful. If multiple family members are filing wrongful death claims then each also must be handled differently, since each family member will have suffered different degrees of financial loss and different amounts of pain and suffering. Even before having to litigate these against the opposing lawyers, these types of claims are very intricate and complex, and require years and years of hands-on legal experience. This is most definitely not the arena for the inexperienced lawyer let alone the non-attorney attempting self-representation. In the two plus decades that the Amarillo wrongful death attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have been working with these cases we have heard of many individuals who have tried to represent themselves. None were successful.

In contrast, Michael Grossman and his fellow attorneys at Grossman Law will work to close all those legal loopholes that exist to ensure that the negligent party or parties will be brought to justice and that you will receive every penny to which you are so entitled. We take our responsibilities both to you and to seeing that justice is done very, very seriously.

Do You Have Grounds for a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

Many times these wrongful death cases are not cut and dry; consequently the grieving family may not know for sure if they actually have grounds for filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Since these cases are not criminal but rather civil in nature it is important to remember that the negligent party does not have to break a law in order for there to be a case. Often the only way to pursue justice is to file a wrongful death charge. For example, if a motorist is speeding down the highway and kills a pedestrian, only standard negligence would apply; this would not be a criminal but rather a civil act and no criminal charges would be filed. The only recourse available would be to file a wrongful dearth claim. An experienced Amarillo wrongful death lawyer can elucidate further on this important aspect.

In another case, a wrongful death lawsuit may be filed even if the negligent party is also facing criminal charges. In the preceding example, if the driver had also been drunk when striking that pedestrian then the bereaved family could also file a wrongful death claim. Under law a wrongful death claim must meet four conditions in order to be initiated:

• The action or lack of action of another party or parties lead to the victim's death.
• The party or partiers showed negligence at the time of the accident.
• The family members that survive are eligible to seek survival or wrongful death damages.
• These family members have suffered measurable financial losses, or damages, as a result of this death.

Limiting Factors to the Recovery of Damages and Higher Required Standards of Proof

Sometimes recovery of damages may be limited and in other cases there may exist the need to meet a higher standard of proof than in other cases. Recent legislative reforms were passes ostensibly to prevent frivolous lawsuits; the reality has been that it is now even harder for legitimate victims to receive compensation. This has lead many law firms to shy away from these complex types of cases, but not Grossman Law Offices.

There are also similar problems because of workers compensation insurance. Many people assume that workers comp insurance is geared to help injured employees to recover; in reality, it is meant to protect their employers against lawsuits. If the employer of your deceased family member had workers comp insurance then the amount recoverable will be much less than the actual harm that was incurred. You still may, however, be able to seek compensation from a third partly that might have shared liability. An example would be a piece of machinery that malfunctioned helping to create the deadly accident; in that case you could also sue the manufacturer for their liability. In addition, if the employer committed gross negligence in the death of your loved one then you still could seek compensation beyond that provided by that employer's workers comp insurance.

As you may see, wrongful dearth lawsuits are considerably more complex then they may first appear to be. To assist you you will most definitely need the help of a good Amarillo wrongful death attorney such as Michael Grossman, in order to protect your family's rights and make those who were negligent pay fair compensation.

Some Obstacles that you May Encounter

Defendants in wrongful death lawsuits are well aware that there is a lot of money riding on the outcome of one of these cases and will consequently do all that they can do to deflect responsibility from themselves. They will generally employ wily defense attorneys and will bring in accident recreation specialists and aggressive insurance adjusters, all with the mandate to deny or a least substantially reduce your wrongful death claim. These insurance company specialists will do what ever they can to preserve the insurance company's obsession with their own bottom line

It is critically important that you, as the victim, take action as soon as possible to start building your own case. This first means collecting evidence. Evidence is very important and also has a habit of disappearing quickly from the scene of an accident, particularly from accidents that occur at construction sites or on our highways. Witnesses may change their stories, evidence may be tampered with - the list of things that may happen is almost endless. Once we are retained, our attorneys will begin to investigate your accident immediately. We will sequester and examine all vehicles involved, locate witness testimonies, get police reports, take photographs, secure video surveillance footage and evaluate any forensic evidence. We have been doing these types of investigations for over two decades and we understand the importance of being thorough, fast and diligent in our efforts.

Grossman Law Offices Can Help You

The attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have been successfully litigating wrongful death and survival damages for over 20 years. During this period of time we have won millions and millions of dollars in settlements for our Texas clients from major insurance companies and manufacturers throughout the United States. Our reputation is stellar and our track record is outstanding.

If you have lost a family member due to someone else's negligence, then contact Grossman Law Offices today at 1-855-239-1289 (toll-free). We are available to you 24 hours a day and offer a complimentary consultation. Michael Grossman and the other Amarillo wrongful death attorneys at Grossman Law Offices look forward to discussing your case with you and to answering all of your specific questions. We understand that this is an exceptionally difficult time for you and your family and we would like to help.