Los Angeles Wrongful Death Lawyer
Sadly, wrongful deaths are a frequent occurrence in the Los Angeles area. Every day, innocent people fall victim to preventable accidents caused by negligent professionals, unsafe work environments, careless property owners or pedestrians, and defective products. Losing a loved one under any of these circumstances is quite devastating. Pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit does not undo anything that has happened, but rather provides a form of closure and justice for your loss.
Peck Law Corp. is a Los Angeles-based wrongful death lawyer here to help you. Here at Peck Law Corp, we offer empathetic and compassionate legal services without compromising professionalism to help you navigate the court process and ensure the culpable party is held accountable for your loss.
What is a Wrongful Death?
Before filing a wrongful death claim, you must know what it entails to ensure your case falls within the description.
In this regard, wrongful death is a tort claim that enables surviving family members and dependents of victims of tortious actions to claim economic damages for the loss of their loved one. Therefore, if a negligent act causes injury that ultimately leads to the victim's death, the person responsible for the action is liable and could be forced to pay damages to the victim’s survivors.
In California law, to which the Los Angeles area is subject, wrongful death is defined as a legal claim that arises when someone’s death results from another person’s negligent act or omission. It is not a criminal act equal to murder or homicide; instead, it is a civil claim where the plaintiff seeks to hold the defendant liable for someone’s death.
If found guilty, defendants are not always sentenced to jail. However, they are ordered to remunerate the victim’s family and dependents for financial losses such as medical and funeral expenses and other damages.
Types of Wrongful Death Cases
When looking for a wrongful death lawyer in Los Angeles to present your claim before the court, it is essential to pick one with experience handling the type of accident that led to your loved one's untimely demise. Skilled representation plays a huge role in determining your claim’s success.
The legal team at Peck Law Group has accumulated vital experience over the years representing families and dependents of victims of different types of wrongful claims. Although these cases have different circumstances and facts surrounding them, they have a similar purpose: to recover damages from the perpetrators' tortious acts that result in loss of life.
Let’s look at the different types of wrongful death cases.
Car Accidents
Car accidents are perhaps the most common circumstance leading to wrongful death claims. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that about 42,915 people succumbed to fatal motor vehicle crash injuries last year.
If you lost your loved one to a car accident caused by another party, you might be entitled to compensation in a wrongful death suit.
Premises Liability
When you legally enter another person’s property, it is assumed they have taken all necessary precautions to ensure the premise is free from factors that may lead to injury. Unfortunately, accidents pinned to a property owner’s failure to take safety precautions on their premises are common.
They range from inadequate security to dangerous walkways and stairs, untamed pets, and other perils.
Products Liability
Product manufacturers and distributors are legally required to protect their consumers from any harm or injury resulting from their product’s use and consumption. Therefore, they are accountable if their failure to develop safe designs or include warnings of potential hazards on their product causes fatal consumer injuries.
Medical Malpractice
We all trust doctors to attend to our ailing loved ones and take reasonable care to ensure their health and safety. However, avoidable medical errors and malpractice account for thousands of annual fatalities.
The loss of a loved one after a botched medical procedure forms part of a wrongful death claim.
Workplace Injuries
Employees are obligated to rid the work environment of any injury risk and ensure it is free from hazards, especially in risky workplaces. The obligation includes ensuring their employees are adequately trained and have the required safety equipment.
Suppose the failure to adhere to these requirements leads to a fatal occupational injury; they are liable for a wrongful death suit.
If any of these circumstances culminated in the demise of a loved one, our Los Angeles wrongful death lawyers could advise you on the way forward and launch a formidable case on your behalf.
How to Prove a Wrongful Death Case
Before getting compensation for a wrongful death claim, you must present relevant evidence to support your claim. Your wrongful death lawyers need to establish the circumstances of your case fall within the elements of negligence theory, including:
Duty of care: The plaintiffs must prove the defendant owed the defendant a duty to exercise reasonable care to ensure they are safe from harm.
Breach of the duty of care: There must be proof that the defendant’s actions violated the established duty of care. The infringement can either be by a negligent act or failure to act reasonably.
Injury caused: Once the defendant’s breach of duty of care is established, you need to prove their actions, or failure to act, caused the deceased’s injury and eventual demise.
Damages: Finally, the deceased’s family and dependents need to prove the negligence resulted in compensable losses. These include quantifiable losses such as lost wages, medical bills and funeral costs, and emotional and psychological anguish.
Working with a qualified Los Angeles wrongful death attorney from Peck Law Corp. could make it easier to collect the relevant evidence and prove your case before a judge and jury.
Why You Should Choose Peck Law Corp.
Our lawyers here at Peck Law Corp are committed to helping families and dependents whose loved ones' lives were cut short get justice for their loss. We believe most abrupt deaths caused by accidents and general negligence are avoidable, and people who live with the adverse consequences need adequate compensation for their troubles.
Therefore, we are dedicated to providing compassionate and professional legal services to ensure success in your wrongful death claim.
If you have experienced the loss of a loved one in avoidable circumstances caused by a second party, schedule a consultation with our Los Angeles wrongful death lawyers. We will provide you with the support and legal representation you need. Contact us today.