WRONGFUL DEATH

The phrase "wrongful death" is well known to Rad Law Group. From a legal perspective, it is a type of case that allows experienced personal injury lawyers to obtain compensation for the families of people who have lost their lives due to the negligence or wrongful acts of others. For those that have lost a loved one, the phrase almost seems insulting. It seems troubling that the loss of a loved one can be distilled into a legal concept. However, the wrongful death legal action can provide important relief and solace to suffering families forcing negligent actors, whether individuals or big corporations, and their insurance companies to pay a price for their harmful actions and to provide families with a revenue stream that they may not otherwise have had as a direct result of losing a father or a mother or a spouse. Generally, California law allows spouses, domestic partners and the children of the deceased (and even grandchildren in some cases) to sue for wrongful death.

At Rad Law Group, our experienced personal injury lawyers have long struggled with the concept of compensating people who have lost a loved one. They struggle because they understand the deep sadness that cannot be eased by mere financial compensation. The heartbreak and agony cannot be put into words, and the filing of a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of a family that has suffered the loss of a loved one necessarily requires involvement of the family often exacerbating this heartbreak and agony. At Rad Law Group, our personal injury attorneys strive to minimize the intrusion into the lives of our clients. This is because we know that the last thing a grieving family wants to deal with is a lawyer. However, we simultaneously understand how important it is that wrongdoers are punished and that our clients are compensated for their loss. While there can be no compensation that will ever make up for the loss of a loved one, California law provides for the redress of wrongs and for compensation to the families as a result of their financial losses and what is called “loss of consortium”.

Financial losses may be in the form of funeral and burial expenses, lost wages, future earnings, retirement benefits and other benefits such as health insurance the deceased would have earned, the value of household services such as child care, housekeeping and maintenance services that the deceased provided for family members, medical expenses incurred by the deceased before death and various other losses directly related to the loss of the loved one. California law recognizes your loved one's contributions to household expenses, education, and other needs of the family. Such financial losses can be exorbitant in some cases, especially when children are involved.

In addition to direct financial losses, the spouses of loved ones are able to seek damages for "loss of consortium" under California law. Loss of consortium is the loss experienced by the spouse (or domestic partner) associated with loss of companionship, affection and love, loss of household services and loss of sexual relations. These are the intangible benefits of a marriage that are immeasurable.

What is wrongful death? In short, it is the death of someone that was caused by the negligence or the willful misconduct of a person or a corporation. In the case of the average person, it might be from a car accident, an act of violence (whether intentional or not) or simply someone who was acting recklessly that caused the death of someone. In the case of corporations, it may be the result of a defective product or the release of toxins into the environment typically due to a disregard for the safety of human beings causing catastrophic injury. The range of wrongful acts is wide, but in the end the result is the same – the death of someone’s loved one. Whatever the cause, at Rad Law Group, we have decades of experience fighting for our clients to get them the maximum compensation available under the law whether we are fighting a big corporation or an individual or their insurance companies. Our personal injury attorneys are experts at telling your story to the judge and the jury. In many cases, insurance companies will be involved, and they will fight hard to pay as little as possible. Insurance companies, individual wrongdoers and large corporations will all have attorneys aggressively fighting on their behalf to ensure that they pay out as little as possible, no matter how horrendous their actions were. At Rad Law Group, our wrongful death team stands ready to martial the evidence via documentation and witnesses necessary to establish the liability of the wrongdoer, especially where the wrongdoer is a big corporation, and to establish the extent of our clients’ financial and personal loss. We fight the insurance companies by making sure that they understand how strong the evidence is against their client, and just how tremendous our clients’ personal loss is. In this way, our personal injury lawyers are able to force big corporations and the insurance companies to the bargaining table. In the end, it is Rad Law Group’s readiness to go to trial that is the driving force behind the firm’s success. Our wrongful death team uses every legal tool available under California law to fight for you and your family, and we work closely with our clients to accomplish that goal.

Unfortunately wrongful death cases in California, as in most states, require loved ones to act within a certain period of time (based on what is called the “statute of limitations”). The statute of limitations for wrongful death is just two years with some technical exceptions. Accordingly, it is important that those who have lost a loved one act fast, and that they do not underestimate the importance of seeking the advice of an experienced personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.

If you have lost someone you loved due to the wrongful acts of another or others, contact the experienced wrongful death team at San Jose’s Rad Law Group for a free consultation at (408) 241-5300.

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