When you experience the unexpected loss of a family member under any circumstance, it is going to be emotionally challenging and likely the most painful thing you will ever experience. Adding to the pain and suffering you are undergoing comes the feeling that there is very little time for your grief, and many things that need to be dealt with are starting to pile up. First up are the unexpected costs from the accident, and there will be others. One of them is finding out that there is a person or entity that is responsible for the death of your loved one. Many people have nobody to turn to with experience on what to do with that information.
The loss of a loved one is never lessened because they are ill, and the family awaits their passing. There is time to plan and budget for the coming costs and losses, though, and it’s a noticeable difference. The unexpected death of your spouse, a child, or even a parent, is going to be different than any loss you might have already experienced. Even more so if they were a financially contributing member of the household. When you add in the potential cost of pursuing a person or company for causing your loss, you will want to talk to someone who is experienced in matters like this. If you are in this situation and position, please contact the Normandie Law Firm. We are ready to help you deal with the various aspects of your loss at the hands of someone, and review for you the potential of bringing a wrongful death lawsuit in California.
The purpose of the lawsuit and the financial gain will not replace the family that has been taken away from everyone. It hopefully replaces the support that would have been provided for the family. At worst, it will cover the costs of their medical treatment and the expense of their passing. Those items are often a challenge to handle since they may be unplanned for and are going to be unexpected and expensive.
When you lose a family member to a wrongful death, we can help you hold the person responsible for that loss. Many of our clients want to know what the pursuit of the person responsible is going to cost them. With all the other unexpected costs, it is a reasonable question to have. The question we get is what the average price of hiring a wrongful death lawyer in California will be. The team at Normandie Law Firm is going to answer that question and many more.
Many recent surveys show the average billing rate for civil lawyers in California is often $350.00 per hour or more. Any law firm with a solid reputation for successful litigation bills more per hour still. When reviewing the estimates of upfront costs for filing a wrongful death lawsuit, the costs to initiate the process can be as high as $25,000. At the Normandie Law Firm, when we take you on as a client, we do not charge you for upfront legal fees or expenses.
Our team at Normandie Law Firm is all highly experienced lawyers for cases involving the unexpected death of a parent, husband, wife, or child. Without expert advice, sorting through the legal system will be very challenging and result in being incredibly frustrating. We are ready to help you, using our experience in litigation and negotiation, to pursue the responsible people or entity. When we take the case to court or settle with their insurance company, we will only bill you after the matter is settled and you have received damages, which will include our legal fees. There will be more on this later.
When you want to bring a lawsuit against the person or entity that is responsible for the death of your family member, please call our legal staff at the Normandie Law Firm. We can answer many of your questions while on the phone and can schedule your initial consultation with a wrongful death lawyer in California as soon as you have the time to meet. This initial meeting is complimentary, and our goal is to assess the merits of your case and address any further questions you may have about the process.
Once our lawyers have reviewed the details about the death and the circumstances of the event, their first action is going to be to review the legal merits of the case and your grounds to file a wrongful death lawsuit. We will review that with you. We will make the resources you need available so that you can make a good decision about your next steps. Please call our team when you are ready to begin the process. One item regarding the decision on filing we want you to know before you leave our first meeting is the time limit to file a wrongful death lawsuit in California.
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The California Statute Of Limitations For Filing A Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Any wrongful death lawsuit has a time limit of 2 years to file with the court system. The time limit begins on the date of the passing of your family member. If the lawsuit is not filed before the time period expires, you may lose your ability to receive compensation for the wrongful death. There are some limited exceptions to this time limit that will give you additional time to file. They deal with circumstances such as the entity being sued or the actual cause of death date. Please call the Normandie Law Firm, and we will review your case to determine the date by which you must file before losing rights. We can also estimate the time needed to prepare your lawsuit. We can provide you with a good start date to begin the process, ensuring we do not exceed the Statute time limit.
Are There Rules For Wrongful Death Lawsuits?
Wrongful death lawsuits have specific rules governing who can sue and who can be sued. These are specific to the loss of life caused by the actions of another person, a group of people, or an entity such as a corporation or business. The actions of a 3rd party do not have to be negligent. The majority of the deaths are often the result of an accident, which is to say they are done or taken without malice. It can be due to intentional recklessness, or even an assault of some kind as well. The circumstances around the wrongful death will vary, and there are some examples, such as:
- Vehicle and pedestrian versus vehicle accidents due to safe and unsafe operation of a motor vehicle
- Drownings and asphyxiation due to faulty equipment or improper operation of safety equipment
- Accidents involving a firearm or other weapons, such as knives and blunt instruments
- Exposure to toxic substances such as benzene and many others from tanker and train accidents
- Forms of abuse or neglect, like elder abuse in a nursing home or in a medical care facility
- Medical malpractice in hospitals by doctors, such as misdiagnosing an illness or failing to treat it correctly
- Work accidents where the employer or property owner did not provide a safe workplace
- Defective products that lead to injury and death
Who Is Allowed To Sue For A Wrongful Death?
The lawsuit can only be brought by a specific group of people, and it is restricted. In California, the lawsuit can only be brought by surviving immediate family members who are directly affected by the death of the family member. This includes:
- The surviving spouse or domestic partner
- Any children of the deceased person
- The parents of a deceased minor child
Please get in touch with the Normandie Law Firm for additional details on bringing a lawsuit at your convenience. Our team is here reachable around the clock to answer these questions.
Is There A Limit To Who Can Be Sued In A Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
You are allowed to bring a lawsuit against an individual, group of individuals, or any entity you believe acted or behaved that caused the death of a loved one. This can be in a negligent or reckless manner, but it is not limited to that. The most common recipient(s) of a wrongful death lawsuit are:
- Any person or persons who are directly responsible for the death by action or circumstance
- Anyone who might have failed to provide service that caused the death
- A group whose behavior, decisions, or actions caused the death or created the circumstances for it
- An entity, such as a corporation or employer, that created a dangerous workplace
- An employer whose representatives caused the death by decision or action, such as refusal to address a safety concern
The Average Value Of A Wrongful Death Lawsuit In California
We talked earlier about placing a financial value on someone’s life, which is a difficult task to undertake when someone we love dies suddenly. It can be challenging to determine what that loss might be if you don’t have details about things that never seemed important before. Some clients are planners who have spreadsheets for budgets and retirement, and now understand what will not be available. Normandie Law Firm is highly experienced in these areas and can help you determine the current and future financial impact. It is a challenging process to undergo, but it is a crucial and critical component of your lawsuit. This number accounts for a significant portion of the damages listed in the lawsuit.
Working to understand and compute the financial impact is easier than the non-economic damages that you should include in your lawsuit. When you think of things like the pain and suffering your family member may have experienced, your pain and suffering with all the new issues, and the challenges that you are going to face without your loved one’s support, you will understand that these items should be part of the value of the loss. These same considerations can also be reviewed for every member of the immediate family who is dealing with the loss as well. This is going to be a difficult challenge and will take some time to complete. Normandie Law Firm helps its clients in this position on every case, and we will help guide you, too. The painful part of this task is that an in-depth evaluation is going to be one of the most painful things you will encounter since the passing of your loved one.
The typical award for damages in a wrongful death lawsuit is usually between $250,000 and $500,000 in California. This is the average across all cases. Please note that the amount of money being sued for is influenced by various factors that differ for every family and case. Your case may result in an award in this range, but there is no guarantee that it will be limited to that range.
The Average Cost Of Hiring A Wrongful Death Lawyer In California
Normandie Law Firm doesn’t want our clients to worry about the upfront costs of hiring us. We represent our clients and do not require any upfront payment for our services. After the litigation or negotiation is completed and you have received a check, we will bill you for our services. This ensures that you receive the necessary funds and that the legal fees are included in the suit damages, never leaving you out of pocket. Please get in touch with the team at the Normandie Law firm if you have lost a family member. We will help you work through what is ahead and represent you if you have a wrongful death lawsuit.
Other Pages on Our Website Related to This Topic
Average Cost Of Hiring A Wrongful Death Lawyer In Los Angeles
Average Cost Of Hiring A Wrongful Death Lawyer In San Francisco
Average Cost Of Hiring A Wrongful Death Lawyer In Sacramento
