Experiencing the loss of a loved one under any circumstance is emotionally devastating and one of the most painful things we will experience in our lives. Unfortunately, it is something we will all experience. Compounding the pain and suffering we are experiencing comes the realization that there is little time for grief, and there are a great many things that need to be dealt with. There are unexpected costs from the tragedy, and the issues are mounting. One of them is finding out that there may be a responsible party for the death of your family member. Who are you supposed to turn to for help in dealing with that issue?
While the loss of a loved one is not lessened because they have been ill, there is time to plan and to budget for the coming costs and losses. The unexpected death of your spouse, a child, or even a parent presents a new list of issues that are quite a bit different than any loss you might have already experienced. When you add in the potential cost of pursuing a person or company for causing your loss, you are going to want to find someone who is experienced in the process. If you find yourself in this position, please call the Normandie Law Firm. We are ready to help you deal with the legal aspects of your loss at the hands of someone and identify for you the potential of a wrongful death lawsuit in San Diego.
Money is not going to replace the family that has been taken from you. It may replace the support that would have been provided for the family so that the impact of their loss doesn’t change their lives more than it already will. What it will be able to do is to provide you with a tool to handle the coming changes to your family’s life. Those items, like the unplanned costs of medical care and final arrangements, are often a challenge to handle with everything that is happening.
When you lose a family member, we will be able to 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. Their first question is what the average price of hiring a wrongful death lawyer in San Diego will be. The Normandie Law Firm is going to help you deal with that and much more.
Recent surveys tell us that the average hourly billing rate for a civil lawyer in California is often more than $350.00. A firm with a reputation for successful litigation is going to bill more per hour than that. When you read the estimates of what the costs are for many families when they file a wrongful death lawsuit, their initial out of pocket costs to begin the process can be as much as $25,000. What separates the Normandie Law Firm from many other experienced and respected law firms is that when we take you on as a client, we do not charge you any upfront legal fees or expenses.
Members of the team at Normandie Law Firm are highly experienced with cases involving the unexpected death of a husband, wife, or child. Without expert advice, navigating the legal system will be very challenging and often extremely frustrating. We are ready to serve you, using our experience in litigation and negotiation. Whether we take the case to court or settle with the responsible party and their insurance company, we only bill you after the matter is settled and you have received damages, which will include our fees. There will be more on this later.
If you wish to bring a lawsuit against the person or entity that is responsible for the death of your loved one, please contact our legal staff at the Normandie Law Firm. We can answer many of your initial questions over the phone and will then schedule an initial consultation with a wrongful death lawyer in San Diego as soon as you have the time available to meet with us. This first meeting is free, and the first goal is to determine the merits of your case and answer any additional questions.
When the lawyers have the information about the death and the surrounding circumstances, their first task is to assess the legal merits of the case and the grounds to file a wrongful death lawsuit. We will explain that to you and arm you with that information. We will make the resources you need to make a good decision about your family’s next steps and actions available and share our experiences with you. Please contact our team when you are ready to start the process. One factor in the decision we want you to know before you leave that first day is that there is a time limit to file a wrongful death lawsuit in California.
Our Recent Verdicts and Settlements
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$1.1 Million
$1.5 Million
$600,000
$525,000
$734,851
What Is The Time Limit To File A Wrongful Death Lawsuit In California?
Generally speaking any lawsuit that is for a wrongful death has a time limit of 2 years to file with the court system. The time limit starts on the date of the passing of your family member. If the lawsuit is not filed before the time period expires, you will likely lose your ability to receive compensation for the wrongful death. There are some limited exceptions to this time limit that give you additional time to file. They deal with potentially different aspects, such as when the cause of death was determined. Please call the Normandie Law Firm and we can review the case and determine what the date will be to file before losing rights. We can estimate the effort and time needed to prepare and file your lawsuit, allowing us to provide a target date to start the process that ensures we do not exceed the Statute limit.
The Rules For Wrongful Death Lawsuits And What You Need To Know
Wrongful death lawsuits are specific to the loss of life caused by the actions of another person, group of people, or an entity like a corporation or business. The actions do not have to be purposeful or even negligent. In fact the death is often the result of an accident, which is to say without malice. It can also be due to intentional recklessness, or even an assault of some kind. The circumstances around the wrongful death can vary quite a bit as well. There are many examples like:
- Vehicle and pedestrian versus vehicle accidents
- Drownings and asphyxiation
- Accidents involving a firearm or other weapons, like knives and clubs
- Exposure to toxic substances such as benzene and others
- Some forms of abuse or neglect, like elder abuse in a nursing home
- Medical malpractice in hospitals by doctors, misdiagnosing or making a critical mistake in treatment
- Work accidents of all kinds where the employer or property owner failed to ensure a safe workplace
- Defective products that caused injury leading to death
Who Can Sue For A Wrongful Death Of A Family Member?
The suit 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 to answer these questions around the clock.
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 done negligently or recklessly, but it is not limited to that. The most common recipient(s) of a wrongful death lawsuit are:
- A 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 led to or caused the death
- Any entity, such as a corporation or employer, that may have created a dangerous workplace
- Any employer whose representative caused the death by conduct or action on behalf of the company
What Is The Average Value Of A Wrongful Death Lawsuit In California?
Putting a dollar value on a life can be difficult when someone suddenly passes away. Often, it evokes unpleasant feelings and is a challenge to determine the financial impact on someone who is no longer with us. Some of our clients are planners and have spreadsheets for budgets and retirement. It becomes a matter of reviewing and doing some math. There are other times when all it does is remind you of your loss. Normandie Law Firm is very experienced in all of these areas and processes and can help figure out what the financial loss is going to be. It can be an arduous process, but it is a necessary and critical component of the lawsuit.
Working to calculate the financial loss is much easier than the non-economic damages that we will encourage you to include in the lawsuit. When you think of things like the pain and suffering your family member likely experienced before passing, your own pain and suffering because of the loss, and the challenges that you are going to face without their support, all these items need to be part of the value of the loss of your loved one. These factors should also be reviewed for every member of the immediate family. They will work to deal with the challenges, emotions, and loss, too. This is going to be a tough challenge and will take some time. Normandie Law Firm has helped its clients in the same position you are in now, and we can help guide you in evaluating the impact of this loss. The biggest challenge here is that an in-depth evaluation of the financial implications and the emotional loss is going to be one of the most painful things you will encounter. It asks for a level of analysis that few people experience under any circumstance, and it will not.
The typical award for damages in a wrongful death lawsuit is between $250,000 and $500,000 in California. This is an average, and please remember that the amount of money being sued for is influenced by many things that are unique to every case and family. Our legal team at Normandie Law Firm will work to maximize what we can sue for.
What Is The Average Cost Of Hiring A Wrongful Death Lawyer In San Diego Up Front?
Normandie Law Firm does not like our valued clients to worry about the upfront costs of hiring expert legal representation for a wrongful death lawsuit. We represent our clients without requiring upfront payment for our services. Only after the litigation or negotiation is complete and you have received a check will we bill you for the service. This process allows you to get the money you need and that the legal fees are included. Please call the Normandie Law firm if you have lost a family member to a negligent act. We will help you work through what is ahead and represent you in your pursuit of justice.
Other Pages on Our Website Related to This Topic
Average Cost Of Hiring A Wrongful Death Lawyer In California
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