Proving Wrongful Death in a Civil Case

Did Your Loved One Pass Away Due To the Negligence of Someone Else? Call Us Today

Proving that someone deliberately or accidentally caused the death of your loved one is the essence of a wrongful death civil case. The sudden death of a loved one can leave you grappling with legal issues, especially if the deceased died without a will.

If you're grieving over the sudden loss of a family member or a loved one was catastrophically injured in a traffic accident, on the job, or tripped and fell during a routine trip to the grocery store, our unlawful death lawyers in Los Angeles may be able to file a third-party lawsuit to win compensation for your losses.

Wrongful death settlements compensate the deceased's family for the deceased's medical bills and burial expenses and the family's wage earner's income.

Extent of Injuries

Traffic accidents that appear minor when looking at the property damage can result in severe bodily harm. Weather conditions contribute to car or truck accidents. A motorcyclist may be thrown by a hole in a road, an area washed out during a thunderstorm, gaps between concrete highway sections, or debris on the road.

Motorcyclists have been thrown into the path of traffic traveling in the opposite direction. Brain injuries often result from motorcycle accidents. If your loved one suffered a devastating loss of brain function, permanent physical disability, or paralysis from a traffic accident and subsequently died, our trusted attorneys may be able to file a civil wrongful death lawsuit on your behalf.

Civil Tort Lawsuits

If your loved one died as a result of a workplace injury, a traffic accident, or falling on a premises where he or she should have been safe, you might suddenly be without a principal wage earner, a spouse, or a parent. Proving legal liability for wrongful death varies by tort, but if the deceased accident or crime victim was injured due to the negligence or deliberately wrongful acts of another, accidental death lawyers may be able to prove liability for your loved one's injuries and recover the maximum possible compensation for your losses.

Head-On Collisions

Only 2% of all car accidents in the United States are head-on collisions, but 10% of all head-on collisions are fatal. The impact of a head-on collision often scatters the vehicles, making it difficult to determine who caused the accident. It may be necessary to reconstruct the accident to determine who was at fault. If your loved one died in a head-on collision, all drivers have a duty to other drivers to drive safely and avoid causing injuries due to their negligence or reckless behavior. Driving distracted, fatigued, or under the influence is a breach of that duty.

Hit and Run Accidents

Hit and run accidents can change lives in an instant. Our personal injury attorney in Los Angeles can help you seek compensation even if a police officer tells you that the hit and run driver has not been located. Medical bills and property damage can accumulate quickly—a criminal hit-and-run conviction results in greater compensation for the accident victim and their families.

Locating a Hit and Run Driver

Your loved one's accident report may contain additional information that your attorney can use to locate a hit and run driver or prove liability for your accident. The accident report may contain witness names, addresses, and phone numbers. Witness and accident victim utterances may be admissible in court. OnStar on all vehicles in the vicinity of the accident may identify the hit and run driver or help the police and your attorney to locate the hit and run driver.

Subpoenaing OnStar

Your legal counsel can subpoena onboard data from OnStar and all car's onboard computers at the time of the accident to use as evidence in court to locate a hit and run driver and prove liability for your loved one's accident. OnStar computers and cameras record changes to radio stations, phone calls, vehicle speeds, steering, turns, road conditions, and the precise location of each vehicle during the accident. OnStar records airbag deployment, GPS information, and sensor information and summons medical assistance.

Contributory Negligence or Uninsured Driver

If your loved one was an uninsured driver, you might not be entitled to full compensation for their injuries and burial expenses under California law. If your loved one was under the influence of drugs or alcohol or was speeding excessively at the time of the accident, it may mean you cannot collect all forms of monetary damages from the "at-fault" party.

To Prevail in a Civil Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Adversarial insurance companies may accept liability for your loved one's ambulance bill and emergency room treatment. But could deny responsibility for medical treatment attributable to pre-existing conditions or claim responsibility for their negligence but deny that it resulted in your loved one's death. Our unlawful death attorneys can advocate for you to preserve your rights to compensation for your loved one's wrongful death.

Wrongful Death Settlements

At Gutierrez Law, we have 40 years of experience recovering personal injury and wrongful death settlements to recover hundreds of thousands of million-dollar verdicts in car, commercial truck, and premises civil liability cases. The Top 10 National Latino Lawyers recognized our family law firm as we strive to achieve the best possible outcomes for accident victims and their families.

Law Office of Oscar Gutierrez

Call our wrongful death lawyers in Los Angeles for help with your legal problems resulting from the death of your loved one or family member. Your consultation is free, and our attorneys work only on contingency fees if you're entitled to file a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit.