Wrongful Death Claims
Nearly 5 Decades of Wrongful Death Representation
The Long Island and New York City wrongful death attorneys at RGLZ take pride in their representation of surviving families of those who have suffered fatal personal injuries due to another’s negligence, incompetence, or recklessness. With law offices in Manhattan and Long Island, our lawyers help surviving spouses and children of New York file and pursue wrongful death claims, obtaining compensation for funeral expenses, loss of future earnings, medical bills, physical pain, and mental suffering from the parties responsible for the wrongful death.
What Constitutes Wrongful Death?
In cases of personal injury, nursing home injuries, medical malpractice, defective products and construction accidents, the injuries sustained by the victims are often fatal.
Wrongful death claims can be brought against anyone who, through recklessness, carelessness, negligence, or lack of skill, causes the fatality of another. Wrongful death can be the result of many types of circumstances, including drunk driving or reckless driving, medical malpractice (such as through surgical error or misdiagnosis of an illness), defective machinery or products, premises liability, or improper supervision.
Many wrongful death claims emerge from cases of clients who’ve died in institutions, such as prisons, hospitals, and nursing homes. Cases of prisoner abuse and nursing home abuse are serious problems in our institutions today. In addition to abuse, neglect and malnutrition, inadequate health care and supervision are often found to be the causes of fatalities in these types of facilities. Sadly, many doctors, nurses, health care providers, and other personnel either can’t or don’t provide the best level of quality care and support.
Regardless of who a person is or where they might be, a medical professional must always offer the best medical care they can provide. Losing a loved one due to circumstances that seem suspicious, or may have been caused by another’s negligence is a painful experience, and one for which the law provides ample legal recourse. In addition to collecting on the potential loss of income your loved one may have earned, an experienced attorney can also pursue damages for the pain, suffering, loss of companionship, and enjoyment of life that you and other survivors must endure.
In New York, RGLZ has a nearly 50 year history of successfully presenting wrongful death cases involving car accidents, medical malpractice, construction accidents, defective products and deaths resulting from dangerous and recalled prescription drugs.
Wrongful Death Claims in New York: Who is Eligible to File?
New York law allows a surviving spouse to file a wrongful death claim. If there is no surviving spouse, the children may file the claim. If there is no surviving spouse or surviving children, the parents of the victim may pursue the wrongful death claim. When there is no surviving spouse, surviving children, or surviving parents, the estate administrator can sue on behalf of the deceased. Some states permit surviving partners of same-sex unions to file wrongful death lawsuits for damages. Unfortunately the state of New York does not.
Under New York law, a wrongful death claimant can often claim the full value of the life of the deceased had the accident resulting in his or her death never occurred. This may include lifetime income, in addition to pain and suffering considerations, such as the loss of companionship and loss of enjoyment of life. Wrongful death claims can involve a range of complicated legal processes and issues, and involving an attorney in your case as early after the death as possible is always advisable. Waiting to hire an attorney runs the risk of losing the case to technicalities, such as statutes of limitations and other critical deadlines that can influence the outcome of your case.
We’ll Make Justice Work for You
Wrongful death claims are usually settled before trial ever becomes necessary. But even so, the process for wrongful death claims is never speedy. Negotiating adequate settlements for wrongful death claimants can require as much as a year of legal mediation and back and forth between both sides. When brought to trial, wrongful death claims can extend into years. Retaining an attorney you can believe in, with the tenacity and trial experience to see your case through to its most just conclusion is essential in a wrongful death claim. For many New York families facing the wrongful death of a loved one, our law firm has been the right one for the job. Let a New York wrongful death lawyer at RGLZ make justice work for you.