Texas Wrongful Death Attorney

San Antonio, TX Lawyer Michael Grossman Discusses Wrongful Death Claims and Why Self-Representation is a Bad Idea

Losing a loved one is the most painful thing that a person can endure, particularly if that loss is the result of the negligent actions of another. If you have lost a loved one to a fatal accident, you likely have many questions regarding your legal rights.

Getting answers to these questions by yourself is a difficult, if not completely impossible, task. However, by enlisting the help of an experienced San Antonio Texas wrongful death attorney like Michael Grossman of Grossman Law Offices, you can likely get the answers to these questions while seeing to it that justice is served for your loved one’s loss. By seeking legal recourse against a negligent party or parties, you will likely be accomplishing two things: receiving compensation to help you through the financial stresses that wrongful death accidents bring on, and ensuring that a similar, tragic accident doesn’t have to occur to another family in the future. With twenty years of litigation experience in wrongful death cases, Texas wrongful death lawyer Michael Grossman is well-prepared to help you find the answers that can assist you in the recovery process.

What Makes Up a Wrongful Death Claim?

People without extensive legal experience can often be confused about whether or not they have a wrongful death claim, or even what a wrongful death claim is. In general, a wrongful death claim is designed to hold a party responsible for a person’s death under civil law when criminal law charges are not warranted. Intent is typically the determining factor in these cases. For instance, a driver running a red light and hitting a pedestrian is considered to be negligent, but, in most cases, such a death would not be considered a deliberate action on the part of the driver, so murder charges, i.e. criminal charges, would not be applicable. However, in many cases wherein a person is killed deliberately a wrongful death claim may be filed against the guilty party in addition to any criminal charges.

Under Texas law, four basic conditions must be met in order for a plaintiff to have a wrongful death case:

• A victim’s death must be caused, in part or in whole, by another person’s or entity’s action or inaction.
• The responsible party was negligent in regards to the victim’s well-being.
• There are surviving family members or beneficiaries to file a claim.
• Some sort of monetary damage resulted from the victim’s death.

Furthermore, the plaintiff’s legal representation must be able to prove each of these aspects in order for a legitimate wrongful death lawsuit to be brought against a liable party. If any of the above-mentioned issues are not present in the accident, there may be no legitimate suit. However, if you’re unsure about any of these issues, Texas wrongful death attorney Michael Grossman offers free consultations at 1-855-393-0000 (Toll Free) where you can discuss the details of your loved one’s accident and ask further questions in order to know whether or not you have a legitimate case.

What is the Purpose of a Wrongful Death Claim?

A wrongful death lawsuit is designed to help a victim’s family seek compensation for their loved one’s death. Compensation in a wrongful death case typically includes compensation for any funeral expenses, lost potential financial support from the victim, and the mental and emotional turmoil associated with losing someone you love. Calculating these damages can be complex. Additionally, wrongful death lawsuits are designed to force the responsible party to change their ways so that no one else has to suffer the same fate as the victim. Our firm wants to help you and your family hold the parties responsible for your family member’s death accountable for their actions so that your loved one’s death was not in vain.

What Types of Damages Can Be Sought in a Wrongful Death Claim?

Compensation is awarded based on the amount of damages that the plaintiff has incurred. In wrongful death claims, the amount of damages can also include the amount of damages that the decedent incurred, or would have incurred had they survived. As such, there are two types of damages that can be sought in wrongful death claims, known as survival damages and wrongful death damages.

Survival damages relate to the damages that the decedent incurred before their death, or would have incurred had they lived through the fatal accident. Wrongful death damages can include medical bills, pain and suffering, and lost wages. Calculating such damages can prove challenging for lesser experienced attorneys since the assessment of a decedent’s likely suffering had they survived an accident is a delicate matter that must be treated with the utmost care in order that the surviving family member is fairly compensated for their loss and their loved one’s suffering.

Wrongful death damages, on the other hand, relate to the damages incurred by the surviving family member. These damages can include medical bills, funeral expenses, legal fees, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, i.e. companionship, and loss of future income. Properly assessing wrongful death damages is vital to a wrongful death claim since the damages incurred may have left a family financially unable to support themselves, especially if the loved one that died was the primary wage-earner for the household. As a result, ensuring that you have the help of an experienced Texas wrongful death lawyer like Michael Grossman can prove to be an important step towards making sure that you and your family can provide for your financial future in light of your loss.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?

The children, spouse, or parents of the decedent can file a wrongful death claim. In some instances, a sibling can also file a wrongful death claim. If you’re unsure whether or not your relationship to the decedent qualifies you to file a wrongful death claim, consider contacting us at 1-855-393-0000 (Toll Free). We can help answer that question.

What is the Statute of Limitations for a Wrongful Death Claim in Texas?

Statute of limitations means the time period in which a victim can pursue legal action against a negligent party. In Texas, the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim is two years. However, there are more than a few exceptions to this statute that are dependent on the specifics of the wrongful death accident. These exceptions extend the statute of limitations to a certain degree in order for a bereaved party to be able to seek compensation if extenuating circumstances did not allow them to do so within the main two-year statute of limitations. For example, a child whose parents have died has until the age of 20 to pursue a wrongful death claim. More technically, the two-year statute of limitations begins when the child turns 18, effectively giving them until the age of 20 to pursue legal action if none was done so on their behalf by another parent or guardian while they were still a minor. If you believe you may have missed the statute of limitations to pursue action against a negligent party, consider contacting Texas wrongful death attorney Michael Grossman to learn more about the other exceptions that exist in regards to the statute of limitations for a wrongful death case.

What Are Some of the Challenges in Pursuing a Wrongful Death Claim?

For one, the defense will be stout. Victims in wrongful death cases often face fierce opposition. Wrongful death claims, particularly when combined with survival damages claims, often have very high damages, and a defendant’s legal representation and insurance company will likely be quite aggressive in the defense of their client. With such large sums of money likely at stake, they simply do not want to pay out such a sizable sum in compensation. As a result, insurers will use their most veteran adjusters that employ a number of tactics in order to pin some, or even all, of the blame onto the decedent. This can sometimes prove to be a very trying and emotionally difficult time for the family that has lost a loved one as the defense attempts to call into question the decedent’s ability to do their job or to maintain their own safety. However, the defense does this because they know that their clients will owe much less in compensation if they can prove that a decedent was even incrementally somehow responsible for their own demise.

Furthermore, if your loved one died as a result of an on-the-job accident while working for an employer covered by workers’ compensation insurance, the only way that a wrongful death claim can be brought against such an employer is to show that the employer was grossly negligent in their provisions for worker safety. Gross negligence requires a much higher standard of proof, requiring that the plaintiff’s legal representation show that the employer knew that a tragic accident had a high degree of occurring and yet did nothing to fix the problem or ameliorate the issue. To thwart such an attack on their company, the employer’s defense counsel only has one defensive measure to employ, known as sole proximate cause, wherein they must be able to prove that the decedent was 100-hundred-percent responsible for their own demise. Again, this can be difficult for the family of the loved one since the defense will go after the competency of the worker and attempt to blame them for their own death. These types of on-the-job wrongful death cases can prove to be especially tricky, especially when workers’ compensation is involved, but by contacting Texas wrongful death attorney Michal Grossman, who is familiar and knowledgeable about Texas worker’s comp law, you will likely stand a much greater opportunity at being able to seek compensation for your loved one’s loss.

Texas wrongful death lawyer Michael Grossman is familiar with insurers’ and employers’ tactics. Additionally, since we’ve brought cases against every major insurer against the country, they know that we know their tactics. As a result, they’re often less likely to be so aggressive against our clients since they know they’ll be met with likewise aggressive behavior from us that is bent on your best interests throughout the wrongful death claim process. In other words, our past reputation can be put to work for you so that your rights are defended throughout the legal battle.

If I’ve Lost a Loved One, What Should I Do Now?

Contact an experienced Texas wrongful death lawyer as soon as possible so that all available evidence can be gathered and properly maintained in as little time as possible after the accident has occurred. One of the best ways in which to build a strong case against a negligent party in a wrongful death case is to be able to have an independent investigative team get on the scene of the accident as soon as possible. Evidence can go missing with time, and, sometimes, evidence can be deleted, stolen, or tampered with by the people who simply do not want to be held liable for the accident. Furthermore, witnesses can become harder to track down as time passes, and they can forget key details. By contacting a San Antonio wrongful death attorney quickly, you often stand the greatest opportunity at receiving compensation and seeing justice served since a stronger case can likely be built.

With Grossman Law Offices’ twenty years of experience in litigating wrongful death cases, we have the knowledge and investigative experience to be able to help you see justice served in light of your loved one’s passing. Whenever our firm takes a case, we conduct a thorough investigation of the accident scene to identify all responsible parties. We then prepare separate lawsuits for each party responsible in order to seek the full amount of the compensation that your family deserves.

Texas Wrongful Death Lawyer Michael Grossman Can Help You Today

The truth is that wrongful death lawsuits are extremely complex and highly technical, especially when workers’ compensation may play a role. Most people who try to represent themselves in a wrongful death claim are unsuccessful, simply due to the number of different legal statutes and areas of overlap that exist between federal and state regulations. Furthermore, with the aggressive defense attorneys and experienced insurance adjusters working these claims, a non-attorney or an inexperienced attorney will stand little to no chance of seeing a successful conclusion to their search for compensation. With a likely sizable sum at stake in compensation, choosing to self-represent is, simply, too risky, especially if your or your family’s financial future is at stake.

Texas wrongful death attorney Michael Grossman and his team at Grossman Law Offices have successfully investigated and litigated hundreds of high-profile wrongful death claims over the last twenty years. We have experience with every major wrongful death accident type, including car and truck accidents, construction and job-related accidents, and medical malpractice. Our attorneys are dedicated to helping you and your family however we can, whether you need someone to fight aggressively in court or you just need answers to your questions. Our attorneys will investigate your case and determine whether or not you have a claim. If someone you love was killed in an accident, contact San Antonio wrongful death attorney Michael Grossman of Grossman Law Offices today at 1-855-393-0000 (Toll Free), and make sure that those responsible do not go unpunished.