Wrongful Death Claims and Survival Actions: Pursuing or Defending Claims

Description

Surviving family members of an individual killed as a result of another’s negligence, whether by vehicle accident, product defect, construction site accident or medical malpractice, usually pursue wrongful death claims against one or more defendants to recover damages for loss of the decedent’s income, household services, protection, care, comfort, companionship and more.

In more than half of U.S. states, if a defendant is found to have acted maliciously, intentionally or recklessly, punitive damages may also be awarded in wrongful death cases. Additionally, the estate of the decedent may bring a survival action in tandem with a wrongful death claim to recover damages for fatal injuries, pain and suffering, and medical expenses experienced leading up to death.

Determining the value of one’s life is the most critical and difficult aspect of handling wrongful death claims. When assessing damages, counsel must take into account the decedent’s earnings and life expectancy, as well as assign a monetary value to the loss of economic contributions, services, society, comfort, care, protection, and companionship the decedent would have provided.

Other legal and practical considerations in wrongful death cases include the selection (or striking) of sympathetic potential jurors, the potential lack of surviving eyewitnesses to testify, and the selection and reliance upon economic experts to testify regarding future damages.

Listen as our panel of practitioners with experience representing wrongful death claims and survival actions on behalf of plaintiffs or defendants examines the special aspects of these cases that set them apart from other types of personal injury cases. The panel will outline liability, evidentiary, and other legal and practical strategies for pursuing or defending against damages and negotiating settlements.