Petersburg Wrongful Death Lawyer

Dealing with the death of a loved one can be a difficult thing even if that death was expected. When the death is the result of an unexpected and avoidable incident, the pain for loved ones maybe even deeper. And while no amount of financial compensation ever replaces the loss of the deceased, a settlement can achieve some measure of justice and cover the costs of what has been lost. An experienced Petersburg wrongful death lawyer from our office can take the lead in working out what a fair settlement should look like. 

When people are going through emotional pain, they need to know that they can put their legal issues squarely on the shoulders of their attorney, trusting that the lawyer knows what they’re doing and can lead them through the potentially difficult path of settlement negotiation. People across Virginia have been finding what they are looking for at Cuthbert Law Offices since 1977.

Cuthbert Law Offices has been serving people across the state of Virginia since 1977. Call today at (804) 485-2555 or reach out here online to set up a consultation with our wrongful death attorney in Petersburg. 

Common Causes Of Wrongful Death

Wrongful death can happen in different circumstances, and understanding the common causes is crucial in pursuing a legal claim. Some common causes that result in wrongful death may include:

• Medical Malpractice: When healthcare professionals fail to provide a standard level of care, leading to the death of a patient, it could be considered medical malpractice. This can include misdiagnosis, surgical errors, or medication mistakes.
• Car Accidents: Reckless driving, drunk driving, or other forms of negligence on the road can result in fatal accidents.
• Workplace Accidents: In certain industries, workplace accidents can lead to fatal injuries. Whether due to inadequate safety measures or employer negligence, families may be qualified for compensation for their loss.
• Defective Products: If a product is found to be defective and causes the death of a consumer, the manufacturer or distributor could be held liable.
• Premises Liability: Property owners have a duty to maintain a safe environment. When negligence leads to fatal accidents, such as slips and falls or inadequate security resulting in an assault, it may constitute a wrongful death case.

How To Prove Negligence?

There are some tragic accidents that are just—accidents for whom no one is at fault. For wrongful death to apply, it must be proven that one party acted negligently. There are four components to negligence and each one must be proven to secure a financial settlement. The four elements of negligence are as follows: 

Duty of Care

The defendant must have owed some duty of care to the deceased plaintiff. To use a common example, anyone who drives a car owes a duty of care to others on the road. A doctor owes a duty of care to their patients. A business owes a duty of care to its employees, customers, and other legitimate visitors during office hours. 

Breach of Duty

The second step is often where the real legal battle begins, and it shows that the defendant breached the above duty. Proving this means showing the defendant failed to exercise a reasonable standard of care. That means they did not act in a way that a reasonable person, facing the same circumstances, would have acted. Who decides what’s reasonable? A jury does if the case goes to court. In a settlement negotiation, the perception of each side as to how a jury might rule can be crucial. An experienced Petersburg wrongful death attorney knows how to leverage these perceptions to their best advantage.

Causation

It must then be proved that the breach of duty was, in fact, the cause of death. There are certainly cases where this is self-evident. The driver who caused a multi-car wreck almost certainly caused the death of another driver. The business that failed to follow workplace safety regulations likely caused the death of the employee who was injured in an avoidable accident. But there are other cases—particularly those where the deceased may have had pre-existing medical conditions—where causation is less certain. It’s up to good legal counsel to make the connection between a breach of duty and the tragic death. 

Damages

The final step in the process is outlining the damage suffered by the survivors. If there were any medical expenses prior to the person’s death, those are part of the financial damages. So are funeral and burial costs. 

A Petersburg wrongful death lawyer must also negotiate for lost income. This involves projecting out what the deceased could have been reasonably expected to earn. Figuring out lost income is one of the many areas where experience may be a big benefit for an attorney. This process involves much more than just looking at the deceased’s salary and multiplying it out to retirement age. A truly fair settlement will also address the realities of inflation. A fair settlement will consider whether the deceased was likely to earn promotions and other career advancement. Or, if they owned their own business, what were the reasonable prospects for growth were. This can involve expert witness testimony from their chosen fields. 

The intangible part of a wrongful death settlement is the pain and sorrow that the survivors are going through, along with the loss of companionship and counsel. A settlement must at least try to compensate a spouse for the absence of their best friend or a child (including an adult child) for the loss of someone to turn to for advice. Those are just the prime examples of how survivors have lost something that can’t be truly quantified yet is still properly a part of a fair financial settlement.