Baton Rouge Wrongful Death Lawyers

What Types of Accidents Cause Wrongful Death?

Any accident can lead to wrongful death if the injuries or consequences caused by the accident or incident are severe enough. Even if a victim passes away years later, such as from mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure, the passing could be considered a wrongful death. In other words, if a victim suffers serious injuries that eventually prove to be fatal, their loved ones still may have a wrongful death case.

Our Baton Rouge wrongful death attorneys can work on cases involving the following and more:

• Car accidents: Rollovers, head-on collisions, and side-impact collisions can all cause devastating consequences, including life-ending injuries. 
• Motorcycle accidents: Motorcyclists are more exposed to danger than other motorists and are more likely to be thrown from their vehicles in a crash, potentially resulting in fatal injuries. Motorcyclists who do not wear helmets are also likely to suffer traumatic brain injuries, which can cause an eventual fatality. 
• Truck accidents: Enormous, 18-wheeler trucks are much larger and heavier than most other vehicles on the road, resulting in greater, potentially deadlier forces being exerted on other drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists in the event of a collision. 
• Pedestrian accidents: Even at low speeds, a pedestrian can suffer fatal injuries if they are struck by a moving vehicle. 
• Slip and falls: Slip/trip-and-fall accidents are among the leading causes of accidental deaths of seniors, especially in nursing homes and assisted living centers.
• Medical malpractice: Examples of fatal medical malpractice include misdiagnoses (leading to improper treatment or a failure to treat a potentially fatal condition), surgery-related mistakes, and failing to warn about the fatal risks associated with a procedure.

How to Prove Wrongful Death in Louisiana

As a qualifying family member (or representative of the deceased person’s estate), you have a very limited window to start the wrongful death legal process in Louisiana. Generally, you only have one year from the date the victim passed to file a lawsuit. 

To prevail in a wrongful death claim, you must prove the defendant’s negligence or willful misconduct resulted in the fatality. In other words, you must establish that your loved one more likely than not would still be alive if not for the defendant’s actions (or lack of action). 

We can help you prove the specific legal elements needed to win a wrongful death case, such as:

• Duty of care: You must demonstrate that a “duty of care” relationship existed between your loved one and the defendant at the time of the incident. Drivers owe other motorists a duty of care whenever they get behind the wheel, for example, so someone who perishes due to car accident injuries can most likely establish a duty of care relationship. In a product liability case where a dangerous or defective product kills someone, the manufacturer (and potentially other parties in the product’s chain of distribution) owes the victim a duty of care by only selling safe products, for example.
• Breach of duty: Someone breaches a duty of care when they act negligently, recklessly, or with malicious intent. Using the previous examples, a driver breaches their duty of care to other motorists when they operate their vehicle while intoxicated or fail to follow the rules of the road, and a manufacturer breaches their duty of care to consumers when they sell a dangerous product.
• Causation: The defendant’s conduct must have resulted in the victim suffering fatal injuries. The injuries do not have to immediately lead to death for a claim to be justified.
• Damages: As a qualifying family member or representative of the estate, you may have grounds for a wrongful death claim and/or survival action if your loved one’s untimely passing resulted in financial, emotional, and physical harm.

How Much Is My Wrongful Death Claim Worth?

In a Louisiana wrongful death claim, you can potentially recover economic and non-economic, as well as punitive damages in rare cases. Economic damages cover financial expenses and losses while non-economic damages are meant to compensate you for types of harm that cannot be straightforwardly quantified. Punitive damages are not always granted but are meant to punish the defendant for especially unacceptable behavior and deter others from acting similarly; in other words, punitive damages do not compensate the plaintiff but instead punish the defendant.

Our Baton Rouge wrongful death lawyers can fight for compensation related to:

• Medical costs associated with the victim's fatal injuries and death: Such damages are the costs incurred for the medical treatment of the deceased before their death, including hospital bills, medication costs, and any other related healthcare expenses.
• Funeral and burial expenses: The costs related to the funeral and burial of the deceased can be claimed as damages, such as the cost of a casket, burial plot, memorial service, and other related expenses, within reason.
• Loss of future income the deceased would have earned in life: This loss refers to the amount of money the deceased would have earned had they lived. It considers the deceased's age, health, life expectancy, occupation, skills, and other factors.
• Loss of benefits the deceased would have provided: If the deceased provided certain benefits like health insurance or pension plans, the value of these lost benefits can be claimed. The same is true of benefits or assets that would have been gained through inheritance.
• Loss of companionship or parentage: This type of damage compensates for the loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, and affection that the deceased would have provided.
• Emotional pain and suffering: This non-economic damage compensates surviving family members for the mental anguish, grief, and emotional distress caused by the loss of their loved one.

How Many People Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?

In Louisiana, only these people or parties can file a wrongful death claim after losing a loved one:

1. Deceased’s surviving spouse and/or children;
2. If no surviving spouse or children, surviving parents;
3. If no surviving parents, surviving siblings; then,
4. If no surviving siblings, surviving grandparents.

The order of the above list is important because it shows the order of legal authority to start a claim. For example, if the deceased’s spouse and/or children do not want to file a wrongful death claim or lawsuit, then no one else in the order (parents, siblings, and grandparents) may start a claim. This authority- and priority-based organization of potential wrongful death claimants helps ensure that multiple claims are not filed for a single person’s untimely passing.

Call Today for Reliable Legal Counsel in Louisiana

As you grieve your lost loved one, the last thing you should have to worry about is how you will navigate a complex legal procedure. Let our experienced Baton Rouge wrongful death attorneys provide the compassionate and attentive legal support you need to hold negligent parties accountable while simultaneously giving you the space to mourn and move forward. We have the experience, resources, and insight required to handle all parts of the case, including investigations into the death, liability determinations, and more.

With the help of one of our lawyers, your case may not require a trial to conclude. We have a proven track record of negotiating fair settlements with defendants and avoiding drawn-out court battles. However, you can rest assured that we will be ready if your case does go to court. Chris Corzo Injury Attorneys never backs down from a difficult legal fight, especially not when something as important as honoring the memory of a lost loved one depends on the outcome of the case.

When you choose our firm to represent your family, you will always come first. Contact us online or call (225) 230-3110 to learn more about how we can assist you during this difficult time.

Frequently Asked Questions about Wrongful Death in Louisiana

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Louisiana?

Typically, the surviving spouse and/or children have the priority to start or halt a wrongful death claim after losing a loved one in an accident. The authority to start a claim can be passed to parents, siblings, and grandparents, in that order, depending on the deceased’s surviving family members. On the other hand, a representative of the deceased’s estate will generally have the ability to start a survival action. Not sure if you have the right to pursue a lawsuit on behalf of a loved one? We can evaluate your situation and help you understand your legal options.

What Is Louisiana’s Statute of Limitations on Wrongful Death Claims?

In most cases, a qualifying party has one year from the date their loved one passed away to file a Louisiana wrongful death lawsuit. Note that the deadline is tied to the day your loved one died, not the day they sustained their fatal injuries. For example, if someone suffered catastrophic injuries in a motorcycle accident but only succumbed to those injuries a month later, the clock starts ticking on the day they passed away, not the date of the accident.

Who Receives the Money in a Louisiana Wrongful Death Settlement?

The person or persons who bring the wrongful death lawsuit will receive the money from a settlement or damage award. Surviving spouses and children receive first priority, followed by parents, then siblings, then grandparents, then estate representatives. If a sibling has standing to file a wrongful death claim and successfully does so, for example, the sibling will receive the money.