Wrongful Death Lawyer Philadelphia Pennsylvania

Wrongful death refers to the wrongful killing of another person. Wrongful deaths are never expected and often lead to immense emotional trauma for the families of the decedent. When a person dies as a result of wrongful death, his/her family is devastated, as it is never easy to comprehend how someone else's negligence could lead to the termination of another person's life. Unfortunately, wrongful deaths happen frequently as a result of motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, workplace accidents, and violent acts of others.

Under Pennsylvania law, the spouse, children or parents of the deceased may bring a wrongful death action to recover damages sustained by them as a result of the decedent's death. The purpose of a wrongful death action under Pennsylvania law is to compensate the relatives for their losses in connection with the death of a loved one. An experienced Pennsylvania wrongful death attorney will advise the family members what it takes to litigate and win a wrongful death action in Pennsylvania. Litigating wrongful death cases requires expertise and dedication of a wrongful death lawyer who knows the law, procedures, local litigation traditions and other legal aspects to help you win your wrongful death case and recover the fair compensation for the losses sustained.

In order to recover monetary damages in an action for wrongful death, plaintiff must prove that the death was caused by violence or negligence of another and that no action for arising out of the same situation was brought by decedent during his or her lifetime. In addition, before there can be any recovery at all in damages for the negligent death of a relative, there must be a pecuniary loss which has been defined to be a destruction of a reasonable expectation of pecuniary advantage from deceased.

The family members of the deceased may recover expenses in conjunction with hospital, nursing, medical and funeral expenses, and all such items as intended to cover only such expenses as were immediately attendant upon, and related to, decedent's injuries and death. In addition, the family members are entitled to receive loss of earnings during decedent's life expectancy in a specified amount. It means that the surviving spouse, child or parent may be entitled to compensation for probable earning capacity of the decedent during his/her lifetime. Computing the loss of earnings depends on the decedent's expected age, business habits, past earnings and place of employment, as well as the amount of earnings allegedly devoted to the maintenance of the wife and children. The amount of financial compensation available to the family depends of the proper estimation of the damages, including the loss of the expected earning power of the decedent. It is a complicated procedure and the family needs to hire an experienced Pennsylvania wrongful death attorney to receive the highest compensation available under the law. At the Lassen Law Firm, our attorneys have achived numerous record settlements and verdicts, most recently, a $10,000,000.00 settlement on May 2, 2012 for a wrongful shooting case.

If your parent, spouse or a child has died as a result of a negligent or violent act of another, contact the Lassen Law Firm as soon as possible to discuss your legal rights. If you wait too long to contact an attorney, your right to sue may be timely barred. The Pennsylvania statute of limitations is two years for personal injury cases. It means that personal injury lawsuits must be filed within two years from the date a cause of action accrues. Generally, in wrongful death cases, a cause of action accrues at the time of death.

There are, however, several exceptions to the general rule.

Our Pennsylvania civil litigation attorneys at the Lassen Law Firm will evaluate the facts and circumstances of your case to determine whether an exception to the general statute of limitations is applicable in your case. For example, one of the exceptions to Pennsylvania two-year statute of limitations is discovery rule. Discovery rule, which provides that statute of limitations runs from time of actual discovery, or time when discovery of injury was reasonably possible, may apply to toll running of statute of limitations for wrongful death in those instances when plaintiff cannot reasonably be expected to be aware of injury or of its cause.

Who may sue for Wrongful Death in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Statute: The Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Act provides that the right to sue exists only for the: surviving spouse, child, parent, guardian, or personal representative of the deceased individual. The Lassen Law Firm can help you become the personal representative, the person appointed by the state to represent the beneficiaries. Brothers, sisters and cousins of the decedent don't have the right to file a lawsuit unless they have been named as the legal guardian or personal representative of the decedent.

Once people have lost their loved ones as a result of wrongful death, they may feel helpless. It is hard enough for people to deal with their traumatic loss, let alone the financial difficulties that are often associated with most wrongful deaths. Thankfully, personal injury law allows survivors of wrongful death victims to seek monetary damages for the loss of their loved ones.

Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Damages

• medical expenses, funeral expenses, burial expenses, estate administration expenses;

• an amount that will fairly and adequately compensate the family of the decedent (wife, children, parents, etc.) for their loss of any contributions they would have received between the time of the death of the decedent and today. such as: food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education, gifts, entertainment;
• money value of contribution to support of family / compensation to family: society, comfort, services;
• compensation to kids for loss of services deceased would have provided: guidance, moral upbringing, etc.

See:

Wrongful Death Cases

Survival Action

Survival Action Cases

The Lassen Law Firm only deducts a 29% contingency fee, not the standard 45% like other firms. We serve ALL of Pennsylvania. We can sign you up over the phone and start working on your case today.

Attorney Chris Lassen is pleased to announce a $10 million wrongful death settlement on May 2, 2012 for one of his clients.

Stop Searching. Start Calling. 215-510-6755.

Authored by: Christian Lassen