Hiring a Wrongful Death Attorney

If you are seeking an attorney to help you with a wrongful death lawsuit, allow me to first offer my deepest condolences for your loss. During this time of mourning, the pain of your loss is heightened by the conviction that it could have been avoided. 

As an experienced Florida personal injury attorney with extensive experience helping clients recover compensation for injury and death, I can help you through this difficult time, respectfully and gently collecting from you the information I need while at the same time aggressively and persistently demanding justice from those whose negligence caused the death of your loved one.

When can you sue for a wrongful death?

Most wrongful death lawsuits in Florida are the result of auto accidents or other vehicular accidents, slip and falls or other premises liability cases, product liability cases, and medical malpractice. In the case of assault, a wrongful death suit could be filed against the owners of the location where the attack occurred, if the owners had inadequate security or lighting or demonstrated some other negligence that created the opportunity for the attack. 

According to Florida law, you must file within two years of the wrongful death OR within two years of discovering the death was caused by negligence. For instance, if your loved one died due to a complication from an act of negligence during surgery that was performed over two years ago, but you did not discover the negligence right away after your loved one’s death, the two-year statute of limitations begins when you discovered negligence.

If you were already engaged in a personal injury case or civil court case when the death occurred, then a wrongful death lawsuit can be added or the case can be upgraded, depending on the details of the case. The personal injury or civil case would become a “survival action” – that is, a case brought by the survivors since the plaintiff died before the case was decided. The defendants are not absolved of the plaintiff’s pain and suffering while he or she was alive just because the plaintiff died. 

What you can sue for

In a wrongful death case, you can sue for all the things you can sue for in a personal injury case, as well as additional losses due to your loved one’s death:

• Medical expenses
• Funeral and burial costs
• Mental health expenses related to the loss for any member of the family or estate
• Lost wages and future lost earnings
• Loss of other benefits from the deceased, such as insurance, Social Security or veterans’ benefits, accrual or growth of retirement funds or pension
• Property damage
• Other expenses caused by the accident or the event that caused the death
• Pain and suffering: your deceased loved one’s physical, emotional, and relational suffering prior to death as well as your own pain and suffering and those of your family or estate
• Loss of companionship: this can be applied to spouse, parents, or children, and can cover many aspects, including but not limited to:
  • Friendship and emotional support
  • Advice and guidance
  • Love and affection
  • Services such as housekeeping, landscaping, auto repair, babysitting, bookkeeping, security, and other services associated with your relationship with the deceased 

What you need

In times such as these, you need an attorney who will respect your grief, compassionately collect from you the information he needs, and communicate with you regularly to ensure that you are aware of the progress of the case, the other evidence that has been collected, and the compensation he will seek. 

When I reach out regularly to my wrongful death clients, I do so with respect for their grief but also with the goal of helping them see that justice is making progress and will soon be served.

At the Quackenbush Law Firm, we harness our substantial resources to determine the extent of the negligence, engaging private investigators, medical experts, and other expert witnesses in the appropriate fields for your case.

One of the most important aspects of a wrongful death lawsuit is properly calculating future lost earnings, loss of companionship, and the long-term effects on the family. I leave no stone unturned to determine the extent of the losses you have experienced, including consulting experts in the medical, financial, and mental health fields to calculate future costs accurately and present the most compelling case.

Every case I take on becomes personal to me, as if one of my own friends or loved ones had been injured or killed, and I work vigorously to uncover every possible expense or complication for my clients to help them get the maximum settlement for their loss. I will go to court if necessary, and I have a track record of winning significant awards. Contact me today from anywhere in Florida, 24/7, at (954) 448-7288, to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.