We focus 100% of our time representing injured Bakersfield residents.
There is no right or wrong way to process the unexpected loss of a loved one. Some individuals find that they need to sit with their grief and tune out the rest of the world for time. Others are motivated to seek justice immediately in the event that their loved one was lost as a result of another’s reckless, intentionally dangerous, or negligent actions or inactions. Whether you are eager to speak with an attorney about your legal options in the wake of your loss or the idea of picking up the phone feels like picking up a ton of bricks, know that we will adjust our approach to your consultation accordingly.
Our firm has extensive experience handling wrongful death and survivor action cases. We understand how to approach these actions efficiently, effectively, compassionately, and with the kind of dedication that they deserve. If, after your no-cost, risk-free consultation, you choose to pursue legal action, know that we will respect the way in which you prefer to approach our attorney-client relationship. If you want to ask questions on a regular basis, we will answer those questions promptly and thoroughly. If you are only interested in receiving developments about your case as they occur, we will respect that approach to communication as well.
There is no right or wrong way to grieve. There is also no right or wrong way to begin exploring your legal options. The only thing you need to know right now is that if another may have (partially or totally) caused the loss of your loved one, you will benefit from scheduling a consultation as soon as you are able to, in order to better preserve your legal options and protect your legal rights. If the loss of your loved one was recent, you likely don’t have to make any major decisions quite yet. However, you will need personalized legal guidance to make informed decisions moving forward.
Focused Representation for Families of Injury Victims
When you arrive for your confidential, risk-free, no-cost case evaluation, we will explain our firm’s approach to representation and your legal options in detail. Whether you choose to have us negotiate with insurers on your behalf, file a workers’ compensation claim on your loved one’s behalf, and/or file a personal injury lawsuit related to your loss, we will take your case seriously and approach building that case with the utmost focus and dedication. Our firm’s goal is to treat every one of our clients as we would want our loved ones to be treated in the event that they needed to seek legal counsel. Our client-focused approach allows us to advocate efficiently and effectively on our clients’ behalf without sacrificing compassion, quality of representation, or our firm’s overall commitment to excellence. When you work with our firm, you and your case will be treated with the utmost respect in every sense of the word.
Per California Code of Civil Procedure § 800-337-7436, the following parties may file a wrongful death action:
When eligible parties file a wrongful death claim, they are essentially suing to recover the financial losses (and certain additional losses that cannot be easily monetized, such as a loss of companionship) that have resulted from their loved one’s death. By contrast, filing a survivor action allows eligible filers to sue for any conscious suffering that the deceased experienced before they passed away as a result of their injuries. Survival actions are governed by California Code of Civil Procedure § 800-337-7436.
Both wrongful death claims and survivor actions operate in much the same way that other personal injury cases do. Our firm will be tasked with investigating the cause of your loved one’s death, determining who or what was responsible for that death - in part or as a whole - and building a case accordingly. Just like a personal injury claim in which the victim does not die from their injuries, successful wrongful death claims need to prove that the responsible party owed the deceased a duty of care under the law, breached that duty through negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous behavior, and cased the deceased’s injuries as a direct result of that breach. Most wrongful death cases, like most personal injury cases, do not require judicial intervention. Instead, they settle before there is a need to go to court. However, our firm prepares our wrongful death cases for trial so that – regardless of whether they ever end up going to trial - they can benefit from the attention to detail required of litigated matters.
All too often, families of those who have lost loved ones as a result of crime are not informed about their rights under civil law. Regardless of whether there is a criminal matter pending or complete related to the loss of your loved one, know that you have separate rights under civil law. The outcome of any criminal matters related to the loss of your loved one is separate from those under civil law. For example, former pro football player O.J. Simpson was acquitted of wrongdoing in the deaths of his former wife and her friend during a famous 1990s criminal trial. However, after the criminal matter was completed, a civil court held Simpson accountable for their deaths. He was ordered to pay their surviving loved ones tens of millions of dollars as a result. The standards of proof are different in civil matters than they are in criminal matters. As a result, it is often easier to hold someone accountable for wrongdoing in civil court than it is to hold them accountable for criminal wrongdoing. If you have lost your loved one as a result of crime, you can seek justice in the civil courts regardless of how the criminal courts have handled your loved one’s situation.
No two wrongful death scenarios ever unfold in exactly the same ways. Therefore, we will not treat your case as if it is any other case we’ve handled before. Your case is unique and deserves to be treated that way. All too often, personal injury attorneys become complacent and fail to consider the nuances and details of every case individually. As a result, things get missed. Our firm takes pride in its attention to detail, focus, and commitment to treating every case with the unique dedication that it requires. With that said, it is helpful to have experience trying different kinds of wrongful death cases. Our team learns from experience, just as we should. Having prior experience with wrongful death matters allows us to anticipate how we can be the most efficient and effective advocates possible on behalf of our clients. Some of the most common causes of wrongful death but our firm has encountered include:
Per Cal. Labor Code § 800-337-7436, certain closely-related loved ones and dependents of a deceased worker may be entitled to collect workers’ compensation death benefits in the event that their loved one and financial provider perished as a result of injuries (or occupational illness) sustained while that worker was on the job. It may be possible to file both a wrongful death action and to claim workers’ compensation death benefits, depending upon the circumstances surrounding the loss of your loved one. In a wrongful death scenario, you would be eligible for wrongful death compensation if your loved one died as a result of the negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous behavior of another. However, no such negligence, recklessness, or intentionally dangerous behavior standard is enforced in a workers’ compensation death benefits scenario. As workers’ compensation is a no-fault system, eligible dependents and other closely-related loved ones may be able to collect death benefits regardless of how their loved ones died, provided that their injuries were sustained while that loved one was engaged in work-related activities.
To better ensure that your consultation session is as productive and helpful as it can possibly be, consider spending a little time preparing for this meeting. Specifically, you’ll want to write down any questions that you may have about your legal options, our firm’s approach to representation, and any other concerns that may be weighing on you.
Additionally, it would be helpful if you could bring along any information that will allow us to better understand the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s death. For example, if any accident reports were filed in conjunction with your loved one’s death, looking these accident reports over will help us to give you more personalized guidance regarding your legal options. Similarly, if there were any witnesses to your loved one’s accident, medical records concerning a diagnosis, or relevant pictures or videos regarding your loved one’s circumstances, please bring these to your consultation if you feel comfortable doing so.
Finally, if there are any insurance policies that may be relevant to your situation, you’ll want to bring that information along so that we can give you a better sense of how we would go about negotiating fair settlements with insurance providers on your family’s behalf. The more information we’re given at the start of your consultation, the more precise we can be when advising you about your legal options at this time.
Exploring your legal options takes a minimal amount of time and energy. However, we understand that at this point, expending any energy that isn’t focused on your grief may feel impossible. However, understanding that expending a little bit of energy now may make a huge difference to your family’s well being moving forward can be a powerful motivator.
If you have lost a loved one and you either know or suspect that another is partially or totally to blame for that loss, please contact our firm to schedule a confidential, risk-free, no-cost case evaluation today. Both you and the memory of your loved one deserve justice in the event that your loved one’s death could have been prevented had another made choices that were not negligent, reckless, or intentionally dangerous. We look forward to speaking with you and to assisting you with your legal needs whenever you’re ready to commit to a plan of action.
We look forward to speaking with you.
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