Roswell
Wrongful Death Lawyer

The death of a loved one is always hard on your family. However, when someone else caused it through negligent actions, it can be even more difficult. The personal injury lawyers in Roswell at John Foy & Associates can help your family get compensation for your damages.

The aftermath of your loved one’s death can leave you having to deal with the consequences of the at-fault party’s actions. Money can never replace your loved one, but it can help to begin the healing process of dealing with the financial fallout.

Common Types of Wrongful Death Cases in Roswell

There are many situations in which someone’s death can be considered wrongful. As long as someone else caused your loved one’s accident and, subsequently, the damages that you’ve had to pay in the wake of their death, you could have a wrongful death claim.

However, there are some wrongful death cases that our firm sees more often than others. Common types of wrongful death cases in Roswell can include:

Car Accidents

Car crashes are one of the leading causes of death in America. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report that traffic accidents are the number one cause of death for Americans aged 1-54. While some fatalities in car accidents are random, tragic events, they are often caused by someone else’s actions.

If a driver was speeding, not paying attention to the road, or otherwise driving recklessly and caused your loved one’s car accident, they could be liable.

Medical Malpractice

When we’re in the care of a medical professional like a doctor, nurse, or another caregiver, we depend on them to treat us to the best of their ability. When someone fails to do so, they could be responsible for the damages you suffer as a result. That includes when someone in their care dies.

Common ways that medical malpractice causes wrongful death include:

• Failing to call for a necessary procedure
• Misdiagnosing a serious condition
• Writing or administering an incorrect prescription
• Misusing medical tools during an operation

Workplace Accidents

Accidents can happen on the job at any time, especially when someone is working in an environment like a construction site or warehouse. Unfortunately, deaths due to workplace accidents aren’t uncommon.

If your loved one has died because of an injury in the workplace, recovering compensation can be a different process than other wrongful death claims. That’s because their employer likely had a workers’ compensation plan put in place to cover your damages, which means you can’t pursue a wrongful death claim.

You can still get compensation, though. If a family member was killed in a workplace accident, a workers’ compensation lawyer can help you recover money for your family’s damages.

Slip and Fall Cases

When someone is injured because they slipped and fell, or had some similar accident, on someone else’s property, it often falls under premises liability law. If a property owner fails to keep their premises safe for everyone, they may be liable for the damages that their negligence causes.

If a family member died because of a fall caused by dangerous conditions, you may be able to file a wrongful death claim to recover the damages you have had to pay in the wake of their death.

If none of the above apply to your situation but you still believe that someone else was at fault, you can talk to one of our attorneys for free. Someone from our firm can listen to your story and tell you what your options are. 

Is Wrongful Death Hard to Prove?

How difficult your family’s wrongful death claim is to prove depends on the details of your situation. In a case where it is clear that the at-fault party caused your loved one’s accident and that they owe you compensation, proving those is not hard. However, some wrongful death cases are more complicated and require thorough investigation and negotiation.

To prove a wrongful death claim, you and your attorney need to show the four following things:

• That the other party owed your family member a duty of care. That is the basic reasonable standard that someone in a certain position has to meet in their treatment of other people.
• That the other party breached that duty of care, either through criminal activity or through negligence
• That the other party’s breach of duty caused the death of your loved one
• That your loved one’s death caused specific economic and non-economic damages to you and your family

To prove all those points, your Roswell wrongful death attorney will have to investigate your case and gather evidence that shows how the other party was negligent and what damages you suffered as a result.

Compensation in a Wrongful Death Claim

The payment that your family receives for your loved one’s wrongful death will, ideally, cover the “full value of the life of the decedent,” according to the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (OCGA) 51-4-1. That will come from the damages that your wrongful death attorney calculates.

Compensation in a wrongful death claim can cover:

• Hospital bills
• Lost household income
• Funeral expenses
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of companionship
• Mental anguish
• Pain that your loved one experienced before their death

To calculate your damages, your attorney will use your bills, receipts, and other documents that show how much money your family has had to pay in the wake of your loved one’s passing. 

It’s difficult to say how much compensation to expect from your wrongful death claim without knowing the details of your case. To get an estimate, you can talk to a lawyer at our firm for free. 

Talk to a Wrongful Death Attorney in Roswell Today

When someone else has caused a family member’s death, it can feel like there is no closure. Even if they were simply negligent, they should be held accountable, and you should have help with your financial burden. 

The Roswell wrongful death lawyers at John Foy & Associates can help with that. Call us or contact us online for a FREE initial consultation. Our attorneys are ready to give your case the care and attention it deserves.