Meet Your Wrongful Death Attorneys
The unexpected loss of a loved one leaves families grappling with profound grief while facing mounting medical bills, funeral expenses, and lost income. At Clear Counsel Law Group, our wrongful death lawyers walk beside families during these devastating times, helping them seek justice and financial security when negligence or misconduct leads to a preventable death.
Our wrongful death attorneys recognize that no legal action can truly compensate for your loss. However, holding responsible parties accountable can provide critical financial support and a sense of closure for grieving families. We handle the complex legal process with sensitivity and dedication, allowing you to focus on healing while we pursue the compensation your family deserves.
Common Causes of Wrongful Death
A wrongful death can be the result of many otherwise typical interactions. Here are some examples of personal injury cases which involved a wrongful death claim.
- Car Crashes: One of the most common causes of wrongful death. Often, these involve another party engaging in reckless driving, DUI, or violation of traffic laws resulting in fatal collisions.
- Workplace Accidents: Deaths resulting from unsafe working conditions, often in high-risk industries like construction or manufacturing.
- Criminal Acts: Involves deaths caused by violent criminal behaviors such as assault, robbery, or homicide.
- Product Liability: Defective or unsafe products can cause fatal injuries. This includes everything from automotive defects to hazardous consumer products.
- Premises Liability: Fatal accidents resulting from unsafe conditions on someone’s property, like slip and fall accidents or structural collapses.
- Transportation Accidents: Deaths resulting from accidents in air, sea, or railway transport due to negligence or equipment failure.
- Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect: When elderly individuals die due to abuse or neglect in a care facility.
- Pedestrian Crashes: Fatalities involving pedestrians, often due to negligent drivers who hit pedestrians in urban or residential areas.
- Recreational Accidents: Death occurring during recreational activities, such as boat accidents or skiing accidents, often due to negligence in maintaining equipment or a failure to provide safe environments.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim
Nevada law carefully defines who may pursue a wrongful death claim after losing a loved one due to another party’s wrongful actions. Spouses and children form the core group of eligible claimants, with the law recognizing both biological and adopted children as having equal standing. Parents of unmarried children who have passed away may also pursue these claims.
Beyond immediate family, Nevada courts sometimes recognize the rights of financial dependents to seek compensation, even when blood or marriage ties don’t exist. This provision acknowledges the real-world impact of losing someone who provided vital financial support.
Estate representatives play a central role in wrongful death claims. When the deceased left a will, the named executor manages all aspects of the legal process. At Clear Counsel Law Group, we guide executors through their responsibilities, from collecting vital evidence to coordinating with probate attorneys. We ensure any compensation flows properly to beneficiaries according to Nevada succession laws or the deceased’s documented wishes.
Who is Responsible in Wrongful Death Cases
When pursuing a wrongful death claim, identifying the responsible parties requires careful investigation. The liable party might be an individual whose actions directly caused the death, such as a driver who chose to operate a vehicle while intoxicated, a property owner who failed to address dangerous conditions, or a caregiver who neglected their duties. Sometimes multiple individuals share responsibility, like in cases where both a reckless driver and a road maintenance worker’s negligence contributed to a fatal accident.
Companies bear responsibility when deaths occur due to unsafe working conditions or defective products. This might involve manufacturers who rushed products to market without proper safety testing, construction companies that ignored safety regulations, or employers who failed to provide adequate training and protection to their workers. Healthcare providers and medical facilities face liability when their care falls short of professional standards, leading to preventable deaths. Even government bodies may be held accountable if poor road maintenance or public transportation issues result in fatal accidents.
At Clear Counsel Law Group, we meticulously build cases by proving three key elements: the defendant’s duty of care to the deceased, how that duty was breached, and how that breach directly caused the death. Our attorneys gather comprehensive evidence, including expert testimony when needed, to establish these critical points. This often involves detailed accident reconstruction, thorough review of medical records, examination of safety protocols, and interviews with witnesses who can shed light on the circumstances leading to the death.
The evidence needed varies by case type. In vehicle collisions, we might demonstrate the other driver’s reckless behavior through traffic camera footage or witness statements. For medical cases, we examine treatment records and consult with healthcare experts to show where care deviated from accepted medical practices. Product liability cases often require engineering experts to identify design flaws or manufacturing defects that contributed to the fatal incident. This thorough approach helps ensure accountability for our clients’ losses.
Fault and Negligence in Wrongful Death Cases
A successful wrongful death case hinges on clearly showing who bears responsibility for the death and proving how their actions fell short of legal obligations. To put it another way: We are looking at fault and negligence. While they often overlap, each carries distinct implications for a wrongful death claim.
Fault means tracing the chain of events that led to the death back to specific actions or decisions. For example, a fatal accident might trace back to a driver texting while driving, a building collapse might link to a construction company cutting corners on materials, or a death might result from a pharmacist mixing up prescriptions. In each case, someone’s choices directly led to the tragic outcome.
Duty of care forms the foundation of negligence claims. This legal responsibility requires people and organizations to act with reasonable caution to prevent harm to others. Doctors must provide competent medical care, drivers must follow traffic laws, manufacturers must ensure product safety, and property owners must maintain safe premises. When someone fails to fulfill this duty and death results, they may face liability through a wrongful death claim.
Proving fault or negligence demands solid evidence. At Clear Counsel Law Group, our wrongful death lawyers build compelling cases using various types of proof. Security camera footage might show a store owner ignored a dangerous condition that led to a fatal fall. Medical records could reveal a doctor prescribed medication without checking for allergies. Expert testimony often plays a vital role – engineers can explain how poor maintenance caused an elevator failure, or medical professionals can detail how treatment deviated from accepted standards. We also gather witness statements, accident reports, maintenance records, and any other documentation that helps establish the clear link between the responsible party’s actions and the death.
Types of Damages in Wrongful Death Claims
In wrongful death claims, the family of the deceased can seek various types of damages. These damages are meant to compensate for the losses suffered because of their loved one’s untimely death. No amount of money can ever replace a loved one or compensate fully for their loss, but this kind of compensation is often the only remedy the law allows. Speak with your wrongful death attorney about the kinds of damages experienced by you and your loved ones.
Pecuniary Losses
One of the main types of damages is pecuniary loss, which is a fancy way of saying financial losses. This includes the future wages the deceased would have earned if they had lived; money they would have brought home from their job over time. This also covers benefits like health insurance or retirement savings that the deceased would have contributed to their family.
Medical Expenses
These are the costs of any medical care the deceased received because of the injury before they passed away. This can include hospital stays, surgeries, medication, and any other medical treatment.
Funeral and Burial Expenses
Sadly, when someone dies, their family has to pay for the funeral and costs related to disposal of remains: burial or cremation. These expenses can be claimed in a wrongful death lawsuit to help ease the financial burden on the family.
Loss of Companionship and Support
This is about the emotional loss that the family feels. It recognizes that the deceased person played an important role in their family’s life, not just financially but also in terms of love, guidance, and support.
Pain and Suffering of the Deceased
Sometimes, a loved one holds on for a while after an injury. Lawsuits can include compensation for the pain and suffering that the deceased experienced before their death due to the injury. This acknowledges the physical and emotional distress they and their family went through.
Punitive Damages
In some cases, if the act that caused the death was especially reckless or harmful, the court might award punitive damages. These aren’t about compensating the family but are more about punishing the person or company that caused the death and discouraging others from doing similar things.
Each wrongful death case is unique, and the types and amounts of damages will depend on the specific circumstances. The goal of these damages is to help the family recover, as much as possible, financially and emotionally from their loss.
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How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Claim?
Time matters deeply when considering a wrongful death claim. The law sets strict deadlines, called statutes of limitations, that determine how long families have to take legal action. Missing these deadlines typically means losing the right to pursue compensation permanently.
The clock starts ticking on the date of death, and families generally have two years to file their claim. While this might seem like plenty of time, building a strong wrongful death case requires extensive preparation. The wrongful death attorneys at Clear Counsel Law Group need time to gather medical records, collect witness statements, consult experts, and properly document all aspects of the loss.
We encourage families to contact us soon after their loss, even if they aren’t certain about pursuing legal action. Early consultation helps preserve critical evidence and ensures all filing deadlines are met while allowing grieving families to make informed decisions about their legal options.
Why Hire a Wrongful Death Attorney
Expert Legal Knowledge
After losing a loved one, you face a maze of complex legal procedures and strict deadlines. A wrongful death attorney brings deep knowledge of the legal system to your case, including mastery of evidence collection requirements and filing procedures. Their understanding of legal precedents and documentation requirements ensures your case is built on solid ground from the start.
Professional Case Management
Your wrongful death attorney takes full responsibility for managing every aspect of your case. This comprehensive oversight includes gathering and preserving critical evidence before it disappears, maintaining meticulous case documentation, and ensuring all court deadlines are met. They handle all communications with insurance companies and coordinate with expert witnesses, creating a strong foundation for your claim. If your case goes to trial they transition to a litigation team, hitting every filing deadline and putting the other side on notice.
Access to Expert Resources
Clear Counsel Law Group works with a trusted network of professional experts who strengthen your case. Medical specialists provide clear explanations of complex injuries, while accident reconstruction experts demonstrate exactly what happened. Financial analysts calculate the long-term economic impact of your loss, and industry specialists identify safety violations that contributed to the tragedy. When needed, mental health professionals document the profound impact of grief on your family.
Skilled Negotiation
Your attorney stands as your advocate against insurance companies and opposing counsel. We evaluate settlement offers with years of experience, countering lowball tactics with compelling evidence. By documenting the full scope of damages and presenting strong evidence, we fight for maximum compensation. When settlement offers fall short of what your family deserves, we stand ready to take your case to trial.
Focus on Your Family
While we manage the demanding legal process, you can devote your energy to what matters most. Spend precious time with family, attend to emotional needs, and process your grief without the burden of legal paperwork and procedures. This time allows you to plan for the future and honor your loved one’s memory in meaningful ways.
Financial Protection
We remove financial barriers that might prevent families from seeking justice. Our contingency fee structure means you pay nothing unless we win your case. We advance all case costs and provide free initial consultations, ensuring you understand exactly how our fee structure works before moving forward.
Dedicated Support
Our commitment extends beyond legal representation. We provide regular updates about your case and clear answers to your questions. Our team offers emotional support during difficult times and guidance through every step of the legal process. At Clear Counsel Law Group, we serve as strong advocates for your family’s future while handling all aspects of your wrongful death claim.
The passing of a loved one brings overwhelming grief. When that loss stems from someone else’s actions, families deserve both justice and support. We combine legal expertise with compassionate guidance to help you through this difficult journey, handling complex legal work while you focus on healing.
Other Types of Injury Cases
If you want to be sure your case is handled by real experience, you owe it to yourself to call Clear Counsel Law Group NOW.
While motorcycle accidents often result in severe injuries and mounting medical bills, you may be entitled to significantly more compensation than what insurance companies initially offer.
Even if the other driver’s insurance company is pressuring you to accept a quick settlement after your car accident, you may have the right to pursue full compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.
If you’ve been injured in a taxi accident – whether as a passenger, pedestrian, or another driver – your case involves unique liability factors that could entitle you to compensation from multiple parties.
Rideshare accidents involve complex insurance coverage issues between personal and commercial policies, but our extensive experience with Uber and Lyft cases ensures you’ll receive the maximum compensation you deserve.
Falls involving rollators or wheeled walkers can be devastating for elderly or disabled individuals, but navigating the complex liability issues – from defective equipment to unsafe premises – requires specialized legal knowledge to secure proper compensation.
Even if the driver who hit you fled the scene, you may still be able to recover significant compensation through your own insurance policy and other available sources of coverage.
If you’ve been injured by a faulty product – from household items to vehicle components – manufacturers and retailers may be liable for your injuries even if you no longer have the receipt or original packaging.
If you’ve lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence or misconduct, your family may be entitled to substantial compensation, including funeral expenses, lost future income, and compensation for loss of companionship.
A slip and fall accident at a business or property can cause serious injuries that impact your life, but proving the owner knew about the dangerous condition requires experienced legal representation to secure the compensation you deserve.