Seeking Justice After a Fatal Car Crash: How a Lawyer Can Help

If you are a surviving family member of someone who was killed in a preventable accident, you need to speak with a fatal car crash lawyer immediately. As a fatal car crash lawyer at Morgan & Morgan can tell you, there are many things to consider in the wake of losing a loved one.

You likely recognize that life as you know it has shifted significantly. The last thing you want to add to your stress is concerns about insurance or the recovery of fair compensation. The only opportunity to close this chapter and to move forward with your life while also honoring the important contributions and legacy of your loved one is to consider a wrongful death lawsuit. A wrongful death lawsuit is handled by a fatal car crash lawyer who can help you and other family members to recover compensation for your loss.

It is devastating to lose a loved one in a fatal car accident, but collecting compensation for the losses after your family member has been killed by someone else's negligence or recklessness can help you and your other family members in the days, weeks, months, and even years ahead.

What Are The Causes of Accidents?

Sadly, many different kinds of accidents can contribute to fatal injuries. Even when medical professionals are called to the scene as soon as possible, it may not be an option to save your loved one's life. Although this can be an unfortunate circumstance, it raises many legal questions and may require you to work with an experienced fatal car crash lawyer immediately.

One of the most important components of a wrongful death lawsuit is being able to show that someone else is legally responsible for the accident. In some circumstances, the collection of evidence at the scene of the accident can help to prove this. For example, a toxicology report May reveal that the driver who caused the accident was under the influence of alcohol at the time. In other cases, it may require things such as accident reconstruction or a thorough investigation to identify that an accident was caused by someone who was distracted or who was speeding at the time of the accident. As the person who was not at the accident and is instead filing a lawsuit on behalf of a family member, you need as much evidence as possible.

Figuring out how to gather this evidence and how to tell the story of the accident itself can be very challenging without the help of an experienced fatal car crash attorney. A fatal car crash attorney should have plenty of experience in reconstructing these accident scenes and should be familiar with local resources and experts who can help in that process. The Morgan & Morgan attorneys have worked through many wrongful death cases in the past and are familiar with piecing together the moments prior to a crash to tell the story.

What to Know About Filing Wrongful Death Claims?

Wrongful death claims allow the estate of someone and surviving family members to pursue compensation when they have lost a loved one due to another person's negligence. One common example of a wrongful death claim is a fatal car accident. This helps hold the negligent person accountable for the harm that they have caused and each state has specific rules about wrongful death laws, including how long after an accident a case must be filed in order to protect legal rights.

To succeed in filing a wrongful death claim, you need an experienced fatal car crash lawyer to handle all legal aspects of the claim. Finding a leading personal injury law firm is extremely important so you can spend your time and energy on what matters most—grieving your loved one and saying goodbye to them.

What Kind of Damages Are Available in a Wrongful Death Claim?

As a fatal car crash lawyer will tell you, the specifics of each case determine the type of compensation available. Under state law, you may be able to lodge a wrongful death claim if your family member was killed in a fatal car crash anywhere throughout that state. To get the recovery that may help your family get back on your feet financially, you need an experienced fatal car crash lawyer on your side. Working with experienced and qualified lawyers to fight for full and fair recovery may help you achieve success with your wrongful death claim. One of the things you can discuss with your fatal car crash lawyer is whether or not there is a cap or limit on the dollar amount of damages that can be awarded in a wrongful death case.

Why Should I Speak With a Lawyer?

Filing a wrongful death claim may seem like an overwhelming aspect or one that is simply too emotionally difficult to deal with in the wake of losing a beloved family member. However, there are three strong reasons why it makes sense to communicate with a fatal car crash lawyer as soon as possible. First, filing a wrongful death lawsuit is an acknowledgment that your loved one unfairly lost their life and that you are suffering needlessly because of someone else's reckless or negligent actions. These reckless and negligent actions can run all across a spectrum from failing to use a turn signal to driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. It can be devastating enough to lose a family member, but recognizing that someone else's careless actions contributed to this loss can be very hard for family members. It can give you a sense of justice when working with a dedicated wrongful death lawyer to help validate the experience you've gone through. If you achieve a settlement or a successful lawsuit outcome in a wrongful death claim, this is a legal and official acknowledgment that you and your family have unnecessarily experienced loss.

The second major impact is the financial aspect of life in the immediate aftermath of losing a loved one, such as making up for the income that your loved one would've earned to help support their family in the coming years. Some immediate expenses, such as funeral expenses, can run into the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars, depending on how you wish to honor your loved one's wishes. With so much at stake, receiving a settlement may be your only opportunity to get the compensation that you need to put things right. Furthermore, there is no doubt that your loved one may have contributed significantly to your household, but what happens when they pass away suddenly and unfairly?

The third reason for contacting a fatal car crash lawyer as soon as you can is that this sends a serious message about negligent and reckless behavior. Too many survivors of wrongful death victims are not able to recover punitive damages depending on the state in which you are located. Whether or not punitive damages are available to you and surviving family members, winning a civil case against the person who is responsible for the death of your loved one is a way to hold them accountable for their actions.

You have a limited time period in which to make a claim, and you may only have one opportunity to fight for justice and to protect your loved one's memory and legacy. Finding an experienced and qualified wrongful death lawyer is something that should be undertaken as soon as possible. Whether it was a T-bone accident, rollover accident, pedestrian accident, truck accident, head-on collision, or rear-end accident, any kind of motor vehicle collision can become fatal. This is especially true when one of the vehicles involved in the crash was traveling at high speeds or the driver was under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If you suspect that the other driver's actions contributed to the loss of your loved one's life, you need to have your case evaluated by a fatal car crash lawyer as soon as possible.

Distracted driving, speeding, drunk driving, drowsy driving, aggressive driving, and other factors may all be at play in a fatal car crash case. And while no amount of money will ever put this situation right, you can send an important message about the devastation your family experienced. At Morgan & Morgan, we're here to help support you in each aspect of your claim and are dedicated to fighting hard on behalf of your loved one. Contact us today for a free, no-obligation case evaluation to get started.