A wrongful death lawsuit involves the death of a person that is caused by the malevolence or carelessness of another individual or entity. Wrongful death lawsuits can be simple or extremely complicated, so it is not easy to determine how long such lawsuits will take to reach a verdict.
Contacting A Wrongful Death Attorney
The first thing that you should do, if you think you might have a wrongful death claim, is to get in touch with a qualified wrongful death attorney. Your attorneys will evaluate your case and let you know if you have the grounds to file a wrongful death claim.
Qualified wrongful death attorneys will take your case on contingency, which means that they will only get paid a portion of your award, if you win the case. Be wary of an attorney that asks you for up front money.
Filing a Wrongful Death Complaint
Before filing a claim in court, your attorney can demand compensation for damages that occurred because of the defendant’s negligence in the death of your loved one. In some instances the case can be resolved before it goes to court.
If the case is not resolved after these discussions with the defendant’s attorney’s, the next step is to file a wrongful death complaint with the court. The “plaintiff” is the person filing the complaint and the defendant is the person being sued.
The complaint states why the plaintiff is filling the case against the defendant and the court will award compensation if the plaintiff wins the case. There are others that can be involved in the complaint and they are considered third parties to the complaint.
The defendant’s have a set time period in which they have to reply to the complaint. In most jurisdictions that can be between 20 to 30 days. This reply is commonly known as the answer to the complaint. The answer seeks to have the plaintiff’s case dismissed as it usually outlines the defendant’s refutation of the plaintiff’s claims.
Discovery
Both the plaintiff and defendant have a chance to get information from each other concerning the case after the complaint has been filed. This part of the case is known as “discovery”. The discovery phase consists of written questions, sworn statements that are interviews in front of a court reporter, and requests for pertinent documents and records that may apply to the case.
Wrongful Death Pretrial Motions
Legal representatives for either side may submit legal arguments, or motions, to the court before the case is set for trial. These pretrial motions can cover details regarding disagreements that the affected parties have and discussions that pertain to acquiring evidence, or in regards to the complaint or a response.
Wrongful Death Resolution
There are many states or courts that insist the trial lawyers meet with a judge in order to facilitate an agreement before the the case goes to trial. In some states, both parties are required to go through mediation in an attempt to avoid the expense of a court conflict in the hopes that they can be persuaded to resolve their differences before the trial.
Wrongful Death Trial
If the parties are not able to reconcile out of court, the case will be set for trial which would either be before a judge, or a jury. In wrongful death cases, the plaintiff gets to make the decision. During the trial, both the affected parties will produce evidence, come up with legal and evidential arguments, present witnesses, and cross-examine witnesses.
The judge or jury will produce a verdict for the plaintiff or the defendant at the end of the trial. After the verdict is determined, the judge or jury will come to a decision on the amount of compensation that is due to the plaintiff if the verdict is in favor of the plaintiff.
There is a an alternative to court trials which known as “arbitration.” Rather than a judge or jury there is an arbitrator or a board of arbitrators that review the facts in the case and come to a decision as to who is responsible and what awards there might be. The verdict of an arbiter, or arbiters is absolute and binding.
Wrongful Death Appeal
In some cases there is new evidence after a case has been settled. If there were any serious inaccuracies in the trial, either of the parties can appeal and have the case evaluated again, by another court.
Collection of Compensation for Damages
After the time for an appeal has expired, or if an appeal was made and completed, the lawsuit is considered completed, and the case is closed. At that point the plaintiff collects the compensatory damages that were granted by the court.
Each state has measures that will assist the plaintiff to locate the defendant’s assets and resources. If the compensation is not willingly produced, the state will seize the defendants assets and distribute them to the plaintiff. If the plaintiff does not have the assets required, arrangements will be made by the court to have payments collected.
For further information about wrongful death cases, be sure to check out these articles on this site:
- What is Wrongful Death?
- Who May Sue for Wrongful Death?
- Damages in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit.
- Time Limits for Filing a Wrongful Death Claim.
- Wrongful Death and the Physician-Patient Privilege.
- How a Wrongful Death Lawyer Can Help You.