Questions You Should Be Prepared To Answer When Working With a Wrongful Death Attorney

A wrongful death claim refers to a lawsuit that allows a close family member of the deceased to hold a person or company that was negligent financially responsible for the death of their loved one. Those who can file a wrongful death suit are spouses, parents, children, and relatives who are were financially dependent. The death of your loved one will trigger litigation, and as a client, there is a part that you are supposed to play. Your lawyer, in pursuing the case, will need some information from you.

Do you have any evidence that the negligent party acted inconsistently with their duty?

To win a wrongful death case, your lawyer will need to prove to the judge and the jury that the party you are suing did not act dutifully to protect the life of your loved one. For instance, you will need to furnish your lawyer with evidence that a doctor made a serious error that led to uncontrollable bleeding. This evidence is concrete in general and can be presumed to be the cause of death.

In the case of a distracted driver causing a fatal collision, you will need to give your attorney evidence that the driver wasn’t paying attention on the road. Evidence might include cell phone records proving that the driver was texting when the accident occurred, witness testimony, and sometimes an accident reconstruction specialist who analyzes the accident scene and provides an opinion to the effect that the rash was as a result of distractive driving.

Proving Wrongful Death Damages

After proving an intentional wrongful at in the defendant part, the next thing is to provide sufficient proof of damages that you seek in the lawsuit.

Damages simply refer to the compensation that you are seeking. You have a duty to prove that the amount sought is justifiable according to your losses. In the pursuit of evidence to prove this, your lawyer might ask you the following questions:

Are there financial records or bills proving financial losses?
Do you have a report on financial estimates of the loss of inheritance by an expert?
Do you have evidence that death has caused the quality of life to deteriorate?
Are there testimonies of psychologists or therapists regarding the emotional toll due to the loss?
Do you have testimony and analysis of occupational and economic experts who can figure out the earning capacity and income lost?

It’s generally more difficult to prove intangible damages and in most cases, you will rely a lot on the opinions and testimonies of various experts to convince the jury that you fully deserve the amount claimed. It is important that your attorney has the requisite resources to prove that you deserve the full amount you have requested.

Tips To Cooperate With Your Attorney

The success of your wrongful death suit will depend not only on the cooperation of your attorney, but also how you work together with him or her. Here are more tips.

Respond to your attorney promptly

Clients get upset a lot if their lawyer fails to return their calls. In the same way, lawyers also feel that way. Failing to reply to your lawyer’s emails, letters or phone calls promptly might not just waste your attorney’s time, but could also do your case a lot of harm.

Pass on all the important information

After deciding that you will be represented in court by a wrongful death attorney, it’s important that you surrender every bit of information relevant to the case and give it to your lawyer. Provide as much information as possible, including what you think may not be important. It is the work of a lawyer to sieve through the information you have provided and pick what will help your case. This information might strengthen some aspects of your case. Also, some kids of information can help the lawyer predict the arguments that might be brought against your lawsuit.

Conclusion

Your lawyer will need you to cooperate fully if you are to win your wrongful death lawsuit. In this regard, there are questions they are likely to ask to put together irrefutable evidence that helps you win your case. Knowing these questions beforehand will help you prepare better and give your lawyer the best information to win your case.