You need help from a good attorney after your loved is in a fatal accident. How do you find one?
You may not know that you should interview a lawyer before hiring him or her. If done right, the interview will help you learn if the lawyer has the right experience and if you trust the lawyer to do a good job for you and your family.
Below are 3 questions you should ask a lawyer about a fatal accident lawsuit before hiring him or her to represent you and your family.
1. Can I file a wrongful death lawsuit against the wrongdoer?
A lawyer with experience in this area will tell you that the process does not simply involve immediately filing a lawsuit. The first step is gathering enough evidence to support a wrongful death claim which may then be followed by sending the wrongdoer a “demand letter” spelling out why there is a claim and demanding payment of a specified amount of money to you and your family. In most cases, this is the beginning of the negotiation process, which can sometimes even involve a mediation or settlement conference, even before a lawsuit is filed.
Your lawyer should also know that there is a caveat to the answer to this question, which is that wrongful death cases are statutory, meaning laws enacted by each state have to be followed to file a lawsuit. In most states, a trustee will need to be appointed by the court to act for the family. This means that the trustee is technically the one that files the lawsuit, not you, unless you are appointed as the trustee.
2. Can I be the wrongful death trustee?
Your lawyer should know that you have to petition the court to be the trustee and a judge will have to appoint the trustee. In most wrongful death cases, a relative is appointed as the trustee. You should know that as a trustee you would have a fiduciary duty, a duty to act in the best interest of the family. If you breach this duty (by acting only in your own interest) you can be sued by other family members. This is rarely an issue, but it is important that you discuss this with your attorney before you take on this responsibility.
3. Have you won settlements and/or verdicts for families in wrongful death cases similar to this one?
Your family will be best served by an attorney who has successfully handled wrongful death cases similar to yours. This is because the evidence needed to prove these cases depends on the kind of case it is. For example, if your loved one was killed by a commercial truck, there may be a “black box”, driver’s log book and other evidence specific to these kinds of cases that your attorney will need to obtain. To prevent this evidence from being damaged or destroyed, your attorney will need to immediately send the trucking company a spoliation letter. You should not hire an attorney for a fatal commercial truck accident who does not know what a spoliation letter is.
Experience with cases exactly like yours is also needed to know how much your case is worth. You should hire an attorney who can persuasively and confidently argue for the best compensation package.
Contact Our Lawyers for a Free Consultation
You can contact our lawyers for a free consultation by calling 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or by submitting our free consultation form (click here now).
Our attorneys have significant litigation experience in state and federal courts. He has successfully represented many families with wrongful death claims against drivers, bus and truck companies, manufacturers and others. They have won money for victims and families in several states in accident cases involving cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses and semi trucks.
Our law firm’s founding partner is Fred Pritzker, a Minnesota lawyer who represents accident victims nationwide.
