Baltimore Wrongful Death Lawyer
Wrongful death can occur as a result of either negligent, reckless, or deliberate behavior. Negligent and reckless actions refers to situations where the at-fault party did not intend to cause harm, but nevertheless their failure to exercise reasonable judgment resulted in a fatality. Deliberate behavior refers to actions taken with the aim of causing serious bodily harm that ultimately result in the death of the target such as shooting another party or hitting them with a bat.
Common causes of negligent death claims include:
- Accident – automobile, truck, motorcycle, train, bus, metro, plane crash and slip and fall. There are more than 40,000 fatal car crashes in our roadways a year.
- Medical malpractice – such as failure to diagnose a terminal illness
- Failure to supervise children – resulting in fatalities caused by consumption of chemicals, falls or unsupervised use of guns.
- Defective products – such as defective ignition, dangerous drugs, lead poisoning, asbestos
When a family group loses someone close, a wrongful death lawsuit are unable to bring them back, but it can let qualified loved ones to obtain compensation to ease the monetary burden resulting from their burning.
Do you think you have a case? 410-849-9529
Wrongful Death Claims.
A wrongful death lawsuit is a civil claim of the survivors of an individual which died as a result of the negligence or misconduct of someone else. Under a wrongful death action, survivors can make a claim for monetary damages to pay them for the financial along with emotional help they lost as a result of the negligence that resulted in the loss of a loved one.
Damages
Three types of damages are normally available towards the survivors within a wrongful death lawsuit: economical, non-economic, along with punitive.
- Economic – these types of damages are easier to grasp but present a difficult point of contention as the non-economic. Actual lost wages are easy to establish while future earnings require extrapolations and assumptions that any two experts may disagree on. This would also include medical expenses, funeral costs and any other out-of-pocket expenses.
- Non-economic – these damage comprise the intangible impacts of the loss of loved such as pain and suffering, loss of care for minor children and spouses, and companionship of the deceased.
- Punitive – these damages are granted whenever the negligent party engages in particularly heinous conduct. Often you have to prove the parties were grossly negligent or acted with wanton disregard of the welfare of others.
Do you think you have a case? 410-849-9529
Statute of Limitations:
State or Local Government Notice
If there is a likelihood that one of the negligent party is the State or one of the local governments then notice must be provided within 180 days of occurrence or discovery.
Three Years
The general statute of limitation for negligence matters in Maryland is 3 years from the occurrence or when the harm is discovered.
Do you think you have a case? 410-849-9529
Medical Malpractice
Maryland’s Health Care Malpractice Claims Act that sets two alternative expiration dates for suits against doctors: “(1) Five years of the time the injury was committed; or (2) Three years of the date the injury was discovered.” (§ 5–109 of the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article of the Maryland Code).
Toxic Substances
If the cause was toxic substance then suit must be filed within 10 years of the dealt of the decedent or 3 years of discovery of cause of death.
In light of the complexity and the stakes that involve a wrongful death claim, aligning yourself with a knowledgeable and experienced personal injury lawyer is highly recommended. Such a case involves significant undertaking the least of which is established liability and providing expert analysis on the lost income earning capacity of the deceased. Several experts will be required to prepare reports and testify if the case goes to trial.