Cleveland Wrongful Death Attorney

Dealing With the Worst of Tragedies

When someone is killed by the wrongful misconduct or gross negligence of another, it is called "wrongful death." These are the most tragic cases and often times the most emotionally difficult to deal with. At our law firm we fully understand your suffering and grief, having experienced the tragedy of an accidental death firsthand. Some of our lawyers have lost family members and other loved ones to serious personal injuries. We have been on both sides of the legal fence here both as clients and attorneys, and we have a mission to help you through the legal aspects of life's greatest loss. We know from personal experience that the grief one feels at such a tremendous loss can cloud one's vision as to the best legal course of action in the wake of such a tragedy. For that reason the services of an objective, detached but yet sympathetic, attorney, can be invaluable to help you in securing a just compensation for your loss so that you can move on with your life in a confident manner.

Wrongful Death. What exactly is it?

In most legal jurisdictions "Wrongful Death" is defined as "The taking of the life of an individual resulting from the willful or negligent act of another person or persons." The body of tort law that pertains to actions brought for wrongful death is quite complicated and can vary considerably from state to state. The original idea of the law was to provide support for widows and orphans of deceased victims and to provide, not punishment, but a strong motivation for individuals to behave responsibly in such a manner as to insure the safety and right to life of others. Actions for wrongful death are quit distinct from legal procedures to determine criminal guilt and the two bodies of law do not overlap except as to rules for the determination matters of fact related to the case. An individual who has been rendered a "not guilty" verdict in a murder trial may nonetheless be sued in a civil action for wrongful death as was so clearly demonstrated in the O. J. Simpson case in California.

Any number of circumstances can give rise to such a suit regardless of whether or not they were intentional or intentional. For instance a person involved in a physical confrontation who delivers a blow to his adversary's head resulting in the death of that individual may not have intended the death but did intend to deliver the injury. Likewise the driver of a car who is operating the vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol can be held civilly liable in a wrongful death action for causing the death of another based upon his negligence. Many suits arise in an industrial environment where reasonable precautions to insure the safety of workers were not taken. The list of possibilities is endless but the key factors are the death of an individual coupled to an act or omission of another as the proximate cause.

As typical of the types of defendants who find themselves on the receiving end of a wrongful death suit are the following :

drivers of automobiles involved in fatal accidents
designers or builders of faulty roads or bridges or other vehicular access routes
agencies of governments who fail to post road hazard warnings
manufacturers of faulty products
the owner of the premises where the alcohol was served
restaurants who serve tainted food