Wrongful Death
Attorney in California

Fatal car, truck, motorcycle, and pedestrian accidents. Most common wrongful death category. Recovery against at-fault driver, vehicle owner (Veh § 17150), and (in commercial cases) employer under respondeat superior.

Construction falls, machinery deaths, vehicle accidents on the job, electrical fatalities, confined-space deaths. Workers' comp death benefits run alongside third-party wrongful death claims against equipment manufacturers, general contractors, and property owners.

Negligent security deaths (apartment complex assaults, parking lot robberies, hotel sexual assaults), swimming pool drowning, structural collapses. Property owners and managers face liability when foreseeable conditions caused the death.

Hospital errors, surgical complications, medication errors, missed diagnoses. Held to specialized standards under CCP § 340.5 (1-year discovery rule) and MICRA non-economic damage caps. Requires medical experts to establish standard-of-care breach.

Defective vehicles, defective consumer products, defective medical devices, defective drugs. California's three product liability theories (design defect, manufacturing defect, failure to warn) support strict liability claims against manufacturers.

Deaths caused by drunk drivers, reckless drivers, or intentional criminal acts. Often support punitive damages under Civil Code § 3294 (clear and convincing standard for malice). Civil judgments survive bankruptcy under § 523(a)(9) for DUI.

Fatal pedestrian-versus-vehicle accidents where driver flees. UM coverage on the decedent's auto policy may apply; identification leads (security footage, witnesses, vehicle debris) often establish the driver later.

Limits standing to surviving spouse, domestic partner, children, parents, siblings, and certain dependents. Multiple heirs file collectively in one action; recovery is allocated among them under CCP § 377.61.

Decedent's estate can also recover damages the decedent could have recovered if they survived — pre-death pain and suffering, medical expenses, lost wages between injury and death. Punitive damages are available in survival actions when defendant's conduct supports malice.

Most wrongful death claims must be filed within 2 years of death. Medical malpractice has 1-year discovery rule under CCP § 340.5. Government claims require 6-month administrative claim under Gov § 911.2.

Wrongful death claims against state, county, city, or other public entities require an administrative claim within 6 months. Failure to file timely usually bars the entire claim.

Punitive damages are NOT available in wrongful death actions but ARE available in survival actions when defendant's conduct was malicious, oppressive, or fraudulent. Common in DUI fatalities and intentional torts.

California allows recovery even when decedent was partially at fault. Damages reduced by decedent's percentage of fault. Joint defendants are severally liable for non-economic damages.

Income the decedent would have provided to surviving heirs — calculated by economists comparing decedent's projected lifetime earnings to the heirs' expected receipt. Often the largest single damage component.

Value of services the decedent provided (childcare, household maintenance, transportation, etc.). Calculated using replacement-service market rates over the decedent's projected lifespan.

Actual funeral, cremation, burial, and memorial costs. Documented through invoices and receipts.

Loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, society, sexual relations, and moral support. Highly variable; depends on closeness of relationship, age of heir, and quality of life lost.

Damages the decedent could have recovered for pain and suffering before death. Larger when decedent suffered prolonged conscious pain before death.

Medical bills from the date of injury through death. Established by medical bills and provider records.

Available under Civ § 3294 in survival actions when defendant's conduct was malicious. Common in DUI, intentional torts, and gross negligence cases.

California's pure comparative negligence allows recovery even when decedent was partially at fault — damages reduced by decedent's percentage. Most comparative fault defenses fail to bar substantial recovery.

Wrongful death economic damages require economist projections of lifetime earnings and household services — substantial preparation. We refuse early settlement until full damage model is built.

Non-economic damages (loss of love and companionship) don't depend on decedent's earnings. Even cases involving elderly or unemployed decedents produce substantial non-economic recoveries when the relationship was close.

MICRA caps apply to medical malpractice wrongful death. Recent California legislation (AB 35) significantly increased the cap. We coordinate with experts and adjust strategy to maximize recovery within MICRA framework.

Exclusive remedy bars claims against direct employer only. Third-party claims against equipment manufacturers, general contractors, property owners are not barred.

Document the direct causal link between defendant's conduct and the death through medical experts, accident reconstruction, and (when applicable) coroner testimony.