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Video Summary
This video transcript from Speaks Law Firm outlines the unique complexities and legal requirements associated with wrongful death claims in North Carolina. While these cases share the same foundational elements as personal injury suits, such as negligence and insurance coverage, they require experience to properly calculate the value of a lost life. Attorneys must often hire economists and medical professionals to prove the financial impact on survivors or to establish a direct link between an accident and a delayed fatality. The firm emphasizes that families should seek legal counsel immediately because evidence can vanish quickly and the statute of limitations is shorter than in standard injury cases. Ultimately, the source highlights the necessity of aggressive investigation and the “stacking” of various insurance policies to ensure grieving families receive full financial compensation.
Transcription of the Video
Clarke: Jeff, let’s talk for a minute about wrongful death cases. What is a wrongful death case, and how is it the same as any other ordinary personal injury claim?
Jeff: A wrongful death case is where someone has been killed as a consequence of the negligence or wrongdoing of somebody else. They are the same in that you have somebody who has been injured, you have somebody who is at fault, and you have insurance coverage, hopefully, that you can go out and find to help pay for the damage that has been caused.
Clarke: Liability, damage, and insurance coverage, those elements are the same in either case.
Clarke: How are they different? How are these claims different than other types of cases?
Jeff: Well, in a wrongful death case, our client is not there anymore, so we are dealing with the family members or loved ones that have been left behind. We also frequently have a criminal case that will go along with that, and then we have to go out and try to find extra coverage because this person’s death is going to be very valuable. We want to make sure that we are going out and stacking coverages and finding, and that gets tricky, trying to find all the available coverage, so our clients can pursue maximum compensation for the loss of this life.
Clarke: We may have to have experienced professionals come in in the form of economists and those types of things that can do the very difficult task of quantifying the economic impact of the loss of a loved one on a family or those who were left behind.
Jeff: If the death does not occur immediately, if there is a gap in time where somebody suffers for a while and then they pass away, then we need our qualified professionals to come in and tie that death back to the accident. It may have been six months ago, and the insurance company may want to try to deny that and say that something else caused the death, not the wreck. So we have to have experienced professionals involved to secure the coroner’s report, look at the cause of death, and those types of things.
Jeff: The cases get tricky, and we are trying to value this person’s life, talk to the loved ones, and tell the story of who this person was and what this family lost.
Clarke: If any of these things are not present in your claim, it is not like the insurance company is going to say, “Hey, you didn’t prove this; we need you to go back and secure this evidence”. They are just going to sit in silence while you make mistakes that cost you thousands or, in some cases, millions of dollars.
Clarke: What are some of the things a person should look for if they have lost a loved one in the context of a wrongful death?
Jeff: Well, you want to have a lawyer involved who is experienced with wrongful death cases. They are not just like a personal injury case; there are different rules, different damages, and different ways to document the value of a life. You need somebody who is experienced in all kinds of wrongful deaths. We have done cases of folks that were elderly, young children, lives in utero, or newborn children, all kinds of different wrongful death cases that we have had experience in.
Clarke: After something like this happens, the family, the last thing in the world they want to think about is pursuing a lawsuit because they are hurt; it is an emotional thing they have to go through. But the fact is, these things have to be done, and they have to be done early because memories fade, evidence is lost, witnesses move, and phone numbers are changed. This evidence must be collected, and sometimes the causation in terms of the cause of death must be investigated contemporaneously with the death.
Clarke: Would you recommend people wait and see or call immediately?
Jeff: They need to call immediately. They cannot just assume the insurance company is going to pay out all the coverage that is available because there has been a death. Sometimes there are large commercial policies, and we have to try to prove the value of this life. You cannot take for granted that the insurance company is just going to hand the money over; a lot of times, they deny it and try to fight it. Also, there are other coverages out there that we want to try to receive and stack on top to build the amount of money that is available for the loss of this life. Insurance companies are on this right away. Wrongful death has a two-year statute of limitations, not three like personal injury, so we have to get on it right away.
Clarke: If you or someone you know has a wrongful death claim, call us, and we will answer your questions and make sure the case is started right from the very beginning.