3 Elements Of A Wrongful Death Claim You Must Prove
Even though the facts of your wrongful death claim might be unique, your case still has to meet certain requirements in order to be successful. The burden of proving those criteria falls to you and your personal injury attorney. In order to know whether or not you have a good case, it is important that you know and understand the criteria.
Duty of Care
The first criteria that your case must meet is duty of care. You must prove that the defendant had a duty to care for your lost loved one. For instance, if your loved one died as the result of an accident at work, you have to prove that the employer had a duty to ensure that the work environment was safe.
The same could apply if your loved one died as the result of medical malpractice. You could argue that the health care provider had the duty or responsibility to ensure that your loved one received proper medical care.
Breach of Duty
Once you have established duty of care, you now have to prove that the defendant breached that duty. In other words, you have to show that the defendant failed to do his or her job.
For instance, if your loved one died in a car accident, you could argue that the other driver is responsible for your loss because he or she did not follow traffic safety rules which resulted in the accident and death.
Causation
The final criteria that your case must meet is that you have to prove that the defendant not only breached his or her duty, but that this failure directly led to the loss of your loved one.
If your loved one died on the job, you have to show that the employer's actions directly led to the death. For instance, you could argue because the employer did not cover the cables, your loved one died when he or she touched them.
It has to be clear that no other factors could be blamed for the death. Using the previous example, the employer might not be as liable if the exposed electrical cables were properly labeled with caution tape and warning signs.
Building a wrongful death case is difficult. In fact, it can be one of the most difficult types of personal injury cases to prove. If you have lost a loved one, it is important that you talk to a personal injury attorney at a reputable law firm, such as Seaman Law Firm, as soon as possible to start building your case.