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Virginia Wrongful Death Lawyer

Experienced Wrongful Death Attorneys in Virginia

A Virginia wrongful death lawyer can help secure the compensation you and your family need to get back on your feet following the death of a loved one due to negligence. When you partner with Regan Zambri Long, you will work with an experienced wrongful death attorney who has helped secure fair compensation for over 30 years. We understand we are meeting you and your family members at the worst time in your lives. Not only will we do everything in our power to recover damages, but we will also work with you to make sure you and your family are cared for as you begin the healing process.

Call today for a free consultation with one of Virginia’s top wrongful death attorneys.

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What Is a Wrongful Death Claim?

A wrongful death claim is a lawsuit against a person, company, or other entities that are responsible for someone’s death. For example, if your family member was killed in a car accident due to a drunk driver, then the drunk driver may be held liable for the accident. The wrongful death claim would be filed against the driver.

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Wrongful death lawsuits are not generally meant to punish the negligent party. Instead, the compensation the victim’s family members receive is supposed to help with the economic and non-economic costs that were affected by their family member’s death.

Examples of wrongful death cases in Virginia include:

  • Car accidents
  • Truck accidents
  • Motorcycle accidents
  • Medical malpractice
  • Workplace accident
  • Defective products

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are over 224,000 unintentional injury deaths caused by accidents in the United States every year. One of the top causes of unintentional deaths in motor vehicle accidents followed by accidental falls.

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What Are the Elements of a Wrongful Death Claim in VA?

To prove negligence, there are four elements that your Virginia wrongful death claim must show: duty, breach, causation, and damages.

  • Duty: There is a legal duty to someone else. For example, if a doctor is treating a patient, he or she has a legal duty to treat that patient to the best of his or her ability.
  • Breach: A breach of duty occurs when someone does or does not do something that a “reasonably prudent person” would do. In the same example, a doctor may fail to order tests and misdiagnose their patient based on their lack of knowledge. The court would decide if another doctor would have ordered the tests. If they find that they would have, the doctor who didn’t order the tests and misdiagnosed the patient would have committed a breach of duty.
  • Causation: Causation is proof that the defendant’s negligence was the direct cause of the victim’s death. If the doctor misdiagnosed the patient, but the patient was killed in an accident on the way home from the hospital, then the misdiagnosis was not the direct cause of the victim’s death.
  • Damages: Damages are what your Virginia wrongful death lawyer will determine is owed to the family as compensation for their loved one’s death. Our VA wrongful death attorneys work to collect the highest compensation possible so you and your family can take time to grieve and not have to worry about the financial burden of losing a loved one.
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Who Can Sue for Wrongful Death in Virginia?

In Virginia, the people who can sue for wrongful death are the deceased person’s spouse, children, or grandchildren. The deceased person’s parents may file the claim if they received support from the victim, such as living expenses, food, shelter, healthcare, or home assistance.

Virginia law is strict about who may file a wrongful death case. The personal representative of the estate must bring about the claim. A personal representative is also known as an executor. If the victim’s spouse was the executor of the will, then only she can bring about a wrongful death lawsuit.

What Damages Can I Receive in a Virginia Wrongful Death Claim?

The surviving family members may receive several categories of damages in a wrongful death claim. They are:

Medical Bills

If the deceased person was receiving medical treatment before their death, then you may be able to collect damages to cover all medical expenses. For example, if the deceased person was killed due to medical malpractice, he or she may have racked up hospital bills, including ambulance rides, emergency room visits, prescriptions, scans, x-rays, etc.

Funeral Expenses

Many times, a wrongful death is a sudden death – the family has very little time to prepare. The average funeral costs in Virginia are nearly $8,000. Our wrongful death lawyers will work to secure damages for the funeral and burial so you are fully reimbursed.

Lost Income

If the deceased person’s household depended on them financially, then you may be able to collect damages to make up for the income you will no longer receive after your loved one’s death. For example, if you are a stay-at-home parent and your spouse was the primary financial earner, our VA wrongful death attorneys will fight to secure maximum compensation to make up for that lost income.

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering is one of the non-economic damages you can request in the wrongful death claim. These damages are to supposed to compensate the surviving family members who have experienced emotional distress and mental anguish after the death of their loved one. Your Regan Zambri Long wrongful death attorney will take the pain and suffering of you and your family into consideration when filing the wrongful death claim and building your case.

Loss of Consortium

Loss of consortium is a specific type of pain and suffering damage. In a personal injury claim, the definition of loss of consortium has changed over the years. At first, loss of consortium damages could be collected by the deceased person’s spouse. It is meant to compensate the spouse for the loss of marital relations. However, over the years loss of consortium has extended to other family members. Now, children may receive damages for loss of consortium. They will no longer have their parent’s parental guidance, love, and affection. If a parent loses a child, they may receive loss of consortium benefits if the child served as a caregiver.

Punitive Damages

These damages are awarded to the surviving family members to punish the defendant for willful or wanton conduct. This means if the defendant acted in extremely reckless or careless behavior that led to your loved one’s death, you may be able to collect punitive damages as both financial compensation and punishment.

Regan Zambri Long will review all the damages you can recover during your free consultation. Reach out today to speak with an experienced wrongful death lawyer who can help you secure the maximum financial compensation.

How Can Our Virginia Wrongful Death Lawyer Help?

Our Virginia personal injury lawyers have secured millions for the families of wrongful death victims in over three decades, including $77 million for families who lost loved ones due to a landlord’s negligence. We are confident we can help you build a solid case that will help you recover compensation.

A Regan Zambri Long Virginia wrongful death lawyer can offer abundant resources because of our financial backing. We will investigate the police report, eyewitness testimony, video and photo documentation, and security footage. We will provide expert witnesses, medical consultation, accident reconstruction, and other legal experts. We treat every wrongful death claim as if it were going to trial. Our lawyers are fierce negotiators and will tirelessly fight for your rights.

At Regan Zambri Long, we do not accept a fee unless we win a settlement or verdict in your favor. You read that correctly – you will not pay anything out of pocket up front for our services. When we negotiate damages, we will negotiate lawyer fees, as well. You will have an expert legal team behind you that will be with you until the very end of the wrongful death case. Your free consultation will start the process, so call today. You will speak with a compassionate Virginia wrongful death attorney who will help you decide your legal action.

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What is the Difference Between a Wrongful Death and Negligence?

The difference between wrongful death and negligence is that negligence is the cause of the death, and wrongful death is the legal remedy. In other words, a wrongful death is a civil action for the fatal injuries that were caused by the negligence of a person or entity.

For example, a doctor nicks an artery during surgery and does nothing to fix the error. This action is considered negligence — the doctor knew they did something wrong but did nothing to fix the problem. Because of the doctor’s negligence, the patient died soon after surgery. In this case, since negligence was the cause of the death, the family can file a wrongful death claim against the doctor and hospital for the negligence.

How Long Do You Have to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in Virginia?

Virginia’s statute of limitations for a wrongful death case is two years. We understand that you are probably not thinking about a personal injury case after your family member dies, but we urge you to take action as soon as possible. Funeral costs, medical bills, and other financial burdens can pile up quickly. It is in your best interest and the best interest of your family to start the wrongful death claims process as soon as possible.

The Regan Zambri Long personal injury law firm is not limited to Virginia. We practice in Maryland and Washington, DC. Many smaller law firms will refer their clients to our lawyers because we have the resources to take on larger cases.

How Much Time Do Wrongful Death Cases Take?

There is no exact time frame that a personal injury claim may take. The length of time largely depends on how complicated the case is. At Regan Zambri Long, we understand that you and your family never wanted or imagined you would be our client. We often meet our clients at the most challenging time in their lives. That is why we work to litigate your case efficiently. We want to give you and your family justice quickly so you can move on and start to rebuild your life.

While we will inform you of your case, we assure you we will do the heavy lifting. Once you give us access to police reports, medical records, bills, property damage, and eyewitness contacts, we will do the rest. We will make sure your claim is filed correctly and on time. We promise to hold negligent parties accountable and will not stop until we receive a settlement or verdict in your favor.

What is Contributory Negligence?

Contributory negligence is a law that states if the plaintiff (the person who brought about the wrongful death lawsuit) contributed in any way to the death, then they cannot collect compensation.

In wrongful death cases, this also means that if the deceased person contributed to his or her death in any way, the family members may not be able to collect compensation. If the defense attorney jumps to contributory negligence to quickly get his client out of paying what is owed, your experienced attorney will know the steps to take.

Virginia has a law called the last clear chance directly applies to contributory negligence. The last clear chance applies in two situations:

You and your claim are in good hands with a Regan Zambri Long Virginia wrongful death attorney. We make it our business to inform our clients during every process step. This is your financial future, and we want to ensure you understand exactly what you’re going through. Your lawyer is available to you around the clock and will work hard to seek justice on your behalf.

Regan Zambri Long: Your Virginia Wrongful Death Advocate For Your Family

When a loved one dies due to the negligence of someone else, it’s not uncommon to question if something could have been done to prevent it. You need time to heal and figure out how to move on from such a tragedy. During these times, it is important to work with compassionate Virginia wrongful death lawyers who can help secure the compensation you and your family need to get back on your feet.

If you lost a loved one because of someone else’s negligence, don’t wait. Contact a Virginia wrongful death lawyer at Regan Zambri Long today to schedule a free consultation.

Schedule a Free Consultation

Have you or your loved one sustained injuries in Washington DC, Maryland or Virginia? Regan Zambri Long PLLC has the best lawyers in the country to analyze your case and answer the questions you may have.

Call 202-960-4596

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