Losing a loved one is one of the most traumatic and painful experiences in a person’s life. That pain is exacerbated when the loved one died due to the carelessness, negligence, recklessness or wrongful act of another person or business. Wrongful death claims are not to seek revenge on the careless, negligent, reckless or wrongful actor. They are for the purpose of holding them accountable for the death and attempting to ensure that those responsible. Wrongful death claims are about accountability, responsibility and prevention. While no compensation will ever make up for the tragic loss of a loved one, Robert Le will fight for your rights, benefits and legal remedies to make sure that those responsible are held accountable and this tragedy becomes a deterrent to anyone else acting in a way to cause similar injury and death.
If it was a negligent or an intentional act that caused a death. If the at fault party is insured, the insurance company will often try to contact the family members to achieve a settlement or release of all claims before a case is brought. This will often happen before the family members have had a chance to contact an attorney regarding their claim. Family members are understandably not thinking first about their claim at such a time of tragedy, or know are the important questions are. Many times insurance companies will seek to get a settlement or release signed by the family members for the least amount of money possible, as quick as possible. This is why it is so important to contact an attorney before signing anything, giving up rights to a claim.
For an Oregon wrongful death claim to be successful, it must be done properly. The process can be complex and difficult. Even if someone is not sure if he or she wishes to go through with a wrongful death claim, he or she should contact an attorney to discover if there is a viable case and what needs to be done to ensure that the claim is not barred by the passage of time, agreement with the responsible party or other procedure error. People change their minds about filing wrongful death claims and the wrong action or inaction for too long may bar the claim if a client changes his or her mind and decides to go forward with a claim.
Oregon wrongful death claims are brought under a statutory right under state law. The law allows for certain relatives to file a claim; these relatives are called beneficiaries. There is no universal right to file a claim for wrongful death because the allowable beneficiaries are controlled by the law. Oregon law allows for beneficiaries that include the victim’s spouse, children and parents. If there is no living spouse, children or parents, the law allows for siblings to be beneficiaries. If the victim had siblings and they have died, their children may be beneficiaries under the law. If there is no beneficiary possible because there are no living relatives to the victim listed above, then relatives further away in the family tree may be eligible to be the beneficiaries.
The most common events that cause injury leading to wrongful death claims are:
- Automobile accidents
- Motorcycle accidents
- Truck accidents
- Intoxicated drivers
- Accidents at work
- Slip and fall accidents
- Construction site accidents
- Medical mistakes or malpractice
- Defective products
- Exposure to hazardous materials
- Assaults
- Elder Abuse
Family members of the victim of a wrongful death deserve the personal attention and compassion of an Oregon wrongful death attorney. An attorney can help get compensation for the loss of a family member. Family members experience more than just trauma and pain as a result of a wrongful death, they also have to deal with medical bills, funeral expenses and often, the loss of potential wages. Compensation of the amount of damages in wrongful death cases depends on many factors, including the victim’s age and health, the life expectancy of the victim, the life expectancy of the beneficiaries, the amount the victim would have earned over the rest of his or her life, the number of beneficiaries, and whether the defendant has adequate assets or insurance coverage to pay for the beneficiaries’ losses. Beneficiaries under Oregon law are entitled to compensation for many factors including:
- Loss of the companionship of the deceased
- Pain and suffering of the beneficiary surviving family members
- Funeral and burial costs
- Medical and hospital bills
- Benefits lost due to the death of the victim including life insurance and retirement benefits
- Loss of inheritance from the untimely death
- Loss of potential income that the victim would have earned over the rest of his or her life
Robert Le will begin your case by conducting an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the injury that caused the death of your loved one. He will interview witnesses and all parties. Depending on the circumstances of your case, he may work with accident reconstruction experts, product design experts, forensic pathologists, OSHA experts, construction experts, and medical experts in order to obtain the evidence necessary to pursue a wrongful death claim.