Wrongful Death

Experienced Attorneys Representing Wrongful Death

There is nothing more difficult that dealing with the death of a loved one, particularly when the death may have been caused by the wrongful or neglectful acts of another. When someone is killed due to the wrongdoing of another, the legal term we use is “wrongful death.” California Law limits who can recover for the wrongful death of a loved one. The Zinn Law Firm has represented numerous families in wrongful death actions who have lost a loved one due to someone else’s mistake or neglectful conduct. If you have suffered a tragedy in your family, you need attorneys who have the compassion and understanding to help you through the emotional challenges you will face, as well as the experience and skill to protect your legal rights. Carter Zinn is an experienced wrongful death attorney who has walked this difficult path with his past clients and is here to help you too.

An individual or family can obtain various types of damages under California law. First, the surviving spouse, parent, or child may be eligible to obtain general damages for the loss of love and companionship when a loved one passes away. Survivors can also obtain compensation for medical expenses and other losses to the deceased person’s estate while they were alive due to injuries suffered while alive that ultimately lead to death. Spouses and children who depended on the loved one for financial support can also obtain compensation for the loss of that support when a primary breadwinner who was supporting the family dies. And of course, surviving family members or beneficiaries of the deceased estate can obtain compensation for funeral and related expenses for their loved one.

At the Zinn Law Firm, we have represented the family of a 92-year-old great-grandmother who died due to taking too much morphine because her physician ordered the dose for quick-release morphine but mistakenly prescribed time-released morphine, resulting in an overdose and death within days.

We have represented the family of a 91-year-old grandfather who died when nursing home staff failed to give him his anti-seizure medicine over four days during the holidays when inexperienced nurses and others not familiar with his care were in charge.

We also represented an 88 year-old grandfather who was neglected by his physicians and nursing home staff and died a painful death due to contracting sepsis, or systemic body-wide reaction to infection that can cause death.

One of the challenges we have encountered in working on wrongful death cases is working with our clients, the surviving family members, to tell the story of the person who is lost, both to prove that another was liable for the death, and to prove the full magnitude of the harms and losses that have resulted from losing a loved one. This can be a difficult process, because it often forces grieving family members to go back through events, both sad and happy, that they have tried to put behind them. We have found that the grieving process and the requirements of litigating a wrongful death case do not always move hand-in-hand. For example, sometimes preparing a client who has suffered death in the family for her deposition requires the surviving family members to discuss painful issues that they have not brought up with each other yet. Other times, the opposite occurs, and litigation requires grieving family members to revisit memories and issues for the purposes of the lawsuit they have already processed and had thought were behind them. Either way, if you have suffered a death in your family and you believe it may have been caused by the carelessness of another, you need to choose attorneys who are both sensitive to these issues and will work with you, in your way, and on your time table, to allow you to grieve and heal, while at the same time working effectively with you to obtain fair compensation for all that has been lost.

If you have lost a loved one due to the wrongful acts of another, whether the mistakes occurred in a hospital, nursing home, on the roadways, due to a dangerous condition of property, or a dangerous product, please contact the wrongful death attorneys at The Zinn Law Firm for a free consultation: 415-292-4100.