Williamsport Wrongful Death Lawyer
If you lost a loved one in an accident or by other means, we offer our condolences. We cannot take away the pain of the loss, but we can advise you regarding your legal options and help you take appropriate action if a wrongful death has occurred as a result of:
- Medical malpractice
- Pharmaceutical malpractice
- A car accident, truck accident or motorcycle accident
- A bicycle, pedestrian or recreational accident
- An aircraft or train accident
- A fall on public or private property
- An industrial accident or construction accident
- Medical malpractice or surgical error
- A dangerous or defective product
At Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters, Pennsylvania accident compensation attorneys have represented many clients in state and federal wrongful death lawsuits, helping them recover financial compensation and assisting them in gaining closure. If you live in Pennsylvania, or if you are from out of state and you lost a loved one in Pennsylvania, we can help you understand your legal rights and enable you to make informed decisions about how to move forward.
Do I Have A Wrongful Death Case?
Losing a loved one is a tragedy, but for that loss to be considered a wrongful death under Pennsylvania law, specific legal criteria must be met. Essentially, a wrongful death claim exists if the deceased would have been able to file a personal injury lawsuit had they survived. To recover financial damages on a claim in Lycoming County, we must prove four elements of negligence:
- Duty of care: The defendant had a legal obligation to act with reasonable care (e.g., a driver’s duty to follow traffic laws on I-80 or a doctor’s duty to provide a standard level of care).
- Breach of duty: The defendant failed to meet that obligation through action or inaction (distracted driving, a failure to diagnose or a safety violation at a local work site).
- Causation: We must directly link that breach of duty to the fatal incident. It isn’t enough that an error occurred; that specific error must be the “proximate cause” of the death.
- Damages: There must be quantifiable losses resulting from the death, such as lost financial support, funeral expenses and the loss of companionship.
Common scenarios we handle include fatal motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice and industrial or construction site fatalities. If someone else’s recklessness or negligence played a role in your loss, you likely have grounds for a claim.
Who Can File A Wrongful Death Claim In Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania law is very specific about who has the right to bring a lawsuit. Understanding these rules is vital for ensuring your family’s rights are protected within the strict two-year statute of limitations.
The Personal Representative
Initially, the right to file a wrongful death action belongs to the personal representative (sometimes called the executor or administrator) of the deceased person’s estate. This individual files the claim on behalf of the beneficiaries.
The Beneficiaries (Also Known As The Real Parties in Interest)
While the personal representative files the paperwork, the compensation recovered is for the benefit of specific family members. Under 42 Pa. C.S. § 8301, only the following relatives can recover damages:
- Surviving Spouse
- Children
- Parents
If the personal representative does not file a claim within six months of the death, any of the persons entitled to recover damages may initiate the lawsuit. It is important to note that Pennsylvania distinguishes between a wrongful death action (which compensates the family for their losses) and a survival action (which compensates the estate for the pain and suffering the deceased experienced prior to death).
Outline Of Law And Rules Pertaining To Settlement Of Death Actions
Outline of Law & Rules Pertaining to Settlement of Death Actions by Cliff Rieders looks at Pennsylvania’s laws regarding wrongful death claims. The book provides a framework for understanding approaches to handling death actions, dealing with the Pennsylvania Inheritance Tax Office and common issues that arise during settlement.
In this excerpt, you’ll learn about the statutory basis for death actions, including wrongful death and survival actions. You’ll also learn why these two types of actions don’t overlap or include emotional distress of other family members.
Your Rights Under The Law
Pennsylvania law is unusual with regard to damages in wrongful death cases in that it contains provisions for both wrongful death and survival action, or action for the estate for the deceased person. When a person dies from another person or entity’s negligence or failure to exercise reasonable care under the circumstances, a claim may be brought to recover damages resulting from that negligence.
In a wrongful death claim, close relatives of the deceased may recover their own financial losses incurred from the wrongful death of their loved one. Specifically, they may recover medical expenses, death-related expenses such as funeral and burial costs, past lost contributions from the decedent, future lost contributions from the decedent, and a sum that will fairly and adequately compensate them for the monetary value of the services, society and comfort that the deceased loved one will no longer be able to provide.
In a survival claim, a person acting on behalf of the deceased may recover damages under any claims that the deceased individual could have brought on his or own behalf if he or she had not died. Survival claims include recovery for the suffering of the decedent from the injury until the death, lost earnings from the injury until death, future lost earnings, past noneconomic damages for the mental and physical pain, suffering, and inconvenience and loss of life’s pleasures that the decedent endured from the moment of injury until death.
Contact A Williamsport Wrongful Death Attorney
Rieders, Travis, Dohrmann, Mowrey, Humphrey & Waters can advise you if you lost a loved one because of an accident, a medical procedure or a defective product. Contact us at 570-796-7613 to speak to a highly experienced Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer about your situation.
Attorney Cliff Rieders
Cliff Rieders is a Nationally Board-Certified Trial Lawyer practicing personal injury law. A large part of Cliff’s practice are serious personal injury matters involving vehicles, trucks, medical and hospital malpractice, products liability claims involving personal injury, and multi-district litigation including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements, and medical devices. He is admitted in several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Rieders is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the Board for 15 years.
Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed, leadership positions, he authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. Rieders also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West Publishing.
As recognition of his wide range of contribution to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. [ Attorney Bio ]