Waco Fatal Car Accident Attorney

Waco Fatal Car Accident Attorney Michael Grossman, Your Wrongful Death Lawyer in Central Texas, Discusses What You'll Face After You've Lost Your Loved One in A Fatal Car Crash

Losing a loved one suddenly and unexpectedly to a fatal car crash is a terrible event to have to face. It throws your life into turmoil, and changes your future plans and even your financial future in ways that are hard to grasp as you find yourself in the middle of a confusing and distressing sequence of events.

If you were in the same wreck, you may be trying to cope with all this even as you are trying to recover from your own injuries. If you were not at the scene, you face the unexpected revelation of the severity of the accident, possibly having to identify your loved one at the morgue, the not so easy task of trying to determine what exactly happened from the police and other first responders to the scene, making funeral arrangements, notifying relatives and friends, and just trying to figure out how you are going to get on through life without someone close to you on whom you may have pinned all your hopes for the future.

In the midst of all this, you definitely want to bring those responsible for your loved one's death to justice. You also want to make sure that they compensate you as far as financially possible for your loved one's loss. They may not only have broken your heart in taking away your loved one; they may also have radically destabilized your financial future, especially if your lost loved one was the family's primary breadwinner. Obviously no amount of financial compensation can replace the joy, excitement, and warmth that your lost relative brought to your life. But it would just not be right to let the parties responsible for the wrongful death escape scot-free. Justice requires that they help to get you back onto a solid financial foundation and prepared to set forth once more on the unpredictable road of life.

But it isn't easy to obtain just compensation for a wrongful death. Especially for a non-lawyer, the attempt to do so can present a daunting and confusing set of obstacles and hurdles that are almost insurmountable. In fact, your chances of obtaining just compensation in a wrongful death matter without having experienced legal counsel, like your own Waco fatal car accident attorney, on your side are very poor. Wrongful death cases, and the survival benefits cases that often accompany them, are extremely complex and require well thought out and highly technical approaches. In addition, the insurance companies from which you will generally be seeking your compensation are for-profit businesses. They are in business to help themselves, not to help you. An inanimate corporate entity is incapable of actually sympathizing with your loss, whatever the savvy insurance adjuster may try to have you believe. So the insurance adjusters and defense attorneys are trained and paid to minimize, or completely avoid if they can, payouts on claims. From the earliest moments following the fatality, they will attempt to get you to sign away your rights or to accept a minimal settlement. They will exploit your disorientation and emotional turmoil following your loss to save money for their employer. They're not bad people; that's just their job.

And if one or more of the responsible parties was uninsured and you have to sue them directly, you face the additional tangles of trying to discover what assets they may have, proving their liability for your loss, winning fair compensation, and then getting them to actually pay the compensation award. In the midst of everything else that is going on in your life following the loss of your family member, you don't want to have to tackle all of these issues. In fact, you are probably incapable of tackling them without a highly skilled Central Texas wrongful death lawyer on your side. It's not that you lack intelligence or skill; it is simply that over the course of decades of wrongful death lawsuits, the strategies and tactics evolved by insurance companies and defense firms to combat liability have grown so immensely convoluted, that you need to have been steeped in the practice of these lawsuits yourself to even stand a chance of extracting your just compensation. Let Waco fatal car accident attorney Michael Grossman help you face the opposition to your wrongful death lawsuit. The staff of fatal car accident lawyers and specialists at our Law Offices can help you level the playing field.

Some Basic Things to Know About Your Civil Case

Just as with any civil lawsuit, when you file a wrongful death case, the burden of proof will fall squarely upon you, the plaintiff, to prove every aspect of your case in order to win any award of damages. Particularly, you will need to prove that the defendants owed your lost loved one a duty, that they breached that duty, that their breach of duty caused your loved one's death, and that there are actual damages. Damages will be discussed in more detail in the section below. Duty can be as simple as the duty to drive safely. Breach of duty can be as simple as a moment of lapsed attention while the driver sent a text on a cell phone. But if, without that momentary lapse, the defendant would have avoided the accident and not caused your relative's fatality, then that lapse can be shown to be the cause of the death. Damages include both economic (such as medical expenses) and non-economic (such as loss of companionship), and sometimes even punitive (where the defendant's act was so bad that it warrants special punishment in the form of extra damages).

Needless to say, collecting and preserving the evidence to prove all of these elements of your case can be a Herculean task. Just the act of clearing away an accident to open the roadway to traffic again can remove or change much of the evidence of the accident. And if responsible parties try to hide, deny, or destroy evidence, this further complicates your task. The defendant, even if basically a decent and honest sort, is not going to want to be forthcoming about responsibility for the fatality. No one wants to be responsible for a death. Denial simply helps them cope.

The highly experienced car accident lawyers at Grossman Law Offices have dealt with hundreds of wrongful death cases resulting from fatal car wrecks over the last two decades. When they are called into your case, they will thoroughly investigate the scene of the accident, take photographs and measurements, take witness statements, obtain copies of first responder reports and any surveillance photos or videos, determine all responsible parties (sometimes even a defective car part or traffic light can be a contributing cause), help you and your loved ones get any medical treatment you may need, help you determine the full extent of your damages, go head-to-head with any opposing insurance adjusters or defense attorneys, and in general help in every way they can to ensure that you have a just outcome for your case and can get on about your life with the best possible foundation. Let our Waco wrongful death lawyers help you meet all of your burdens in proving your case.

The Types of Damages Available to You Following the Death of Your Loved One in a Fatal Car Crash

Needless to mention, money can never compensate you for the loss of a loved one. When you lose a family member, especially suddenly to something as unforeseen as a car wreck, the emotional toll that it takes is debilitating - like a punch to the gut from a giant's fist. No money can ever undo that. But rarely is the loss of a loved one only an emotional matter. A cascade of financial losses and burdens for which a family is usually ill prepared will accompany the loss. If the lost family member was the primary breadwinner, then the family's whole basis of financial stability is gone. In addition, there may be staggering medical bills as well as funeral expenses. Even where the lost loved one wasn't the primary breadwinner, there can be huge medical expenses, a substantial cost for the funeral, and debts to be paid that suddenly fall on your shoulders. Chances are that the family's primary mode of transportation also got destroyed in the wreck.

So, all of a sudden, you not only need to cope with the loss of one of the most important people in your life, but you also need to assume a lot of financial burdens for which you don't have the means to pay. What are you going to do? To whom can you turn for help?

As discussed above, you probably don't want to turn to the defendant's insurance company. They'll try to process you out of their system with a pitifully small settlement. (And remember, settlement offers that may look generous to you in the midst of these life-changing events, further down the road will probably not even begin to cover your expenses or meet your financial needs resulting from the fatality.)

The Waco wrongful death attorneys at Grossman Law Offices will do everything we can to help ensure that you get back onto a proper financial footing to get on with your life. We will not only help you bring to justice the negligent parties that caused your loved one's death, we will also work to ensure that you recover all the financial compensation from them to which you're entitled so that you and your family will not have to suffer financial hardship from this loss. Money can never compensate you for the loss of a family member, but the responsible parties for the death shouldn't be allowed to add insult to injury by leaving you destitute because of their negligence.

A comprehensive lawsuit following a family member's death in a car accident typically comprises two types of damages: wrongful death damages and survival damages. A spouse, parent or child of the deceased family member can bring a suit for wrongful death damages. The same party that files the wrongful death lawsuit usually brings a suit for survival damages. But note that a sibling of the deceased victim can file a suit for survival damages, even though the law prevents them from filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

This is because the law permits the closest living relative to file the survival suit. The law gives a surviving spouse the highest priority, followed by a child, a parent, and finally a sibling. In a survival suit, the plaintiff in some sense "steps into the shoes" of the deceased family member and brings suit for those damages that the victim would have incurred had he or she survived. This is partly because the closest surviving relative is often likely to be saddled with the expenses which these damages compensate, even while they also have to absorb the burden of any debts the deceased may have incurred in life. These survival damages can include such things as the victim's lost wages while in the hospital prior to death, their medical expenses up to that time, the victim's lost earnings capacity because of disabilities resulting from the wreck, the victim's pain and suffering, and the mental and emotional distress caused by injuries to the victim.

Wrongful death damages, on the other hand, are more personal to the immediate family of the victim. The claim for wrongful death damages can include such things as the funeral expenses, any medical expenses paid prior to the victim's death, loss of companionship, emotional distress caused by the loss of the family member, and the loss of the financial support previously provided by the deceased loved one. Again, the wrongful death suit can be filed by the spouse, parent or child of the victim, but not by the sibling.

The claims for wrongful death damages and for survival damages must be filed separately, as two separate lawsuits. They are highly technical types of lawsuits that each require a unique approach and follow somewhat different rules and procedures. It is generally best to have the same highly skilled Central Texas wrongful death attorney file both of these suits for you and your family. While each case will require somewhat different elements and handling, the evidence required in each will overlap, and some of the admissions, demands, and proofs of damages will be similar. They will also be more consistent in court with a coordinated approach. The Waco fatal car accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices have handled hundreds of such cases over the years and have the experience, knowledge and dedication that it takes to be sure that your case meets the required burden of proof, follows all the proper procedures, meets all necessary deadlines, and deals with the intricacies and unique demands of these cases with the acumen of seasoned, winning legal professionals. We will do everything in our power to see to it that you get back on your feet with the best possible financial footing for your future following the unexpected death of your family member.

How Do I Really Know That I Need an Attorney to Help My Family and Me After My Loved One's Fatal Accident?

We understand that following such a traumatic loss, the last thing you probably want to do is get embroiled in a complex legal case. Like most of us, you would rather be left alone to deal with your loss and figure out how you are going to face life and your financial burdens following the death of your family member. That is completely understandable. And in a perfect world, things would just work themselves out in an equitable manner; the responsible parties would step up to the plate and offer you fair compensation out of the goodness of their hearts; and insurance adjusters and defense attorneys would all be artists and musicians because there would be no need for their other professional services. But, let's face it: if this were a perfect world, fatal car accidents would never occur, and we would never have to face the traumatic loss of a loved one or the resulting financial uncertainty.

In the real world, however much you might want to be left alone to move on at your own pace, the reality is that the insurers of the responsible parties will begin pestering you at once trying to get you to sign releases, make statements that they can and will use against your case in court, and/or accept legally-binding, but highly inadequate settlements. You may believe that a wrongful death case is a straightforward matter - that the defendant caused your family member's death and therefore must compensate you. Sadly, this is not at all the situation. Wrongful death cases are much more complex than they appear. Part of the reason is because they can be such high-stakes cases financially. If you've ever had to deal with the opposing insurance company in an ordinary "fender-bender" car accident with no injury or loss of life, you probably had no problem at all handling this yourself. This is because the insurance companies are highly regulated in regards to what they must pay for property damage. In addition, the stakes are so low financially, even if your car gets "totaled," that the insurance company doesn't have any vested interest in putting extra time or effort into opposing your claim.

But once the accident has caused harm to human life or limb, everything changes. There is so much money at stake for the insurers in these cases that they bring in teams of their "top guns" to deal with the case. These include veteran insurance adjusters, shrewd defense attorneys, and masterful accident re-creation experts. All of these employees share the same goal: to keep their employer profitable (and willing to employ them) by showing that you do not have a case and getting you to go away with nothing or with a piddling amount in relation to the real value of the case.

Some of the warning signs that you need to call in your own Waco fatal car accident lawyer to help you deal with the situation include:

• A generally bad feeling about how your case is being handled. Maybe alarm bells are going off in your head, but you just don't quite know why. Your wrongful death lawyer will probably know immediately.
• One or more of the responsible parties for the accident is being uncooperative. This is not unusual; they have good reason to be afraid. Even though they may never in life have intended to cause harm to another, they nonetheless have caused the death of your loved one. This is a serious matter. They may want to hide and protect their assets from being awarded to you as damages. They may have other things to hide. You don't know. Let your lawyer handle it. They have the experience to know when and where people are hiding their assets or the other skeletons in their closet.
• The insurance company is badgering you and will not leave you alone. They may want you to sign away your right to pursue a lawsuit (often for a tiny sum); they may want to take or record statements from you; they may simply be proffering you a settlement that is a mere pittance in relation to the actual sum of compensation you deserve for your tragedy. All of these are strategies the insurance professionals pursue to protect their companies' bottom lines. It is their job. They are likely better at this (because they have had more practice) than you are at fending them off. Let your lawyer handle them. Your lawyer has had just as much practice at dealing with pushy insurance employees as the insurers have had at badgering victims like you.
• One or more of the parties responsible for your loved one's death is (or claims to be) uninsured. They may be claiming to be uninsured and financially destitute, but actually be hiding their assets to protect them from you. They may also want to avoid insurance and possible driver's license repercussions following a claim. An experienced fatal car crash lawyer in Central Texas can help you get to the bottom of things. He will know how to research the actual asset situation of the responsible party and make sure that you can make a claim. Even if the party is actually uninsured and destitute, there may be other parties responsible for the fatality that can be sued. Maybe a manufacturer issued a defective car part which contributed to the accident. Maybe another driver veered into the path of the party who actually wrecked your family member's vehicle. Maybe the traffic lights were not working properly. There are usually multiple contributing factors to a major accident. Let a knowledgeable lawyer investigate the case and help you determine who all of the responsible parties are that should be included in your wrongful death suit.

Just to let you know, it is not unusual for the defendant's insurance company to know about your relative's demise in a fatal car crash before you do. They may even approach you at the hospital or at the morgue to try to pressure you into releasing your rights or accepting an unfair settlement. They know it's very likely you haven't spoken to your own attorney yet and that you remain unaware of your rights in the matter. They will not hesitate to take advantage of your grief and your emotional distress and confusion to help their employer's bottom line. (It's their job; their career is more upwardly mobile based on how successful that they are at these actions.) Sadly, you're probably in no emotional position to clearly evaluate their approach and fend them off.

The able attorneys at Grossman Law Offices want you to be sure that this does not happen to you. Don't be one of the very many bereaved who wait until their case has been irreparably damaged before they seek their own lawyer. Any experienced attorney can tell you that it is much easier to take a case to a successful conclusion if you start it out right from the start. But it can be almost impossible to undo damage to a case after it has already been done. (And once you have accepted a settlement on your own, however unfair it may actually be, the law recognizes that it is legally binding on you. You can't "change your mind" and get it fixed later.) Our attorneys can handle all of the contact with pushy insurance adjusters for you. We can negotiate with the insurance adjusters on your behalf to make sure that you get a fair settlement. If the case goes to court, we are more than able to take on the defense attorneys and see that you get all of the compensation to which you are entitled.

Waco Fatal Car Accident Lawyer Michael Grossman and the Staff of Grossman Law Offices is here to Help You

Don't wait. Get the legal help you need to pursue successful cases for wrongful death damages and survivor damages before savvy insurance companies shut you out. No matter how strong your case looks to you, the insurance companies are past masters at shutting down even the strongest cases in court, when they have only to face a concerned non-lawyer. Even the staunchest non-lawyer is likely to walk away from court with nothing. This is because even the most zealously-motivated, bereaved family member, without in-depth legal experience, won't have the vaguest clue how to respond successfully to lists of admissions, to submit a demand packet, or to prove up the damages. Some things just don't respond well to the do-it-yourself approach.

Grossman Law Offices has two solid decades of successful experience facing the insurance companies in court and out in wrongful death cases. We have handled numerous high-profile accident cases, faced every major insurer and defense firm in the nation, and won a slew of multi-million dollar settlements for our clients. The insurance companies and defense firms are well aware of our successful track record and our expertise with these types of cases. Generally, they would rather settle with you out of court in a generous amount than face our attorneys in court where the resulting court battle could impact the companies and their clients in a very negative way.

Let us put our in-depth experience and top-tier reputation to work for you. For twenty years, we have been helping grieving family members obtain justice and win fair compensation following the tragic deaths of their loved ones in fatal car accidents. We can help you bring comprehensive claims against all of the parties responsible for your loved one's death, from the manufacturer of a defective car part to a reckless driver. We can explain to you all of your options in your case, as well the intricacies and complexities of the matter in clear, straightforward language that will help you make informed choices about your options. So if you have unexpectedly lost a loved one to a fatal car wreck, call us at Grossman Law Offices at once for a free consultation. We are here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when you need us. We will listen to your concerns, answer questions you may have about your case and your options in proceeding in a lawsuit, and stand willing to help you fight for your rights and obtain justice following your loss.