If a person’s death is caused by the negligence of another person or entity, the surviving family members can and have the right to file a civil lawsuit against the person or entity, seeking damages from them – this is thus called a wrongful death case. While each state has specific rules that govern wrongful death claims, this press release will address general principles that are common in most states in nature and procedure of wrongful death lawsuits. Some comments will be drawn from a spokesperson and attorney from the Crowson Law Group.

The spokesperson was asked to give comment on the question about what a wrongful death civil case is. To this the spokesperson responded that, “a wrongful death civil case is a civil lawsuit for monetary damages. A civil lawsuit is a lawsuit in which the damages can be obtained in money, unlike a criminal case which result in a punishment of a fine or imprisonment.”

The spokesperson was asked also to comment about the parties involved in a wrongful death case. He responded that, “the person bringing the lawsuit is called the Plaintiff, and this role is normally carried out by a close family member who brings the claim on behalf of all heirs of the deceased. If the deceased person died with a will, the court often appoints the executor of the estate and that person becomes the Plaintiff in the case.

The person or entity, against whom the lawsuit is being brought is called the Defendant. The lawsuit will allege that the Defendant acted intentionally or negligently and was directly responsible for the untimely and wrongful death of the deceased.”

The spokesperson was asked to comment with respect to what the plaintiff would have to prove in order to have a successful case; to this the spokesperson responded that once the lawsuit is filed, the Plaintiff would need to prove elements of a wrongful death claim before any damages would be awarded. Thus, put simply, the Plaintiff must show the court that the Defendant was indeed negligent and the Defendant’s negligence caused the death of the deceased. The Plaintiff must prove the following;

1.Duty of care - the plaintiff must prove that the Defendant owed the deceased person a duty of care. This can be outlined in an example of a car accident. In this scenario the plaintiff must prove that the Defendant had an obligation to observe the rules of the road and to drive carefully.

2.Breach of duty of care – the plaintiff must prove that the defendant breached or broke that duty of care. Using the car accident example, the plaintiff must show that the defendant failed to obey the applicable traffic laws, e.g. speeding or running a red light.

3.Causation – showing that the defendant broke the law is not enough to prove the plaintiff’s case, therefore, the plaintiff must show that the defendants specific actions directly caused the wrongful death.

If your loved died as a result of the negligence of another person and you want to claim for wrongful death, start [b]looking for lawyers in Anchorage[/b], Alaska with experience handling wrongful death cases for advice and to represent your interests.

[b]About the company:[/b]

The [b]Crowson Law Group[/b] is a renowned law firm of professionals who have experience in wrongful death cases, personal injury in respect of car accidents, nursing home abuse and medical malpractice.