If your loved one died as the result of the intentional, negligent, or reckless conduct of another person, you might have a valid wrongful death claim. Naturally, when you receive news of your loved one’s death, the last thing you’re thinking about is calling a wrongful death lawyer in Philadelphia. You are likely overwhelmed with grief and anger and confusion. And you have to juggle your work and personal lives while having to plan a funeral and burial and deal with your loved one’s assets and estate.
And yet, “as soon as possible” is the best time to contact a Philadelphia wrongful death attorney so they can have enough time to review the evidence and file a wrongful death lawsuit on your behalf. This article examines how long you can wait to file your wrongful death claim and offers an example scenario to illustrate the need for swift action.
Under the Pennsylvania wrongful death statute, you have two years after the official death date to file a wrongful death lawsuit.* This restriction is typically referred to as the wrongful death statute or the statute of limitations.
Two years may seem like a long time, but your wrongful death attorneys will need ample time to investigate the circumstances surrounding your loved one’s death. They will need to order records such as medical records or employment records. They will need to interview various individuals who were involved in or had substantial knowledge about the circumstances leading up to your loved one’s death. They will need to fully understand whether someone or multiple people are at fault for your loved one’s death. Thus, in order to comply with the wrongful death statute of limitations, you should contact an attorney as soon as possible after your loved one dies.
*An important exception to the Pennsylvania wrongful death statute is in cases of “fraudulent concealment.” This part of the statute can occur in the medical malpractice context. It provides that if a plaintiff is fraudulently persuaded or lulled by the defendant’s medical care providers that the cause of their loved one’s death was not actionable in court because they did nothing wrong and/or concealed relevant facts from the plaintiff, the plaintiff might argue that they have more than two years from the date of death. The plaintiff could have as much as two years from the time they discovered (or should have discovered) that the defendant’s actions or omissions could likely have caused their loved one’s death.
Let’s say that someone was in a fatal motor vehicle accident on November 1, 2023. Under the law, technically, the loved ones of the decedent could file the wrongful death claim by October 31, 2025. But it would be very unwise to wait until the last legal moment to do so.
In fact, if someone was killed in a fatal accident on November 1, 2023, the family should contact a wrongful death lawyer as soon as possible so that the lawyer can begin the arduous task of collecting all possible evidence. Examples of evidence that needs to be preserved as soon as possible include the vehicles that the decedent and the defendant were driving; photos and videos of the accident, which may be in the possession of eyewitnesses, local businesses, or highway cameras; police reports; eye witness statements; and medical records.
Wrongful death attorneys understand the immense grief associated with wrongful death lawsuits and will do everything in their power to work with you to ease your burdens during the stressful time after your loved one’s death.
If you believe your loved one has died as the direct result of someone else’s actions or omissions, you may have a viable wrongful death lawsuit. Don’t hesitate to contact the experienced wrongful death attorneys at VSCP LAW.
Wrongful Death Lawyer in Philadelphia is a civil cause of action brought by family members or legal representatives of the decedent against the person or multiple persons who caused the death of the decedent. The defendant(s) might have caused the death intentionally or they might have caused the death unintentionally (or “negligently”) and either way, the plaintiffs referenced above would have a wrongful death claim. The following are various situations that could lead to a wrongful death lawsuit.
Healthcare providers often misdiagnose patients, which could lead to death. For example, a woman may come to the emergency room with symptoms of nausea and fatigue. The poorly-informed doctor incorrectly concludes that she’s suffering from menstrual issues or indigestion. The doctor prescribes some antacids and a painkiller. The woman was suffering a heart attack. When women suffer heart attacks, they don’t have the same symptoms as men suffering heart attacks. Most doctors only know the typical male symptoms and often misdiagnose women, which could lead to their untimely deaths.
Many medical conditions require prompt intervention by healthcare professionals. For example, time is of the essence when a patient is suffering a stroke. A stroke is when the blood supply to the brain is interrupted or reduced. This is an urgent medical issue and requires a timely diagnosis. Sometimes medical staff will mistake a stroke for a migraine and prescribe painkillers. Unfortunately, during a stroke, every minute that passes is a minute that the brain is losing precious oxygen. And if the proper diagnosis is delayed for too long, the person could die.
When a hospital or other healthcare facility allows a patient to leave their care when the patient’s health condition requires more close monitoring in the healthcare setting, that’s called early discharge medical malpractice. Releasing a patient before it’s physically safe to do so could end in the patient’s death.
Car, truck, or other vehicle accidents can often be fatal. Such accidents can result in the death of the driver, the passenger, and pedestrians. Fatal accidents can result in wrongful death lawsuits against whichever party is found to be at fault for causing the collision.
A product can be defective in its design or its assembly and in some cases, a defective product could kill the user of the product. A defective product could also kill people who aren’t directly using the product, but who are physically near the product user. Wrongful death litigation can result from such defective products.
If a person falls or otherwise gets hurt and then dies as a result of a dangerous condition of a property, the property owner could be liable to the family of the decedent. Business owners and private property owners must keep their properties safe and free from hazards.
Some workplaces (for instance, construction sites, factories, and aircraft) are more dangerous than others. If someone dies from a workplace accident, their family or legal representatives can sue the employer and/or the company that owns the site for wrongful death.
Sadly, even though a person is just trying to have fun at the water park, ATV course, or an amusement park, they can experience a deadly accident.
A civil right is an enforceable right or privilege. Citizens have the right to be free from false arrest, malicious prosecution, and excessive use of force by law enforcement. Wrongful Death Lawyer in Philadelphia can occur particularly in that last example: excessive or unreasonable use of force against a citizen.
Regardless of what type of case is at issue, an experienced wrongful death attorney will help you navigate the complicated legal landscape. To talk with an experienced wrongful death attorney, contact the lawyers at VSCP Law.
Wrongful death claims typically arise when someone’s death is caused by the accidental or intentional actions of another person or entity. The following are some key steps that need to be taken to help determine if you have a wrongful death case.
One of the first and most crucial steps in determining whether you have a wrongful death case is to contact a wrongful death lawyer. The wrongful death attorney can assess the specific circumstances of your case and provide guidance as to whether you have a valid claim. They can also help guide you in the below essential steps.
It’s important to note that not all wrongful death cases require an autopsy. If there is no real question as to the cause of death, an autopsy is generally not necessary. Let’s say, for example, that your loved one was a healthy person with no underlying health concerns. He gets in a serious car accident in which the other person’s car drives head-on into his car; he dies at the scene. In that wrongful death action, it will be obvious to all parties that the car crash is what caused his death. An autopsy, thus, would not give much more information than what is already evident to all involved.
On the other hand, if it is completely unknown what exactly caused your loved one’s death, then an autopsy could be informative. For example, if you think your loved one died due to being prescribed the wrong medicine and the doctor you’re suing suggested your loved one died from an unrelated pneumonia, an autopsy could help resolve the issue. An autopsy would clarify whether the wrongfully prescribed medicine caused your loved one to die or whether the unrelated lung infection did. And your wrongfully death medical malpractice attorney can guide you as to whether or not you should order one.
Whether the death took place on a highway or in a hospital bed, there will be records of the circumstances prior to, during, and after the death. And those records need to be reviewed by an appropriate expert to determine if the death was caused by someone else. The expert could be a gastrointestinal surgeon or someone who specializes in workplace safety. The expert will review the observations, notes, hospital reports, and all other records to help determine the cause of death and to help the wrongful death lawyer evaluate the potential claim.
If the attorney finds that there is in fact a valid wrongful death claim, they will help you gather sufficient evidence and file a Complaint in court. The case may end in trial or in a wrongful death settlement. Either way, it’s imperative to contact an attorney as soon as you suspect your loved one’s death could be the fault of someone else. The attorneys at VSCP Law can help.
When your loved one’s death is caused by the actions (or inactions) of another person, you may have a wrongful death claim. We get calls from a lot of grieving families seeking to sue others for the wrongful death of their loved one. There is a wide variety of different contexts in which their loved ones have died, but there are some categories for this type of claim that are more common than others. Below are the top five most common claims in wrongful death lawsuits.
Motor vehicle accidents
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are about 5-6 million motor vehicle accidents per year across the United States. Of those, around 34,000 involve fatalities where at least one person (either the driver or passenger) has died. Sometimes, there is no one at fault – for example, the accident happened because a deer jumped into the road unexpectedly. But, more often with the calls we get, the accident has occurred because someone wasn’t driving carefully. In those cases, when we can link the careless or negligent actions of someone else, we file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the grieving family.
Surgical errors
Surgeons are responsible for doing exactly what they stipulate to and nothing more and nothing less. Perhaps they damage a nerve, operate on the wrong body part, leave a piece of surgical equipment (eg, gauze or scalpel) inside the body cavity, or they damage an organ. All of these mistakes support a medical malpractice action, as does any negligence by the anesthesiologist in the administration of the anesthesia. Your wrongful death lawyer can evaluate the actions and inactions of the surgical team who rendered you care and determine whether they committed medical malpractice.
Misdiagnosis
Healthcare providers often misdiagnose patients, which could lead to death. The more common conditions that doctors misdiagnose are heart attacks and strokes. For heart attacks, for instance, a woman might come to the doctor with complaints of nausea, shortness of breath, and fatigue and the doctor will incorrectly diagnose her as suffering from premenstrual syndrome or indigestion. For strokes, for instance, a patient can come to their doctor with severe head pain and disorientation. The doctor misdiagnoses them with a migraine. In both of these cases, failure to properly diagnose the condition could lead to the patient’s death.
Delayed Diagnosis
There are many medical conditions that require prompt intervention by healthcare professionals. For example, when cancer is detected, a team of doctors start to plan treatment. Treatment could include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. All of these treatments must be done as expediently as possible because untreated cancer can grow and become deadly. But these treatments won’t become part of a patient’s care plan if no one diagnoses them with cancer. We often get calls from people whose loved one’s doctor failed to notice cancer on their diagnostic test and thus treatment for that loved one was delayed. If a doctor fails to timely diagnose cancer in a patient, they are reducing the likelihood of the patient’s recovery from it and increasing the likelihood that the patient will die from it.
Workplace accidents
Another area that clients call us about is workplace accidents. This can include, for example, someone falling to their death on a construction site or someone in a manufacturing warehouse being exposed to a toxic chemical. Related to the above category, this also often includes workers who are killed in a motor vehicle accident while transporting products for work.
Our goal, as wrongful death attorneys in Philadelphia and its surrounding areas, is to help people who have lost a loved one and seek justice on their behalf. If you believe your loved one died due to the misconduct of someone else, contact us today at VSCP Law.
When your loved one’s death is caused by the actions (or inactions) of another person, you may have a wrongful death claim. We get calls from a lot of grieving families seeking to sue others for the wrongful death of their loved one. There is a wide variety of different contexts in which their loved ones have died, but there are some categories for this type of claim that are more common than others. Below are the top five most common claims in wrongful death lawsuits.
Motor vehicle accidents
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there are about 5-6 million motor vehicle accidents per year across the United States. Of those, around 34,000 involve fatalities where at least one person (either the driver or passenger) has died. Sometimes, there is no one at fault – for example, the accident happened because a deer jumped into the road unexpectedly. But, more often with the calls we get, the accident has occurred because someone wasn’t driving carefully. In those cases, when we can link the careless or negligent actions of someone else, we file a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the grieving family.
Surgical errors
Surgeons are responsible for doing exactly what they stipulate to and nothing more and nothing less. Perhaps they damage a nerve, operate on the wrong body part, leave a piece of surgical equipment (eg, gauze or scalpel) inside the body cavity, or they damage an organ. All of these mistakes support a medical malpractice action, as does any negligence by the anesthesiologist in the administration of the anesthesia. Your wrongful death lawyer can evaluate the actions and inactions of the surgical team who rendered you care and determine whether they committed medical malpractice.
Misdiagnosis
Healthcare providers often misdiagnose patients, which could lead to death. The more common conditions that doctors misdiagnose are heart attacks and strokes. For heart attacks, for instance, a woman might come to the doctor with complaints of nausea, shortness of breath, and fatigue and the doctor will incorrectly diagnose her as suffering from premenstrual syndrome or indigestion. For strokes, for instance, a patient can come to their doctor with severe head pain and disorientation. The doctor misdiagnoses them with a migraine. In both of these cases, failure to properly diagnose the condition could lead to the patient’s death.
Delayed Diagnosis
There are many medical conditions that require prompt intervention by healthcare professionals. For example, when cancer is detected, a team of doctors start to plan treatment. Treatment could include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. All of these treatments must be done as expediently as possible because untreated cancer can grow and become deadly. But these treatments won’t become part of a patient’s care plan if no one diagnoses them with cancer. We often get calls from people whose loved one’s doctor failed to notice cancer on their diagnostic test and thus treatment for that loved one was delayed. If a doctor fails to timely diagnose cancer in a patient, they are reducing the likelihood of the patient’s recovery from it and increasing the likelihood that the patient will die from it.
Workplace accidents
Another area that clients call us about is workplace accidents. This can include, for example, someone falling to their death on a construction site or someone in a manufacturing warehouse being exposed to a toxic chemical. Related to the above category, this also often includes workers who are killed in a motor vehicle accident while transporting products for work.
Our goal, as wrongful death attorneys in Philadelphia and its surrounding areas, is to help people who have lost a loved one and seek justice on their behalf. If you believe your loved one died due to the misconduct of someone else, contact us today at VSCP Law.
When someone dies and their family successfully sues the party responsible for the death, the family may recover compensation for the loss of their family member. There are two possible avenues for the family to collect money: Wrongful Death and Survival Action. They are not the same. Read on to learn the difference.
Wrongful Death
Under the Pennsylvania Wrongful Death Act, the family of the deceased may collect:
Past Lost Contributions. This is the amount that the family has lost between the time of the death to the present. It includes the money the deceased family member would have spent on or given to his family for things like food, clothing, medical care, education, and even gifts and recreation.
Future Loss of Contributions. This is the amount of money that fairly compensates the family for the loss of future gifts the deceased family member would have given. In other words, the contributions the deceased family member would make from today until the deceased family member would have died had there been no negligence. For instance, if the deceased family member had a life expectancy of 85 years, you would calculate how many years until she would have reached the age of 85 and you would be compensated for the loss of her contributions for that period of time.
Past and Future Noneconomic Damages. When someone dies, they can no longer give their family their companionship, emotional comfort, sense of humor, etc. The family can be compensated for the profound emotional and psychological loss of their treasured family member.
Survival Action
Under the Pennsylvania Survival Action, the family member of the deceased person can collect:
Past Lost Earnings. If there is a period of time that took place between the time of the negligent act and the time of the death, the family is entitled to be paid for the amount the deceased person would have earned in damages between those two events: negligence and death.
Future Loss of Earnings. This amount covers how much the deceased family member would have earned from today to his life expectancy, as explained above.
Past Noneconomic Damages. When someone is injured as the result of someone’s negligence, they don’t always die immediately. Sometimes, they could suffer briefly and sometimes they could suffer for a prolonged amount of time before they die. Whatever length that period is, it can be a category of damages. The family of the deceased person can recover money for the mental and physical pain, suffering, and loss of life’s pleasures from the moment she’s injured to the moment of her death.
It is often the case that the family is entitled to both Wrongful Death and Survival Action damages. It is up to your experienced wrongful death lawyer to plead these claims and ensure that you get the most compensation for your loss. To speak with an experienced wrongful death attorney, contact VSCP Law.
In personal injury cases, you can seek emotional distress damages. The emotional distress damages you can claim, however, depend on whether you, yourself, are the injured party or whether you are claiming emotional damages due to the physical injury to your family member.
Emotional Damages for You, the Injured Party
When you are injured, you have multiple possible avenues for claiming emotional damages, including:
Pain and Suffering. This damage category includes the physical discomfort, mental anxiety, emotional distress, and inconvenience that you’ve suffered – and will continue to suffer – as a result of your injury.
Embarrassment and humiliation. This refers to any feelings of shame, inferiority, humiliation, or inadequacy that you feel and will continue to feel as a result of your injury.
Disfigurement. This damage category includes scarring, deformity, limp, or another observable defect that you suffer – and might continue to suffer – as a result of your injury.
Loss of ability to enjoy life’s pleasures. This refers to the past and future loss of your ability to participate in hobbies, games, sports, or other activity, that you previously enjoyed. The activities don’t have to be physical, like biking or rock-climbing. Activities could include chess or reading. If you can no longer do those activities due to your injury, you can claim emotional distress as the result of having to discontinue them.
Emotional Damages for You as a Family Member of the Injured Party
When it is not you who was personally physically injured, but your family member, you can still make a claim for emotional damages. The courts call these damages Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress Damages and in order to prove this, you need to establish that the defendant’s negligence caused your loved one to suffer a physical injury and you have suffered emotional distress as a result. There are different types of liability that would lead to this level of compensation, including:
Zone of Danger Liability. You could recover damages if you were near the point of impact. For example, if you were in the car with your wife during the accident in which your wife was injured, you were within the zone of danger and would likely have a successful claim for emotional distress.
Bystander Liability. If you witnessed the physical harm caused to your loved one, you are considered a bystander. For example, if you were in the room when a nurse administered the wrong medicine to your child, causing your child to suffer serious immediate injuries, you were a bystander and could collect compensation for your emotional distress.
If you or your loved one suffered a personal injury, it’s important to work with a knowledgeable personal injury attorney who can help you collect the appropriate damages. Contact the experienced and knowledgeable personal injury lawyers at VSCP Law.
It can be devastating when you realize that your loved one’s death could have been prevented with proper medical care, or proper care in other settings, such as the workplace. If you believe your loved one has died as a result of the actions or omissions of their healthcare providers or other individuals, you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Read on to understand the various categories of wrongful death damages that you can recover.
Under Pennsylvania’s wrongful death statute, there are two main categories of compensation: economic and non-economic. Economic damages are quantifiable, meaning the exact figure can be established with documentation. Non-economic damages are not quantifiable – they are more of a subjective assessment of the sad consequences of an injury. Read on for the list of categories of compensation that your wrongful death lawyers in Philadelphia can win for you:
ECONOMIC
Lost wages. If your deceased loved one was working and earning wages at the time of their death, you may be able to recover lost wages – that is, the wages that your loved one can no longer earn, in addition to the value of work-related benefits.
Medical expenses. This category of compensation is related to the bills from the hospital, doctors, physical therapist, pharmacy, and any other healthcare service or provider that are related to your loved one’s death.
Burial/funeral costs. Burial, funeral, and all costs related to interment may be compensated.
Estate administration costs. When someone dies, their property becomes an estate. The estate has to be administered which could include paying utilities, storage, monthly housing fees, and taxes related to the decedent’s property, as well as paying the person who is in charge of making all these payments from the estate.
Costs of living. These are the costs that the decedent would have spent to support their family members had they not died. These costs may include food, clothing, shelter, transportation, education, and recreation.
NON-ECONOMIC
Loss of companionship, comfort, and society. Sometimes referred to as “loss of consortium,” this describes the loss of the benefits of having someone in your life. For a spouse of the decedent, this may include the loss of companionship, cooperation, affection, comfort, services, assistance, sexual relations, and emotional support. For a parent of a child who died, this may include the loss of the opportunity to witness certain milestones like walking, talking, riding a bike, and playing sports. For the child of a parent who died, this may include the loss of the deceased parent’s guidance, training, advice, education, care, comfort, moral upbringing, and emotional support.
Pain and suffering. This category refers to the physical and emotional pain and suffering that the decedent underwent after the negligent action and before their actual death. Some pain is obvious because it’s accompanied by moans, groans, and/or winces; other pain is invisible because it’s experienced internally, but it is no less significant.
It goes without saying that no amount of money will take away the sadness you feel when your loved one dies. But, with the right wrongful death attorney in Philadelphia, you can at least rest assured that you will get the most compensation possible for your case.
If you believe your loved one has died as the result of someone else’s actions or inactions, contact the wrongful death lawyers at VSCP Law.
It is essential to know who represents the estate prior to filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Connect with your wrongful death lawyer in Philadelphia so they can help guide you through the confusing rules. Below is a selection of frequently asked questions (and corresponding answers) about wrongful death lawsuits in Pennsylvania.
If the decedent died with a will, the person appointed in the will as the “executor” or “executrix” represents the estate of the decedent. This executor or executrix may file a wrongful death lawsuit.
If the decedent died without a will, usually a spouse or other family member would be assigned personal representative of the decedent’s estate. If there are no surviving family members, the court may appoint a close friend or someone else to be a personal representative of the decedent’s estate. Whether a family member or not, the personal representative appointed by the court is called an “administrator” or “administratrix.” This administrator and administratrix may file a wrongful death suit.
No one. Other than the court-appointed administrator or the will-stipulated executor (both referred to as the “personal representative”), no one else may file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Before filing a wrongful death lawsuit, the administrator or executor must “raise an estate” (or “open an estate”). They must go to the Register of Wills, armed with various documents such as a death certificate, a will (if there is one), valid ID, etc. The process can be complicated depending on whether there is a will, whether the will is contested, etc. Your wrongful death attorney in Philadelphia can walk you through the necessary steps so that you have what you need to file the wrongful death lawsuit.
Under the Pennsylvania wrongful death statute, the personal representative has two years after the official death date to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This restriction is typically referred to as the wrongful death statute or the statute of limitations.
Two years may seem like a long time, but the wrongful death attorneys will need ample time to investigate the circumstances surrounding the decedent’s death. They will need to order records such as medical records or employment records. They will need to talk with various individuals who were involved in or had substantial knowledge about the circumstances leading up to the death. Thus, in order to comply with the wrongful death statute of limitations, the personal representative should contact an attorney as soon as possible.
Under the Pennsylvania wrongful death statute, there is a limited selection of individuals who can collect wrongful death damages in Pennsylvania. The beneficiaries, and the specific percentages, are set by Pennsylvania statutes.
You should hire a wrongful death attorney in Philadelphia to help you with all of the difficult stages of the claim, including these very preliminary ones. To talk with an experienced wrongful death attorney, contact the lawyers at VSCP Law.
If you believe your loved one has died as the result of the actions or omissions of someone else, you may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit. Read on to understand what you should expect in your initial meetings with a wrongful death lawyer.
When you meet with a wrongful death lawyer in Philadelphia, try to have with you documents that will be necessary in determining whether you have a viable case. Documents that may be necessary include: death certificate, decedent’s work history, will, and medical records. Your wrongful death attorney will also want to review your loved one’s personal items, like their cell phone, which may have pictures, videos, emails, texts, and other media which may help establish their health and well-being prior to their death. All of this data, while admittedly personal, can help to build the wrongful death case. Your wrongful death attorney in Philadelphia has the difficult task of piecing all of these items together to establish liability on the part of the defendants, as well as to build the damages portion of the case.
The “plaintiff” is the person who has the right to sue — that is, to bring the wrongful death case. Your Pennsylvania wrongful death attorney will need to figure out whether you can be the plaintiff. Only personal representatives of the decedent can file a wrongful death lawsuit.
If the decedent died with a will, the person appointed in the will as the “executor” or “executrix” represents the estate of the decedent. This executor or executrix may file a wrongful death lawsuit.
If the decedent died without a will, usually a spouse or other family member would be assigned personal representative of the decedent’s estate. If there are no surviving family members, the court may appoint a close friend or someone else to be a personal representative of the decedent’s estate. Whether a family member or not, the personal representative appointed by the court is called an “administrator” or “administratrix.” This administrator or administrator may file a wrongful death suit.
Thus, if you are either the administrator/administratrix or the executor/executrix, you will be able to be the plaintiff and file the wrongful death lawsuit.
Once it has been established that you are a personal representative (again, either an administrator or executor), you will have to sign various forms so that your Pennsylvania wrongful death attorney can file the lawsuit. The forms will give the wrongful death lawyer the right to obtain life insurance information, financial reports, employment records, and medical records to prove your case.
But before the Pennsylvania wrongful death lawyer can use any of these forms to obtain all that crucial information, you need to sign a Contingent Fee Agreement with them. This agreement establishes the client-attorney relationship. It stipulates that you, the client, do not need to pay the lawyer anything upfront. The lawyer will assume all the costs and expenses to build and try your case. The lawyer only gets paid back for all of those costs and expenses (and all of their time and effort) if the lawsuit is successful. So, in the event of a successful outcome, a portion of the award goes to your wrongful death lawyer.
To find a wrongful death lawyer in Pennsylvania who will build and try your case successfully, contact the attorneys at VSCP Law.