Severe Injury and Wrongful Death Attorneys

How Can a Severe Injury Attorney Help You?

Georgia wrongful death attorneys can help you after you have lost a loved one (known in these cases as the decedent) to negligent actions or criminal acts. You may be owed compensation for the years of lost income, opportunities, and emotional distress.

These cases are often devastating to the victim’s family and other survivors. The needs of victims with personal injuries may cost many millions in medical expenses, therapy, surgery, and life care costs that no one can afford without assistance.

You need a personal injury lawyer who is knowledgeable and sufficiently skilled to establish liability and the need for serious compensation. We have that skill and access to the finest experts in the field to support our claims. We have experience with many catastrophic injury cases, including those involving car accidents, truck accidents, medical malpractice, and defective products.

Contact us now to leave your details or schedule a free consultation. This is your chance to explain the causes of wrongful death and the economic losses you’ve suffered. You’ll get a case evaluation and learn how the state of Georgia's wrongful death law applies in cases like yours.

Types of Severe Injury and Wrongful Death Claims

Severe injury and death can occur due to many different circumstances arising from the negligent or intentional acts of others. These injuries can be due to the wrongful conduct of a professional, because of a dangerous drug or medical device, or from a collision with a distracted driver, to name just a few possibilities.

Expensive medical bills, severe pain and suffering, and extended recuperation times are often required, resulting in both the loss of enjoyment of life and economic damages from lost time at work.

Victims of wrongful activity are due compensation for their expenses and suffering. In certain cases, they are also entitled to punitive damages to punish the wrongdoer and let the court decision serve as a warning that the behavior will not be tolerated in the future.

Unfortunately, many severe injury cases result in death. In a wrongful death case, the heirs of the deceased victim are entitled to damages measured by the value of the life (both economic and non-economic) of the deceased person, had they survived.

Who is Allowed to Bring a Georgia Wrongful Death Claim?

Georgia law allows different parties to bring a wrongful death claim depending on the relationships of the victim’s surviving family members.

Living spouses may bring wrongful death claims (See Law). Any surviving children of the victim may also bring wrongful death claims. The court has found that children have the right to bring a wrongful death lawsuit even if the spouse of the victim cannot or will not.

Different laws may apply if there is no surviving spouse or children. In such cases, parents are allowed to pursue legal action (See Law). Both parents have a right to bring a case; they can bring it together, or one can bring it alone.

If no children, spouses, or parents survive the victim, the victim’s estate can pursue a wrongful death claim. This is called an estate claim, and it can be initiated by whoever is chosen to administer the victim’s estate.

Whether you are eligible to bring a wrongful death action can depend on many factors, including statutes of limitations and other existing claims. The best way to determine eligibility is to speak to a lawyer about the specific details of your case.

How Do Georgia Courts Determine Compensation?

Georgia uses a unique measurement for the worth of a wrongful death known as the “Full Value of The Life”. To arrive at a final figure, juries are expected to consider the losses to the victim rather than the losses suffered by the surviving family.

Recent case law has continued to hold that the measurement of a life’s value must consider both economic and non-economic factors. The compensation must consider the income the victim might have earned if they lived a typical lifespan. Jurors may be asked to consider all kinds of income the victim may have lost, including income from wages/salary, investments, and retirement benefits. This measurement can also include the value of services the victim would have performed for loved ones.

The non-economic portion of the measurement is based on the value of the life and experience that has been lost. The jury may be asked to consider things the victim has missed out on, such as the wedding of a child or the birth of a grandchild. The jury may even consider how the victim has lost out on the enjoyment of their hobbies or the accomplishments they intended to achieve.

Your wrongful death lawyer will play a large role in convincing a jury of the value of your loved one’s life. It will be the responsibility of your lawyer and the witnesses your lawyer chooses to show that your loved one had a full life that was taken. Choosing an experienced wrongful death attorney who knows how to research and present your loved one’s life in this way is important.

Our law offices have many Atlanta personal injury lawyers and wrongful death lawyers with experience with these cases.

Need More Answers about Wrongful Death Cases in Atlanta?

Georgia's wrongful death law, and wrongful death statute, are incredibly complicated. To understand the potential of your wrongful death claim or get answers to specific questions, you’ll need to share your details with an Atlanta wrongful death lawyer. Our team can discuss any questions you have about the legal process, and if you choose us to represent you, provide legal advice about the next steps.

Contact Us: How Can We Help You?

We strive to be Atlanta’s top personal injury firm. You can rely on us to do everything in our power to reach the best possible outcome in your case. Our experienced Atlanta attorneys will fight to see that your rights are protected and your injuries compensated.. Get started now with our personal injury and wrongful death contact form.

Wrongful Death FAQs

No, the sole calculation is the value of the life of the decedent.

Generally, wrongful death settlements are not taxable according to the IRS. Certain aspects of tort settlements are taxable, however. In any given case, a party should contact his or her tax advisor to confirm the taxability of any recovery.

Any settlement should be calculated by determining the value of the case (the economic and non-economic value of the decedent’s life), taking into consideration the risk of winning or losing the case on liability. In other words, if there is a substantial possibility of losing the case at trial on liability, then you would discount the value of the damages in order to settle the case and not have the risk of loss.

Wrongful death recoveries are distributed according to the Georgia Code. For example, if the claim is filed by the decedent’s spouse, then the spouse shares the recovery in equal parts with the decedent’s children (although the spouse will never take less than one-third).

Yes, The statute of limitations is two years from the date of the death.

The measure of damages for wrongful death is Georgia is the value of the life of the decedent, had he or she lived. There are 2 parts to this: first, the economic value by assessing, for instance, what the decedent would have earned had he/she not died; and second, the non-economic value of the joy of being alive, such as sharing good times with family and friends.

Wrongful death claims can arise is many ways: medical malpractice where the negligence causes a death from action or inaction; motor vehicle accidents where the innocent party dies as a result of injuries; injuries from products that are improperly designed or manufactured and result in a death are examples.

A decedent’s beneficiaries do not have the right to collect for a wrongful death. Rather, the Georgia Code identifies the people who are entitled to claim damages for someone’s wrongful death. The beneficiaries listed in a decedent’s Will are irrelevant to the distribution of the wrongful death recovery.

Any death proximately caused by the actionable negligence or intentional tort of another is a wrongful death.

The decedent’s estate can claim damages for physical and mental pain and suffering, medical bills and funeral and burial expenses. The wrongful death claim is for the value of the person who died.

Negligence is where a defendant breaches a duty of care, which proximately causes injury and damages. It is only when the negligence results in death that the cause of action is for wrongful death. A cause of action for wrongful death will also arise when an intentional tort is committed that proximately results in death.

There is no cap for wrongful death damages in Georgia.

If the decedent was married, the widow or widower is the sole person who can file the lawsuit, but the proceeds must be shared with the decedent’s children. If there is no spouse, then the child or children of the decedent can file the claim, and they share the recovery. If the decedent is a child with no spouse or children, then the claim exists in the parents of the deceased child.

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Attorneys That Can Help

Robin N. Loeb
Partner
David E. Tuszynski
Of Counsel
Hunter T. Hillin
Of Counsel

How Can We Help You?

When you hire the law firm of Garland, Samuel & Loeb, you can rely on us to do everything in our power to reach the best possible outcome in your case. Whether you have suffered a serious injury in an accident or are facing criminal charges, our attorneys will fight to see that your rights are protected from the start.