Dublin Wrongful Death Lawyer

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, there were over 1,100 fatal accidents in the state in 2020. These accidents led to over 1,200 fatalities. Some of these accidents involved drivers and passengers in vehicles, while others involved pedestrians and bicyclists.

We handle motor vehicle accident cases involving cars, trucks, motorcycles, pedestrians, and bicycles. We provide compassionate care for you in the aftermath of an accident and work to determine exactly what happened.

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), over 1,000 individuals working in the construction industry lost their lives in 2019. This represents over 20 percent of the total on-the-job fatalities around the country.

We advocate for workers or pedestrians on or near a construction site who were harmed by heavy equipment, falling objects, poor scaffolding, hazardous materials, and explosions, among other causes.

Some manufacturers fail to follow safety protocols when developing and selling new products. These products could have defects in their design, manufacturing, or marketing. For example, a product’s label may fail to contain appropriate safety information.

If your loved one passed away after using a dangerous product, you could sue the manufacturer (or another party) for damages.

These types of wrongful death cases fall under premises liability and involve accidents on public or private property. We help people who should have been protected under proper ownership or management of a property.

We focus on determining what caused a slip and fall accident by looking for hazards like wet spots on the floor, debris in a walkway, or cracked and damaged pavement. Throughout the time we spend on your claim, we’ll provide you with compassionate and understanding care.

Simply being related to the deceased is not enough to recover damages in a wrongful death claim. In order to be eligible for compensation, family members named in the suit must have suffered a compensable loss.

In Ohio, qualifying claimants for wrongful death lawsuits include:

• The surviving spouse
• The surviving child(ren)
• The surviving parents

Other family members will have to prove to the court that they suffered a compensable loss to potentially recover damages. However, if a parent abandoned a child, they will be unable to benefit from a wrongful death claim for that child.

First, your Dublin, OH, wrongful death lawyer will need to establish that the actions of the defendant were wholly or partially responsible for your loved one’s wrongful death.

Establishing negligence will require that we prove:

• Duty: The defendant owed a legal duty to the deceased. For example, drivers must drive safely to prevent causing undue harm to other road users.
• Breach of duty: The defendant breached their duty to the deceased. For example, they breached their duty to keep others safe on the road by texting while driving, driving while intoxicated, or driving while fatigued.
• Causation: The defendant’s negligence caused the fatality. Proving causation requires you to prove that the death would not have occurred had it not been for the defendant’s negligence. For example, the accident that killed your loved one would not have occurred had the defendant not been distracted while driving.
• Death of the decedent: The decedent passed away as a result of the accident.

The team at Bressman Law will handle proving the four elements of negligence. Your wrongful death lawyer will investigate the accident, interview eyewitnesses, and work with experts to determine the cause of death and calculate your losses.

To recover damages for wrongful death, you will need to show that family members are experiencing financial difficulty as a result of the decedent’s death. For example, if you were financially dependent on your loved one, their death might have caused you significant financial damage.

Finally, you must prove that your loved one was appointed a personal representative to bring a lawsuit on behalf of the deceased’s family.

According to Ohio Revised Code Section 2125.02, the following damages are recoverable in an Ohio wrongful death suit:

• Loss of the decedent’s services
• Loss of support (determined by potential earning capacity of the deceased)
• Loss of prospective inheritance
• Mental anguish experienced by survivors
• Loss of companionship, care, guidance, etc., suffered by survivors

If we can establish by a preponderance of the evidence that the defendant’s negligence caused your loved one’s death, the court will likely award your family wrongful death damages. Proving liability by a preponderance of the evidence means that the defendant is more likely than not to be responsible for the decedent’s death.

Bressman Law has over 30 years of legal experience serving personal injury claimants. During that time, we’ve published eBooks about the claims process, started our own YouTube channel, and recovered millions for injured claimants.

You can rest assured that with Bressman Law, you’ll have a professional, experienced attorney in your corner.

We’re not kidding when we say we’ve recovered millions for our clients. We’re also able to resolve many of our injury and wrongful death claims out of court, so you don’t have to worry about litigation.

We want you to feel comfortable working with our team. That’s why we always make ourselves accessible to our clients. If you ever have a question or concern about the legal process, we’re ready to hear from you.

Right now, affording a lawyer is likely the last thing on your mind. Yet, Bressman Law operates on a contingency-fee basis. We can start building your case at no cost to you. Also, a portion of your settlement pays for your help, so you pay nothing out of pocket.

You can learn more about this arrangement during your free case review.

Because there are many factors involved in determining the damages awarded in a wrongful death case in Ohio, there is no “average” settlement. There may not be an average settlement for wrongful death in Ohio, but several factors can affect what you can recover, such as:

• The age of the victim
• Whether the victim was the sole or partial support of their household
• The victim’s past earnings and what their future earnings could have been
• What economic damages the victim’s family suffered
• The jury’s perception of the victim’s life in terms of whether their relationship with friends, family, and the general public was generally positive or negative
• How painful the grieving process is for family and loved ones
• The amount of available insurance coverage
• The jury’s perception of the person or entity responsible for the victim’s death

How much a wrongful death claim is worth in Ohio depends on several factors, including the person’s age, whether they were a source of financial support, and the emotional effects on the family.

Some losses could have receipts that note the actual, tangible value they have attached to them, while others require us to assign it a value.

What is important to know about valuating wrongful death losses is how your loved one’s passing makes you feel, and that will decide how much you could recover.