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The main thing that I can do for a family whose loved one has been killed by the fault of another is to make a claim for money damages. It’s the primary way the court system works in Virginia and elsewhere in handling wrongful death cases. The way that compensation is handled is to give some money to the family whose loved one had a loss of their life through no fault of their own. The list of compensable economic damages includes things life funeral expenses, medical expenses suffered as a result of the accident or incident before death, loss of future earnings and earning potential of the person killed that would have provided support for the family.
In addition to these dollars and cents issued and money for the grief and loss of the relationship with the person who was killed there is another, sometimes, even more, important purpose of bringing a wrongful death lawsuit as a Virginia wrongful death attorney.
Often the family does not know exactly what happened or why it happened. The nature of wrongful death, of course, is that the person who was harmed is now dead and cannot tell their husband or wife or other family members what it is that happened. They have been cut off from the ability to say, “Hey, I want you to know that I did my best to avoid this wreck, and I didn’t suffer as I died immediately at the scene.” Without that person being able to tell exactly what happened, it is often left quite unclear for the surviving family members what happened and how it happened. Often the answers to these questions are part of the truth-seeking mission and is necessary for a real feeling of closure for the family left behind.
Sometimes the family doesn’t want to know all the gory details of the aftermath of a tractor-trailer wreck where there loved one was hurt so seriously that they ended up passing away. However, the basic facts, especially those showing that the person who died did everything they could, and they were not at fault and understanding what led to the carelessness of the other driver or person who caused the harm, is important to know and understand. One of the key things that I can do is to force answers to these questions.
As an attorney and an officer of the court, I have the right to do things like subpoena documents from government and other entities to find out what the investigation showed about the truck wreck or another event that caused the person to die. I can also in the context of a lawsuit force the at‑fault trucking company and their managers and owners to come in and answer my questions under oath in a thing called a deposition. This is often the point of the real revelation of what were they thinking and why did this happen. Were there deliberate bad choices made by the truck driver to be taking speed to get through a long day of driving or did the person knowingly not get enough sleep and drive beyond the legal hours that they’re allowed to be behind the wheel of a big rig. Did the company knowingly hire a guy who really shouldn’t have been a professional driver anymore because they’d had so many accidents with injuries that were their fault or a known drug problem? Did the company cut corners as far as safety on their fleet of tractor-trailers so that there were things like bald tires or faulty brakes that they recklessly failed to take care of in a way that they were putting profits ahead of people and the safety of the public?
This is often the point of the real revelation of what were they thinking and why did this happen. Were there deliberately bad choices made by the truck driver to be taking speed to get through a long day of driving or did the person knowingly not get enough sleep and drive beyond the legal hours that they’re allowed to be behind the wheel of a big rig. Did the company knowingly hire a guy who really shouldn’t have been a professional driver anymore because they’d had so many accidents with injuries that were their fault or a known drug problem? Did the company cut corners as far as safety on their fleet of tractor-trailers so that there were things like bald tires or faulty brakes that they recklessly failed to take care of in a way that they were putting profits ahead of people and the safety of the public?
In railroad crossing accidents with death often the big railroad company and their attorneys will try to blame the victim and say that he or she must have been trying to outrun the train or they even make the outrageous claim that the person was suicidal and wanted to be hit by the train. Lots of these kinds of big lies are used by people who know that they’re at fault and are trying to wiggle out of their responsibility.
Sometimes there are passengers in a vehicle, or independent witnesses who saw what happened that can make sure that the truth comes out more easily than if the family wasn’t so lucky as to have an observer to what happened. Other times, particularly in today’s more technological society, there may be some videotape from a business that provides clear, recorded evidence of what happened. I, as the wrongful death attorney, can often by some good investigative work and paying attention find these kinds of independent and objective ways of showing what did happen. Often when I have a strong independent witness, I immediately take their deposition so that we have that information preserved in case that person dies or moves away and is not findable at the time of the trial that may be months if not years later. By getting right on locating the evidence and putting it on the record I make that I not only serve the client’s interest in getting justice in the form of full and fair compensation to the survivors but also make sure to uncover the truth and get it out there so that not only does the family know but the at‑fault persons or company are forced to deal with what they did and should have done differently rather than being able just to cover it up.