Florida Wrongful Death Lawyer
We Are Very Sorry If You Have Lost A Loved One Due To The Accidental Or Intentional Carelessness Or Negligence Of Another Person. Are You Looking For A South Florida Wrongful Death Attorney To Aggressively Represent You Or Your Family To Help Prevent A Similar Incident From Happening To Another And While It Cannot Bring Them Back, You Should Be Compensated For Your Loss.
Why Choose Cohen & Juda?
- Talk & Work With The Owners – No Associates, No Case Managers, You Get Us: Harvey Cohen or Gary Juda. We handle your case personally. Why risk getting a bad result with a big law firm’s employees who barely care when your case can be handled by the owners directly?
- Highly Reviewed & Rated – Highly Rated by our clients. See some of our client reviews below.
- Highly Responsive – We pride ourselves on fast response times when communicating with our clients. We will never let your questions or concerns go unaddressed.
- Accidents Don’t Wait for Weekdays – Neither do the right lawyers. We are available to you 7 days a week.
- Office Visits Not Required – We understand you may have children or are simply in pain, and we respect your time. Mr. Cohen or Mr. Juda can come to you to sign up your case.
- No Case Is Too Difficult or Complex – This is where tenacity and knowledge of the law matter. We do what is necessary, even in difficult cases.
- Experienced – We’ve been representing South Florida residents like you since 1999.
- Empathy, Detail & Urgency – Your case is the center of your world. We work with empathy to ensure you feel heard, meticulous detail to ensure no aspect of your case is missed, and urgency to get you your money faster.
- Caring & Compassionate (truly) – We’re sorry for what happened to you or your loved one. Unlike large firms, you’re not part of an assembly line. We really get to know you and your situation. We have been helping people in South Florida and throughout Florida for decades.
- Personalized Attention – We understand and respect that everyone’s needs are unique. We treat you with the attention you deserve.
- We Keep You Updated – Transparency is key. We do not just return phone calls, but we will keep you updated on your case, if there is no update, we still want to see how you are doing.
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Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Death in Florida
Florida law generally allows only 2 Years to file a personal injury claim, so long as that claim is not based on negligence. This deadline is critical to your rights because if you don’t get your lawsuit started in court before this Two-Year window closes, you’ll lose your right to have your case heard. If your claim is based on negligence, this window increases to 4 years. Call our offices today to avoid missing your window of opportunity.
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What is Wrongful Death?
The legal definition of wrongful death is the death of a person due to the reckless, negligent, or even deliberate act of a person or entity. Such a case has four considerations:
- The death of a human being
- The death was caused by a person, group of people, organization, or other entity through negligent, reckless, or intentional actions or omissions
- The surviving family of the deceased must demonstrate financial suffering caused by the unexpected death of the deceased
- The family must appoint a personal representative of the estate of the deceased
In other words, a wrongful death is when what would have been a personal injury leads to a person’s death instead. A personal injury is an injury caused by another person’s negligence. Some examples include car accidents, slip and fall accidents, medical malpractice, intentional killings, aviation accidents, deaths due to defective products, dog bites, and many others. If they, or other types of personal injuries, lead to someone’s death, then a wrongful death suit can be filed. A wrongful death suit can also be filed if the victim’s death resulted from intentional misconduct. In such cases, the perpetrator may also face criminal charges related to the death, but a wrongful death suit is separate and different.
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Types of Damages in Florida Wrongful Death Cases
Three types of wrongful death damages can be awarded to survivors of a wrongful death victim: economic, non-economic, and punitive.
Economic Damages
Economic damages mainly involve the potential contributions the victim would have made to the survivors had they lived a full life. This also includes the financial burden the injury and subsequent death of the deceased imposed on the family, including:
- Medical and funeral expenses
- The victim’s expected lifetime earnings
- The victim’s expected benefits, such as pension and medical coverage
- Loss of inheritance due to the untimely death
- The value of goods and services the victim would have provided
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages fall into two categories. The first is called survival actions, damages for the pain and suffering the decedent experienced before they died, including the pain’s severity, the suffering’s duration, and other related factors. The second category of non-economic damages is the loss suffered by the survivors of the decedent, including:
- Mental anguish and suffering caused by the wrongful death
- Loss of care, protection, nurturing, guidance, and advice of the deceased
- Loss of love and companionship caused by the untimely death
- Loss of consortium from a deceased spouse (loss of family relationship, ability to have children, and moral support)
- And more
Punitive Damages
When atrocious conduct is evident in the defendant’s case, punitive damages can also be awarded. They are not often recoverable in the case of government institutions and other protected entities, but in some cases, such as abuse of the elderly, people may be punished with treble damages.
These punitive damages are also paid to you (the plaintiff). In some cases, survival action damages can also be instituted. This action allows the survivor’s family to recover damages the deceased person would have been able to get in a personal injury claim had they survived.
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Determining the Damages in a Wrongful Death Case
A wrongful death case is a civil case, meaning you must prove a “preponderance of the evidence.” In other words, you have to show that there is better than a 51% chance that the death was wrongful, unlike criminal cases whose burden of proof must be “beyond any reasonable doubt.”
However, determining the damages to award to the deceased person’s dependents can become a complicated issue. It can sometimes require the testimony of expert witnesses, like economists, for the jury to determine the size of the damages. The court can then increase or decrease that award for various reasons. You should hire an experienced Florida wrongful death lawyer to assist you with your case. Our attorneys in South Florida can help you get the maximum damage reward that ensures the fulfillment of the needs of anyone financially dependent on the deceased.
Multiple factors are taken into account when determining the damages in a wrongful death case, including the following:
- The Decedent’s Age – The family of a younger person with more earning potential might get a bigger payout than the family of someone closer to retirement age.
- The Character of the Decedent – If the decedent spent their money responsibly, their family would usually receive a more significant damage award than someone more irresponsible.
- The Decedent’s Life Expectancy – The family of someone in good health and who took care of themself is likely to get more than the family of someone in poor health or with a serious medical condition.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Any of the survivors of the decedent (the person who died) can sue, but a representative on their behalf must file the suit. That representative is generally the executor of the decedent’s estate. In Florida, the people on whose behalf the representative can file a suit include the following:
- The spouse of the decedent
- The children of the decedent
- The parents of the decedent
Siblings of the decedent and their extended family could file a claim if they were named as the personal representative or guardian of the estate.
What Needs to Be Proven in a Wrongful Death Case?
Since a wrongful death case is closely related to a personal injury case, those close to the deceased must meet the same burden of proof had the deceased person lived. That means they must prove that someone else’s negligence caused the incident that led to the person’s death. The following conditions must be met:
- The perpetrator owed the victim a duty of care – This means that the person who caused the death should have acted responsibly toward the deceased. For example, a doctor has a duty of care to try and find the proper diagnosis and treatment options for their patients. A driver has a duty of care to other drivers and pedestrians, which means they should follow the road rules and drive responsibly.
- The perpetrator breached their duty of care – In the examples given above, a breach would mean that the doctor failed to provide the correct diagnosis to their patient or that a driver ignored a stop sign and collided with another car.
- The breach of duty resulted in someone else’s death – In the examples given, the doctor’s malpractice left the patient’s condition untreated, eventually leading to their death. In the case of the driver, their collision after ignoring the stop sign caused fatal injuries to the driver of the car they ran into.
- The exception to these conditions is when a person intentionally kills another, in which case a wrongful death suit can be brought against them in addition to the criminal charges. As stated earlier, criminal charges are all about bringing punitive action to the guilty party, while the wrongful death suit is about getting financial compensation for the survivors of the deceased.
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Should I Get A Wrongful Death Lawyer?
Wrongful death may seem like a strange term. After all, you may think that any death not caused by illness or natural causes would be considered wrongful. However, wrongful death is a legal term that covers deaths that are not necessarily intentional—specifically deaths caused by negligence.
There is nothing that anyone can do to relieve the survivors of the emotional burden, but we at Cohen & Juda can help to ease the financial burden of your loss.
Actual Words Clients Have Used to Describe Us & Their Experience
“Out of all the law firms we considered, I was absolutely thrilled that I selected Cohen and Juda to represent us,” “They helped me and my family when we really had no idea of our options,” “Gary and his staff are very kind and knowledgeable will fight for you keeping in mind that you are first above all,”They answered our questions with expertise and explained everything so we understood, “ My case was not the largest, but I always felt like it was. Cohen & Juda were professional , courteous and kind. They would not rest until they knew I received what I deserved for my accident. I would recommend them to family and friends,” “Cohen and Judah are a very professional law firm, I have worked with before, they always respond in a timely manner, are patient to give clients the best understanding so you agree to best the option. They definitely have the qualities a good law firm should possess.”
If these things are what you are looking for in a law firm, then contact us to see how we can help you and your family.
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Our Location
We help families in and around Plantation and throughout South Florida.
Locally, people come to us from Plantation Acres, Country Club Estates, Plantation Isles, Plantation Gardens, Mirror Lake, Broward County, South Atlantic, Lauderdale West, and more.
