If you have recently suffered the loss of a loved one in an accident, you do not have to face the unthinkable alone. As you grieve, you should be able to spend your time recovering emotionally, not dealing with an unforeseen financial burden. An attorney can help you pursue compensation for hardships related to the loss of a family member.
The Kennewick personal injury lawyers of Tamaki Law have more than a century’s collective experience in law and have set many statewide records for clients’ settlements. We have helped many families down the path to recovery after losing a loved one, and we are prepared to do the same for you now. We will handle your case with empathy, and to lessen the stress you feel throughout the process, you won’t pay us a dime unless we obtain compensation for you.
Our Tamaki Law attorneys are ready to lend a compassionate ear and begin helping you at any time. Whenever you are ready, call (509) 783-8333 to speak with a member of our team.
Do I Need a Wrongful Death Attorney?
If you are grieving the wrongful death of a loved one, you deserve to have time and space to celebrate their life and heal from the loss. While you focus on creating balance in your life, an attorney can advocate for your family’s rights in a lawsuit. Monetary compensation may not be able to heal the pain of your immeasurable loss, but it can ensure that you and your family remain financially safe and stable. Furthermore, by holding the negligent party accountable for their actions, you stand to gain a sense of peace and justice in the wake of tragedy.
An experienced wrongful death attorney can help you pursue multiple forms of compensation for the losses you have suffered. With skilled legal representation on your side, you may receive compensation for:
- Medical expenses, including the cost of ambulance rides, surgeries, and hospital stays
- Pain and suffering, both mental and physical, experienced by the deceased
- Funeral and burial expenses
- The lost wages of the deceased
- Loss of companionship
Why Choose Tamaki Law to Handle My Case?
If Tamaki Law takes on your case, you can be confident that no stone will be left unturned in the pursuit of justice. Our team of attorneys has handled dozens of wrongful death cases. More importantly, we intimately understand the immense difficulty that our clients in these cases are experiencing. We strive to work with the utmost care and compassion to ensure you have the support you need to heal.
We take a unique approach to personal injury cases that consistently yields impressive results. For one thing, we only accept cases that we truly believe in. In other words, if we take on your case, it means we are confident in our team’s ability to deliver justice and that we are deeply committed to your cause. Another key aspect of our approach is the emphasis we place on teamwork. All the attorneys in our office are highly skilled, which we use to our advantage in every case on our docket. To maximize your chances of securing fair compensation, your Tamaki Law attorney will rely not only on their own abilities but will draw from the knowledge and skills of their colleagues as well to build your case.
We are also dedicated to making our services widely accessible. That dedication is why we work on a contingency fee basis, meaning that you won’t have to pay us unless (or until) we win compensation for you.
Wrongful Death Cases We Handle
Our attorneys have handled a diverse range of wrongful death cases in their many years of practice. Below, we describe a few of the types of wrongful death cases that we are prepared to take on for our clients.
Car accidents
Car accidents are a leading cause of death in the United States. Some of these tragic accidents are no one’s fault, but many fatal crashes are caused by someone’s reckless or negligent actions.
If you have lost a loved one due to another person’s negligence, you should not have to pay the financial consequences. You may be entitled to compensation from another driver, a vehicle manufacturer, or another party if:
- The other driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident
- The other driver was distracted (for example, texting or using social media) at the time of the accident
- The other driver was speeding or otherwise driving aggressively
- A malfunctioning car part caused the accident
- A poorly marked road hazard caused the accident
- Improper or unclear road signage caused the accident
Truck accidents
Commercial truck accidents are far too common on U.S. roadways. When these often dramatic accidents occur, they can have devastating consequences. To add to the difficulty, there are multiple parties who could be to blame for a fatal truck accident: drivers, trucking companies, truck owners, or parts manufacturers, among others.
No matter who caused the accident, you do not deserve to bear the weight of someone else’s mistake. You may be eligible to receive compensation for the losses you’ve suffered if:
- The truck driver was distracted, driving aggressively, or under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the accident
- The trucking company gave the driver poor or incomplete training
- The trucking company failed to complete an adequate background check before hiring the driver or otherwise engaged in negligent hiring practices
- The driver and/or the trucking company violated Hours of Service regulations
- A faulty truck part caused the accident
Medical negligence
When someone dies in a hospital, it is usually the case that the doctors and hospital staff did all they could to help that person. However, in some awful instances, patient deaths can result from medical negligence. When such dangerous negligence occurs, a doctor, staff, or the hospital itself may be held liable for a wrongful death.
We trust hospitals and their staff members to take care of our loved ones. If they fail in this responsibility, they should be held accountable.
A doctor or the hospital may be held financially responsible for a wrongful death if:
- They discharged the patient prematurely
- They misdiagnosed or failed to diagnose an illness
- They performed unnecessary surgery
- They made an egregious error in surgery
- They ignored or failed to note important patient history
- They disregarded or misinterpreted important lab results
- They prescribed the wrong medication or an inappropriate dosage
Nursing home negligence
Nursing home negligence is a horribly widespread problem in the United States. In the most extreme cases, negligence on the part of nursing home staff can lead to a resident’s untimely death.
It’s terrible to wonder if your loved one’s death could have been prevented with proper nursing home care. Furthermore, depending on the communication you had before they passed away, it can be difficult to know if that person was a victim of nursing home negligence.
Here are some forms of negligence that may merit a wrongful death lawsuit against a nursing home:
- Nursing home staff did not administer proper medication to the resident
- Staff failed to provide adequate care for existing medical conditions
- Staff failed to report signs of a new illness or injury to doctors
- The resident received unclean or otherwise unsafe food and water
- Staff did not properly bathe the resident, change their clothes, etc., increasing the risk of a life-threatening infection
Defective or harmful products
In the course of a day, most people use tens or even hundreds of human-made products. The vast majority of these products are safe to use, but some can have dangerous defects or harmful side effects. Sometimes, these products are even to blame for the death of their users.
If you know or suspect that your family member’s death was caused by a harmful or defective product, it is important to take action to hold the manufacturer accountable. Many powerful companies have paid the price for negligent product design, and they must continue to do so whenever they endanger innocent people.
Nearly every human-made product could potentially be faulty and result in injury. That said, here are some examples of products that have been known to result in wrongful death cases:
- Car parts or other vehicle parts
- Children’s car seats or high chairs
- Children’s toys with unsafe parts
- Medical devices, such as a pacemaker or defibrillator
- Power tools
- Kitchen or other home appliances
Contact Tamaki Law
If you have lost a loved one in a preventable accident, do not hesitate to seek the help you need during this impossible time. You should not have to spend your energy working to make ends meet. An attorney can pursue fair compensation while you focus on grieving and healing.
The Washington statute of limitations for most wrongful death cases is three years, so it is important to reach out to an attorney sooner rather than later. Our team is prepared to hear your story and offer our assistance whenever you need it. To speak with one of our lawyers, fill out our contact form or call (509) 783-8333 now.