Navigating the Death of a Party

August 9, 2011

On July 18, 2011, Darren Aitken and Atticus Wegman published an article titled “Navigating the Death of a Party” in the Los Angeles Daily Journal. The article provides information on how to litigate a case on behalf of a client who passes away before a lawsuit is filed.  To view the full article click on the link below:

navigating-the-death-of-a-party.pdf

The article notes that lawsuits can survive even though a person injured by another’s wrongful conduct has since passed away. For instance, if a person that is injured by another’s wrongful conduct passes away before a lawsuit is filed, the right to recover damages is not lost. The heirs of the deceased person may be able to initiate a lawsuit on the deceased person’s behalf.

To determine the types of damages that can be recovered, the cause of death must first be understood. If the injury was the cause of death, as opposed to natural aging or other health concerns, the deceased person’s heirs will be entitled to recover economic losses and non-economic losses, such as the value of the loss of “care, comfort, and society” provided by the deceased person before death. Conversely, if the injured person’s death was not caused by the injury, recovery will be limited to the economic losses suffered by the deceased person before death and any punitive damages, if applicable. This is called a “survival cause of action.”

Simply put, if your family member was injured by another person’s wrongful conduct, but died before filing a lawsuit, you may be able to bring a lawsuit on their behalf. For more information, please contact the attorneys at Aitken * Aitken * Cohn. 

Darren O. Aitken, Esq. and Atticus N. Wegman, Esq.