Culver City Wrongful Death Lawyer

Did you lose a family member because of someone else’s negligence in Culver City, CA?

At Cohen Injury Law Group, we are compassionate wrongful death lawyers standing with families through the claims process.

If a member of your family was killed because another person or company acted carelessly in Culver City, CA, no legal outcome will undo that loss. What a claim can do is hold the responsible party accountable and secure the financial footing your family needs going forward. A Culver City, CA wrongful death lawyer at our firm can handle the legal process while you and your family grieve. Our founding attorney has represented injured plaintiffs and grieving families since 1991. Contact us whenever you are ready.

Wrongful Death Lawyer Culver City, CA

A wrongful death claim is a civil action brought by the surviving family members of a person whose death was caused by another party’s negligence or wrongful conduct. It is separate from any criminal case that may arise from the same event, and it is decided under a lower standard of proof. Where a criminal prosecution asks whether the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, a wrongful death claim asks only whether the defendant is more likely than not responsible for the death.

Fatal accidents happen more often than most people realize. The CDC reported that unintentional injury was the third leading cause of death in the United States in 2023, accounting for 222,518 deaths that year. Many of those deaths resulted from the kind of preventable conduct that gives rise to a wrongful death claim: careless driving, unsafe premises, defective products, and workplace negligence. In a community like Culver City, CA, these losses affect families across every neighborhood.

Types of Wrongful Death Cases We Handle in Culver City

A wrongful death claim can arise from nearly any fatal accident caused by someone else’s negligence. Our firm handles the following types of wrongful death cases in Culver City, CA.

• Car accidents. Fatal collisions caused by speeding, distracted driving, impaired driving, or running a red light are among the most common sources of wrongful death claims. NHTSA data shows that tens of thousands of people die on U.S. roads each year. When a driver’s negligence takes a life, that driver and their insurer are answerable to the surviving family.
• Truck accidents. The size and weight of a commercial truck make its collisions disproportionately deadly. These cases often involve multiple potentially liable parties, including the driver, the trucking company, and sometimes the company that loaded or maintained the vehicle.
• Pedestrian accidents. A pedestrian struck by a vehicle has no protection from the force of the impact, and these collisions are frequently fatal. Drivers who fail to yield at crosswalks or who strike people in low-visibility conditions can be held responsible for the resulting death.
• Motorcycle accidents. Riders killed by drivers who failed to see them, turned across their path, or violated their right of way leave behind families who may bring a claim against the at-fault motorist.
• Medical negligence. When a preventable medical error, misdiagnosis, or surgical mistake causes a patient’s death, the family may have a claim. These cases carry a different statute of limitations and specific procedural requirements under California law.
• Defective products. A fatal injury caused by a dangerous or defective product can support a claim against the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer, often without the need to prove negligence, only that the product was defective and caused the death.
• Premises liability. Deaths resulting from unsafe property conditions, including drownings in unfenced pools, falls from unguarded heights, and criminal acts enabled by inadequate security, can give rise to a wrongful death claim against the property owner.

Why Choose Cohen Injury Law Group as My Wrongful Death Lawyer in Culver City, CA?

Standing By Families After a Preventable Death

A wrongful death case is unlike any other claim a family will face, because the people bringing it are grieving while the legal process moves forward on its own schedule. We take on the full weight of that process, from identifying every eligible heir to valuing losses that resist easy calculation, so the family can focus on one another. California law requires that all eligible heirs join a single action, and part of our role is coordinating that process fairly among family members.

The firm’s founder, Wayne Cohen, has represented injured plaintiffs and their families since 1991 and has taught trial advocacy at GW Law School since 1993. He completed his law degree cum laude at the University of Miami School of Law. Across his career, he has recovered millions of dollars for those he has represented. A personal injury lawyer in Culver City, CA at our firm brings that experience to every wrongful death case, which we handle on contingency so that a grieving family faces no legal fees unless we recover.

Nicholas Cohen, the firm’s managing partner, attended USC and earned his law degree from Loyola Law School Los Angeles. Valuing a family’s loss requires documentation that reaches well past the accident itself, into earnings history, benefits, retirement contributions, and the household services the person provided. He assembles that record and works with the economists and life care professionals who translate it into figures, so the demand accounts for what the family actually lost.

What Is Important to Understand About a Wrongful Death Case?

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Wrongful Death Cases

California recognizes two related but distinct claims after a fatal accident. The wrongful death claim compensates the surviving family for their own losses, while a survival action, brought by the deceased person’s estate under Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.30, recovers the damages the decedent sustained between injury and death.

In the wrongful death claim itself, recoverable damages fall into two groups. Economic damages include the financial support the deceased would have provided, the loss of household services they performed, funeral and burial expenses, and the value of the gifts or benefits the heirs could have expected. Noneconomic damages account for the loss of the deceased’s love, companionship, comfort, moral support, and guidance. California does not cap these damages in most wrongful death cases, and unlike a pain and suffering award in an injury case, they belong to the surviving family rather than the person who died.

What Are Important Aspects of a Wrongful Death Case?

Several features set wrongful death claims apart from other personal injury cases and shape how they proceed:

• Only certain people have legal standing to file. Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60, the surviving spouse or domestic partner has priority, followed by the children, and then other heirs who would inherit under California’s intestate succession rules when no closer relatives exist.
• Liability requires proof that the death resulted from another party’s wrongful act or negligence. The same theories that support an injury claim, whether negligence, product defect, or premises liability, apply when the injury proves fatal.
• The claim’s value depends heavily on the relationship between the deceased and the surviving heirs. The financial dependency of a young family differs substantially from the circumstances of an adult child who lived independently, and both affect what the case is worth.

What Is the Wrongful Death Case Timeline?

Every wrongful death case follows its own course, shaped by the cause of death, the number of heirs, and whether the responsible party’s insurer accepts liability. In general, the process moves through these stages:

• We meet with the family to understand the circumstances of the death and to identify everyone who may have standing to join the claim.
• We investigate the cause of death, gathering the accident report, medical records, physical evidence, and testimony from anyone who witnessed what happened.
• Once we understand the full scope of the family’s losses, we file the claim against the responsible parties and their insurers.
• We negotiate, presenting the evidence of liability and a full accounting of the family’s economic and noneconomic losses.
• If a fair resolution cannot be reached, we prepare the case for trial and present it to a jury.

The statute of limitations under Code Section 335.1 generally gives a family two years from the date of death to file. Cases involving a government entity require a formal claim within six months, and cases involving medical negligence follow a separate timeline. Because these filing deadlines vary, early legal guidance is important.

What Should You Bring to Your Wrongful Death Consultation?

There is no need to gather everything before reaching out, but the following information helps us understand the claim during an initial conversation:

• Any accident report, police report, or investigative report related to the death
• The death certificate and any available medical records
• Information about the surviving family members and their relationship to the deceased
• Documentation of the deceased’s income, employment, and financial contributions to the household
• Any correspondence from insurance companies or the party you believe is responsible

We will review what you have and explain your family’s options with patience and without pressure.

Reach Out to Cohen Injury Law Group to Schedule a Consultation

Our attorneys can investigate the circumstances of your family member’s death, identify everyone with a right to recover, and pursue full accountability from the responsible parties. If your family lost someone to another party’s negligence in Culver City, CA, we handle these claims on contingency, and there is no fee unless we recover.

When the time is right for your family, contact us to arrange a private consultation.