Venice Wrongful Death Lawyer

Wrongful Death Lawyer Venice, CA

Losing someone because of another person’s negligence is devastating. A fatal car crash caused by a drunk driver. A workplace accident that should have been prevented. A medical error that took someone who trusted their doctor. No amount of money replaces the person you lost. But a wrongful death claim holds the responsible party accountable and provides financial security for the family left behind.

Our Venice, CA wrongful death lawyer has represented grieving families since 1991. We handle wrongful death cases on contingency. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation for your family.

Why Choose Cohen Injury Law Group for Wrongful Death Cases in Venice?

Compassionate Representation With Aggressive Advocacy

Wrongful death cases demand a balance most law firms can’t achieve. Families need attorneys who understand their grief while fighting relentlessly against defendants who caused it. Wayne R. Cohen, founding partner, has handled catastrophic injury and death cases throughout his career. He graduated cum laude from the University of Miami School of Law and completed undergraduate studies with distinction at the University of Michigan. Wayne teaches at The George Washington University Law School and has been cited by Fortune, USA Today, CNBC, and the ABA Journal on complex liability matters.

Nicholas E. Cohen, managing partner, handles case strategy with particular attention to documenting the full scope of loss families suffer. His background includes undergraduate work at USC and a law degree from Loyola Law School Los Angeles. Nicholas ensures that economic calculations capture not just lost income but the lifetime of contributions the deceased would have made.

As your personal injury lawyer in Venice, CA, we guide families through the legal process while protecting them from insurance companies that try to exploit their grief.

Holding Negligent Parties Fully Accountable

Defendants in wrongful death cases often have substantial resources. Corporations with legal departments. Insurance companies with teams dedicated to minimizing payouts. Individuals with policies designed to protect their assets. These parties will argue the deceased shared fault, that damages should be limited, or that your family’s losses aren’t as significant as claimed.

We build cases they can’t dismiss. Thorough investigation of what caused the death. Evidence documenting the defendant’s negligence. Expert testimony on economic losses and the human impact of your loss. We refuse inadequate settlement offers and prepare every case as if it’s going to trial.

No Legal Fees Unless We Win

Wrongful death claims work on a contingency fee basis. Grieving families shouldn’t worry about hourly legal bills while coping with loss. We advance all investigation costs, expert fees, and litigation expenses. You pay nothing unless we recover compensation. Our fee comes from the settlement or verdict we obtain.

★★★★★

“I am sooo grateful I got in touch with Nick! He is a brilliant lawyer and always made me feel like a priority. Really appreciate his attentiveness to all my questions. Would highly recommend!!” – Drew Schwendiman

Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.

Types of Wrongful Death Cases We Handle in Venice

Wrongful death claims arise whenever someone’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct causes a fatal injury. Venice sees deaths from traffic accidents, dangerous property conditions, defective products, and other preventable causes.

• Fatal vehicle accidents. Car crashes, motorcycle collisions, pedestrian strikes, and bicycle accidents kill people on Venice streets every year. Drunk drivers, distracted drivers, and those who simply ignore traffic laws cause deaths that devastate families. When crashes prove fatal, wrongful death claims hold negligent drivers accountable.
• Rideshare fatalities. Fatal accidents involving Uber and Lyft vehicles create complex claims with multiple potential defendants. Rideshare companies carry substantial insurance policies, and families deserve attorneys who know how to access that coverage.
• Premises liability deaths. Fatal falls, drownings, electrocutions, and other deaths caused by dangerous property conditions give rise to wrongful death claims against property owners. Landlords, businesses, and homeowners who allow deadly hazards to persist should answer for the consequences.
• Medical malpractice deaths. Surgical errors, misdiagnoses, medication mistakes, and failures to treat cause preventable deaths. These cases require proving the healthcare provider deviated from accepted standards of care and that the deviation caused death.
• Workplace fatalities. Construction accidents, industrial injuries, and other workplace deaths may support wrongful death claims against parties beyond the employer. Equipment manufacturers, property owners, and subcontractors can bear liability when their negligence contributes to a worker’s death.
• Product liability deaths. Defective vehicles, dangerous medications, faulty equipment, and other products that cause death give rise to claims against manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in the chain of distribution.
• Criminal act deaths. When inadequate security or other negligence enables an assault, robbery, or other crime resulting in death, property owners and security companies may face wrongful death liability alongside the criminal perpetrator.

California Legal Requirements for Wrongful Death Cases

California’s wrongful death statute provides specific rules about who can file claims, what damages are available, and when cases must be filed.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.60 limits who can bring wrongful death claims. The deceased’s surviving spouse or domestic partner has first priority. Children can file, as can parents if the deceased had no spouse or children. In some circumstances, others who were financially dependent on the deceased may qualify.

A separate but related claim, called a survival action under Code of Civil Procedure Section 377.30, allows the deceased’s estate to recover damages the person would have been entitled to had they survived. This includes pain and suffering experienced between injury and death.

Two-Year Filing Deadline

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 335.1 gives families two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit. This statute of limitations applies regardless of when you discover who was responsible or how clear the defendant’s liability seems.

Deaths caused by government employees or on government property require faster action. The California Tort Claims Act mandates filing an administrative claim within six months of the death. Missing this deadline bars your family’s claim entirely.

Proving Wrongful Death

A wrongful death claim requires proving the defendant’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional conduct caused the death. This means establishing duty, breach, causation, and damages. The standard is the same as personal injury claims: what would a reasonably careful person have done under the circumstances? If the defendant fell short and that failure caused the fatal injury, liability attaches.

California’s comparative negligence rules apply. Defendants will argue the deceased shared fault for the incident. Even if that argument succeeds partially, your family can still recover damages reduced by the percentage of fault attributed to your loved one.

What Damages Are Recoverable in a Venice Wrongful Death Case?

Wrongful death damages aim to compensate surviving family members for what they lost when their loved one died. California law recognizes both economic and non-economic losses.

Economic Damages

These cover the financial contributions the deceased would have made to the family. Lost income forms the foundation: what the person would have earned over their remaining working life, including raises, promotions, and career advancement they likely would have achieved. Benefits like health insurance, retirement contributions, and pension rights also count.

Beyond income, economic damages include the value of household services the deceased provided. Childcare, home maintenance, transportation, cooking, and countless other contributions have monetary value. Funeral and burial expenses are recoverable. Medical bills incurred before death belong to the survival action but add to total recovery. The California Courts outline how damages calculations work in wrongful death cases.

Non-Economic Damages

These address losses without price tags. The loss of love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society, and moral support the deceased would have provided. For spouses, this includes loss of consortium. For children who lost parents, it encompasses the guidance and nurturing they’ll never receive. For parents who lost children, it recognizes the particular devastation of outliving your child.

California places no cap on non-economic damages in most wrongful death cases. Families who lost primary caregivers, young parents, or others whose absence creates profound daily loss often receive substantial non-economic awards. Calculating these damages requires demonstrating the quality of relationships and the depth of impact the death caused.

Punitive Damages

When the defendant’s conduct was especially egregious, California Civil Code Section 3294 allows punitive damages in wrongful death cases. A drunk driver who killed someone. A company that knowingly sold a dangerous product. A property owner who ignored warnings that their premises would cause someone’s death.

Punitive damages punish misconduct and deter similar behavior. They require proving malice, oppression, or fraud beyond ordinary negligence. When facts support them, punitive damages can substantially increase recovery for grieving families.

Contact Cohen Injury Law Group

If you’ve lost a family member due to someone’s negligence in Venice, CA, understanding your legal rights during this difficult time matters. We offer free consultations to discuss what happened, explain who can file a claim, and outline how wrongful death cases proceed.

Your family is grieving. The responsible parties have insurance companies protecting their interests. Let us handle the legal fight while you focus on your family. Contact us to speak with a Venice wrongful death attorney about your case.