If a loved one has died due to the sort of incident that could lead to a personal injury case, you or another family member can file a wrongful death action. Georgia’s laws governing wrongful death cases cover who can bring a case, what kind of damages can be recovered, and who gets any awarded money. Notably, you can bring a wrongful death claim when the death was caused by someone’s negligence, by a defective product, or if someone deliberately caused it. Let’s take a look at wrongful death claims in Georgia, including how a wrongful death lawyer can help you and your family recover compensation. Who Can Sue for Wrongful Death? The order for who can serve as a representative to start a wrongful death action is spouse, child, parent, then estate representative. In other words, if your spouse dies, then you can sue on their behalf. If your…

For a 13-year-old Georgia boy, the mid-June day seemed ordinary. He was helping his family do yard work. The boy was edging the sidewalk, removing grass and weeds close to the pavement where a mower may not be able to reach. An unexpected tragedy turned this uneventful day into a wrongful death case in the blink of an eye. Seemingly out of nowhere, an SUV came speeding around the corner, and the driver failed to properly negotiate the turn. She struck both the boy and his father and did not even stop. As she drove away, the father, who suffered a serious leg injury, did his best to help his son, but the boy's injuries were severe, and being badly injured himself, there was little he could do. The injured father and son were taken to a local hospital for emergency medical treatment, and while the father was able to hang on, the…

A needless death at any age is devastating, but to lose a teenager because of the negligence of another person is indescribable. Many family members who have lost a child, parent, or spouse, as a result, have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, in part, to hold the negligent individual responsible for his or her actions. A Georgia family will have the option to file a wrongful death lawsuit after the death of their 17-year-old son. According to information in police reports, a 17-year-old driver was alarming his three passengers as he was driving erratically down the road. He crashed into a tree after losing control of the vehicle. The crash caused flames to erupt, engulfing the entire vehicle. A 911 call was made, but dispatchers had difficulty determining where the vehicle was located. The passenger in the front was killed in the crash, and the other two in the back seat…

Death as a result of another person's negligent actions can be devastating to family and friends left behind. Once grief has somewhat abated, a course of action is often taken in the form of a wrongful death lawsuit. The family of a 42-year-old Georgia man may soon be contemplating filing their own wrongful death lawsuit after he was killed in a recent car accident. The initial investigation shows that the 34-year-old driver of a BMW convertible lost control of his car and crashed off the side of the road. The impact threw the passenger from the vehicle, causing serious injury. The driver was also injured although not as severely as his friend. Emergency rescue personnel took both men to a nearby hospital where the passenger died as a result of his injuries. At the time of a report on the accident, the driver had been admitted to the hospital but is…

Deadly crashes can happen at any time and to any person, no matter what precautions a driver may take. There is no guarantee that other drivers are as careful on the road, that weather conditions are always perfect for driving, and that deer and that other animals do not dart out in front of a moving vehicle. A Georgia man has been sentenced after his conviction in causing one of the state's fatal accidents nearly two years ago. A report on the court proceedings did not give details of the crash, only that the driver was speeding when his car crashed into another vehicle carrying four members of one family. The mother and two of her children were injured, but her third child, a 19-year-old man, was killed. One of the children still experiences debilitating pain from her injuries. The 24-year-old driver accused and convicted of a host of charges, including…

Most of our time is split between home and work. In fact, there are many people who seem to spend so much time at work that it begins to feel like a second home; they become comfortable there or feel as though they should be. There are times when employees become concerned with certain procedures or security measures, which they can communicate to their employers, and it is up to the employers to listen to these concerns and take appropriate measures. A restaurant employee in Georgia voiced her concerns about the establishment's security, but her concerns went unheeded and she was killed during a robbery. Her family may now be considering filing a wrongful death suit against their daughter's former employer. The robbery occurred at Barcelona Wine Bar in Atlanta. Three masked and armed individuals came into the bar early one morning as employees were closing the restaurant. The regular employees who…

While improving economic conditions has resulted in rising wages, greater job stability, and increased employment opportunities, they have also had the other less obvious impact of putting more people back on the road. Indeed, this reality, coupled with low gas prices, has resulted in a considerable spike in the number of motor vehicle miles traveled. Although this may seem like a welcome development, it actually comes at a time when more people than ever are choosing to make the transition from motorist to pedestrian owing to everything from improved public transportation and monetary concerns to a desire to live a healthier lifestyle and reduce their carbon footprint. Of course, with this increase in motorists and pedestrians -- and the number of smartphones owned by each -- comes a heightened risk of fatal accidents. It wasn't until the Governors Highway Safety Association released a report last week examining the number of…