Wrongful Death
“Wrongful death” is a legal phrase for any death caused by someone’s wrongful action or failure to act. In New Mexico, legal claims for wrongful death are governed by a law called the Wrongful Death Act.
Wrongful Death Act, §§ 41-2-1 et seq., 2011 NMSA 1978.pdf.
The wrongful death act tells attorneys how to file and pursue claims when your loved one has been killed by malpractice, a careless driver, or other wrongful conduct. This area of law is complex. Your case is best handled by experienced attorneys, such as ours. Damages in a wrongful death case are decided by a jury based on the decedent’s lost earnings and earning capacity, life expectancy, and most importantly we think, on the circumstances attending the death. Was your loved one neglected by an understaffed healthcare facility? Forced to work in a hazardous environment? Ignored by an overworked doctor at the end of a 24 hour shift? Killed by a repeat DWI offender who was drunk while driving a company truck? It matters.
At Bencoe, LaCour & Wood, we believe every life is so precious that no amount of money can ever be sufficient to replace a loved one you have lost. We understand that. However, since we cannot bring your loved one back, the only way our civil justice system provides to make sense of a wrongful death is to value his or her life, in the context of a wrongful death lawsuit against the wrongdoer. The goal of this is to make the wrongdoer accept responsibility, and to change the dangerous conduct to make our community safer. We also believe that resolving a wrongful death claim for a family helps to honor your loved one, can help provide the closure needed to forgive and move forward, and can sometimes even assist in caring for the financial needs of the family who gets left behind. For example, we have helped dozens of families to obtain recoveries that help them pay for needs such as a home and a child’s college fund, after a husband, wife or parent is wrongfully taken away.
We understand how hard it can be to even call an attorney after losing a loved one. Our entire office understands that, and works together to help people like you to feel comfortable when you call us. We sincerely care about your loss and how it affects you. . If your heart and gut have told you that the death should not have happened, you are right to call and seek advice. Because deadlines can be quite short, for example if the death was caused by a public agency, you should call as soon as you can.
If we agree to help you with a wrongful death claim, we will work with you and your family to learn about the person you lost, so we can understand how that person was so dear to you. We will listen to you, look at your loved one’s photos, and hope to be invited into your family to learn how the loss has impacted everyone. If we can feel your loss with you, we can explain it to the wrongdoer’s attorneys, their insurance company, their corporate executives, and if necessary, to a jury at trial. We feel this is critical in order to properly handle your wrongful death claim in court. We will also help you through the legal process, so you can feel if not brave, at least justified in taking action on behalf of your loved one. If we accept your claim, you will be in the minority; our firm rejects most potential claims after initial review. Because these claims demand a lot of time, we choose to accept only those that we believe have a good chance of succeeding for you in court on their factual merits.
Some states’ legislatures have passed laws limiting “noneconomic damages.” We think this is a way of saying that if the person did not earn a lot of money during their life, their life was worth less. In other words, we think these laws unfairly say that the corporate businessman’s life is worth more than that of an infant or an elderly person. No matter what a person’s ability to earn money is, we believe each human being is a unique creation. This is how we will treat your claim - each infant’s life is immeasurable, pure hope and potential, and each elderly person’s life is a tremendous quiltwork of experience and wisdom. For these reasons, we strongly believe that when such a life has been wrongfully ended, it should be left for a jury in the community to decide what that life is worth.
Every wrongful death claim is different. If we take your case, we investigate the facts surrounding the death to learn what caused it, and to prove how the wrongdoer was a cause of your loved one’s death. We do this by first investigating the medical records or the crash site, and by taking every effort to secure evidence. After filing suit, we investigate by sending written questions and document requests, and taking depositions, which are sworn interviews with a court reporter. The facts we learn usually help us to prove who was responsible, why, and what was done wrong.
Please see other Practice Areas for specific information about the type of case you believe was a cause of wrongful death.
Contact Bencoe, Lacour & Wood Today
Call 505.247.8800 or toll free at 866.921.8800 to schedule a free consultation.