Wrongful Death Lawyer

Binge drinking is the most deadly and costly type of excessive alcohol use in this country. It is also the most common. According to national statistics, one in six adults in the U.S. binge drinks four times per month, averaging about seven drinks per binge episode.

Young adults between the ages of 18 to 34 are the most common binge drinkers, but it is adults who are 35 years or older who consume more than half of all binge drinks. Men binge drink twice as much as women, with four in five of the total binge drinks consumed by males. Twenty percent of men compared to 10 percent of women binge drink.

Tragically, far too many binge drinking episodes end in a fatal drunk driving crash. Hundreds of thousands of victims sustain serious injury. Those that do survive often require extensive medical care and long recovery and rehabilitation periods. This means lost time from work and lost income. Many drunk driving accident victims suffer permanent disabilities from their injuries, unable to return to the profession they had before the crash or even live their day to day life.

But not everyone survives alcohol-related crashes. More than 10,000 people are killed every year in crashes caused by drunk driving. At a law firm, wrongful death attorneys know the devastation a family suffers when their loved one is killed because of a drunk driver. A law firm works diligently to get families the financial justice they deserve for the losses the victim’s death has caused.

The unexpected loss of a family member impacts a family not only emotionally, but also financially. Suddenly, they are left with funeral and burial expenses. If the victim was not killed instantly in the crash, there will be high medical expenses for the emergency care and attempted life-saving treatments the victim received before dying. There is also the sudden loss of income and benefits the victim provided for the family, and the loss of love, guidance, and companionship.

Many states laws allow families of fatal drunk driving crashes to pursue wrongful death lawsuits against the at-fault driver. This action is in addition to any criminal charges the driver may face. Wrongful death lawsuits are filed in civil court and are completely separate from the criminal trial.

It is important for survivors to not wait until any criminal case is resolved because there is a statute of limitation for how long they have to file a wrongful death lawsuit. A wrongful death attorney can determine what that deadline is in your situation.

In addition to the financial compensation for the losses the victim’s family has suffered, a jury may also order the at-fault driver to pay punitive damages to the family. These are separate from the other losses. The point of the punitive damages is to punish the driver for the behavior – breaking the law by driving drunk – and send a message to society that this behavior will not be tolerated.