Wrongful death lawsuits differ fundamentally from criminal cases. Civil claims focus on compensation, not punishment. Families often struggle to determine if their loved one’s death qualifies for recovery. At Eric Sterling Law Firm, our wrongful death attorneys can evaluate your circumstances to identify viable claims. Whether from a Highway 316 crash or medical negligence, we fight when your loved one can’t.
At Eric Sterling Law Firm, we seek justice for families across Georgia devastated by preventable loss. When negligence steals a loved one, our team stops at nothing to hold responsible parties accountable through wrongful death claims. We guide grieving families through complex legal processes to secure the compensation they deserve.
Understanding Wrongful Death Cases in Georgia
A wrongful death occurs when a person dies due to another’s negligent, reckless, or intentional conduct. Georgia law defines these as deaths resulting from crimes, negligence, or defective products. Families must prove by preponderance of evidence that the defendant’s actions, more likely than not, caused the death.
Georgia imposes a strict two-year statute of limitations from the date of death. Missing this deadline bars recovery forever. Eric Sterling Law Firm acts swiftly to gather evidence of negligence and file timely legal claims.
Who Has the Right to File a Wrongful Death Claim?
Georgia prioritizes wrongful death claimants in this order:
- Surviving spouse: Holds first right, must share recovery with children
- Surviving children: Can file if no spouse exists
- Surviving parents: Can file if there is no surviving spouse or children
- Personal representative: Can file on behalf of the decedent’s estate if no immediate family qualifies
Partial fault by the decedent doesn’t disqualify claims under Georgia’s comparative negligence rules. That means that if your loved one was found at fault in any way, your family can still recover damages for your losses.
Situations That Lead to Wrongful Death
Wrongful death claims arise when negligence turns routine moments into tragedies. Georgia families lose loved ones through:
- Catastrophic vehicle crashes: Car pileups at Lawrenceville’s Sugarloaf intersection, I-85 truck underrides crushing sedans, motorcycle ejections from cager blind spots
- Medical failures: Surgical errors leaving patients on operating tables, cancer misdiagnosis stealing treatment windows, pharmacy overdoses
- Property dangers: Unmarked wet floors causing fatal elderly falls, unsecured construction sites swallowing pedestrians, rusted guardrails giving way
- Product defects: Exploding tires during highway travel, malfunctioning medical devices, contaminated food poisoning entire households
- Institutional neglect: Nursing homes allowing bedsores to fester into sepsis, hospitals discharging unstable patients, daycare drownings from ignored warnings
Eric Sterling Law Firm connects these dots across practice areas, representing shattered Lawrenceville families from Grayson to Valdosta.
Recovering Damages for Families in Georgia
Wrongful death awards reflect the decedent’s full economic and emotional value:
- Economic damages: Projected lost income through retirement, financial support previously provided, employee benefits/insurance, final medical bills, funeral/burial expenses, estate administration costs
- Noneconomic damages: Irreplaceable loss of companionship/parental guidance, survivors’ mental anguish documented through counseling records, decedent’s stolen enjoyment of family milestones
Juries consider age, earning trajectory, household role, and relationship bonds when valuing lives cut short. Our firm employs economists and vocational experts to quantify lifetime impacts precisely, countering defense attempts to minimize human worth.
How Our Attorneys Seek Justice for Loved Ones
Eric Sterling Law Firm delivers relentless advocacy by:
- Deploying investigators within hours to photograph scenes, download vehicle telematics, and interview first responders
- Subpoena medical charts, toxicology screens, maintenance logs, and security footage resistant parties withhold
- Understanding Georgia’s claimant hierarchy while coordinating estate probate seamlessly
- Confronting stonewalling insurers with demand packages backed by crash reconstruction animations
- Litigating aggressively before Gwinnett Superior Court judges familiar with our firm’s reputation
- Managing all filings, discovery battles, and settlement conferences during families’ darkest hours
Lawrenceville households from Grayson to Loganville rely on this proven system that converts devastation into deserved recovery.
Talk to a Lawrenceville Wrongful Death Lawyer Today
Your family’s legacy hangs on action taken within Georgia’s strict two-year deadline. Eric Sterling Law Firm lifts the entire legal burden from grieving households across Lawrenceville, Snellville, Grayson, Valdosta, and Leesburg, turning emotional anguish into measured accountability.
Corporations deploy teams of lawyers while insurers lowball grieving families, but we fight for justice. Don’t deal with the aftermath of losing a loved one alone. Call 844-48-ES LAW today or reach us online for the compassionate guidance and relentless representation your family deserves.
