To make an agonizing story short, someone you loved has died—passed away due to the carelessness or negligence of another, no less. You’re coping the best you can with these horrible circumstances; perhaps you’ve taken time off work or pulled your children out of school. Perhaps you’re losing yourself in the funeral planning, figuring out how to give your loved one the send-off they deserve while the world hunkers down in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. Maybe, too, you’re striving to work through things emotionally, while trying to process immense amounts of anger with sides of denial while also navigating a changed relationship with the entity responsible for your loved one’s death. We understand that this is an uncertain and emotionally tumultuous time.
Financially, too, the aftermath of a loved one’s death can be challenging—especially if that death was wrongful. Funeral costs and the potential lost wages can quickly add up, which makes it all the more difficult for you to put food on the table if you’re the one responsible for it all. Even if you aren’t, though, it can still be heartrending to see the family of your deceased loved one go through financial hardship for reasons beyond their control. At JD Haas, as a team of wrongful death lawyers, we believe that nobody should ever have to pick between paying their respects at a funeral for their loved one and food or electricity. That’s why we strongly advise you to seek legal help if someone’s carelessness, negligence, or recklessness caused your loved one’s death. If the case is viable, you could be eligible for financial compensation for the following items:
● Medical bills and funeral charges | What kinds of money you can recover depends on the situation, but when it comes to some wrongful death cases, you might be able to recover money for anything from your loved one’s prior prescriptions to their ER visits.
● Your household’s affected income | If the wrongful death of your loved one has impacted your family’s financial standing in any way, you might be able to recover damages. You can use this money to get back on your feet.
● Pain and suffering and the loss of companionship | While any wrongful death attorney will tell you that it’s impossible to put a price on what you’re going through, the law allows you to recover damages for it. Again, you can use this money to aid in your economic or emotional recovery. Perhaps it will carry you through until you can return to work, or perhaps it will help to pay for the necessary mental health counseling.
If you’ve decided, for all the reasons listed above, to seek the help of a personal injury lawyer for your wrongful death case, though, not just any lawyer will do. No matter how open-and-shut you may think your case is, complications can still arise. Plus, you’re no doubt going through a tough time right now. You need a lawyer who respects that, lest they make your understandably fragile emotional state worse.
Below, JD Haas, a Minneapolis team of injury attorneys, discusses what you should look for in a wrongful death lawyer—and why, when it comes to these cases, you should never settle when it comes to the legal help you seek.
If They Aren’t Compassionate, They Aren’t For You
Successful wrongful death lawyers must be compassionate, arguably more so than lawyers who work strictly in, say, business law. To handle a wrongful death case with grace and efficiency requires that the legal professional have a keen understanding of and respect of the humanistic elements of said case. In plainer terms, they must be compassionate. Dismissive lawyers who do not care to hear each aspect of your story or who do not sympathize with your grief will be emotionally unable to treat your case with the appropriate care. Incidentally, compassion is what we value the most at JD Haas. Ask us about the pro bono work we’ve done.
In addition, your wrongful death lawyer should be:
● Accoladed | While awards and seals of approval aren’t indicative of great legal help in and of themselves, they can demonstrate a commitment to professional development and a hearty drive to always be improving. If your wrongful death lawyer is a lifelong learner, which awards can demonstrate, you can expect the type of legal help that reflects this.
● Well-educated | While attorneys must pass the bar exam in order to practice law, a good education is about more than test scores. Looking into where your attorney went to school and researching that school’s values can tell you a lot about how that attorney practices today.
● Multi-disciplined | The more areas of law your lawyer is familiar with, the larger of a knowledge base they can use to help you. Law is complicated, and many disciplines have overlap. Plus, a versatile lawyer is one who shows dedication to their education and continued learning, and we’ve already discussed why this is important.
Contact JD Haas for Client-Focused Legal Help
Our small size and dedicated team allow us to practice and hold true to all of the characteristics listed above. Give us a call now at 952-345-1025. In addition to Minneapolis, we also serve Bloomington, Rochester, and Saint Paul.