Wrongful Death

Does it seem to you that more stories of fatal car crashes cover the internet and print media? It seems as though there is a sad tale of a death at least once a week, if not more, nationwide. That perception could be more right that you know, at least for...

West Virginia residents are probably used to hearing about holiday impaired driving checkpoints over the summer months. Such reminders are sadly necessary as too many drivers continue to make the risky choice to operate vehicles after they have been drinking or...

If you love riding your motorcycle along the lovely roads of West Virginia, you are not alone. With spring here and summer right around the corner, now is prime motorcycling season for this year. However, in addition to tuning up your bike and getting it road ready,...

As West Virginia residents look ahead to the summer boating season, now is a good time to review some basic safety tips and risks associated with this pastime. The National Safe Boating Council indicates that National Safe Boating Week runs from May 21 to May 27 this...

As previously stated in this blog, falls are a serious problem among nursing home residents in West Virginia and across the country. Approximately 1,800 residents die every year as a result of a fall in a nursing home or the complications resulting from a fall,...

It can seem from reading posts on the topic that making a wrongful death claim in the event that a loved one dies as the result of the acts of one or more other persons is a cut-and-dry process: file a complaint alleging all of the required elements of a cause of...

The loss of a loved one that would have been avoidable in the absence of the negligent or otherwise wrongful act on the part of another will leave the surviving family members with choices to make. One of those choices is whether to take legal action in response....

If you are like most people, you have occasionally thought about what the consequences could be to your family if you died in an accident that was caused by someone else. But less often do we contemplate what would happen if it was a loved one who was the victim --...

It is no surprise that most businesses are driven by the two “P’s”: production and profit. But focusing on those without paying equal attention to safety can result in serious consequences for workers, even death. An incident that happened over seven...

In an earlier post on the subject, we looked at the question of what kinds of damages claims a successful plaintiff can recover in a West Virginia action for wrongful death. In this post, we will examine the topic of who can initiate such a lawsuit.Although a wrongful...