STEAMBOAT SPRINGS WRONGFUL DEATH ATTORNEY
Lost a loved one due to negligence? Brown Law Firm, your Steamboat Springs wrongful death attorney, offers comprehensive legal care and support.
At Brown Law Firm, our main motivation for practicing law is the opportunities it provides us to help individuals and their families through what is likely the darkest time of their lives.
We understand the heartbreak, emotional trauma, anxiety, and financial hardship that often falls on families after the death of a loved one. We have seen it hundreds of times with the clients we help.
Your burdens are too heavy to bear alone. Grief alone may leave you with no energy, will, or time to deal with mounting bills, lost income, and other hardships you now face.
A Steamboat Springs wrongful death attorney with Brown Law Firm will help ease your burden and give you the compensation and clarity you need for the future.
Steamboat Springs Wrongful Death Guide
- Compassionate Legal Services after the Wrongful Death of a Loved One
- Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
- Common Causes of Wrongful Death
- Compensation for Wrongful Death Claims in Colorado
- Understanding Negligence in Your Colorado Wrongful Death Case
- Call a Steamboat Springs Wrongful Death Attorney at Brown Law Firm Today
Compassionate Legal Services after the Wrongful Death of a Loved One
Losing a loved one is cripplingly painful and traumatic, especially when it comes suddenly and unnecessarily. If you lost a loved one due to another person or party’s negligence, you have legal options.
A wrongful death occurs when a wrongful or negligent act results in the death of another person or persons.
While no amount of money can ever replace your loved one, it will address the financial burdens of medical costs, funeral arrangements, lost income, and ongoing living expenses. It can also ease the stress you’re experiencing on top of your grief.
Choose a qualified and experienced Steamboat Springs wrongful death attorney.
At Brown Law Firm, we provide:
- Local Knowledge: An attorney familiar with Colorado’s legal landscape, including specific statutes and local court procedures, can manage your case more effectively.
- Commitment to Pursuing Maximum Compensation: We thoroughly investigate your case to ensure you receive every dollar you are due, identifying all liable parties and carefully calculating all potential damages to fight for a full and fair settlement.
- Advocacy and Protection: Brown Law Firm handles all communications with insurance companies and at-fault parties. We make the process as easy for you as we can, allowing you more space to grieve and focus on your family.
- An Extensive and Proven Track Record: We have decades of experience successfully resolving wrongful death claims for our Colorado clients.
- Comprehensive Legal Care: We offer guidance and resources for dealing with medical bills, insurance claims, employment issues, and other issues arising from your wrongful death case.
The attorney you choose can significantly affect the outcome of your case.
At Brown Law Firm, our dedicated team is committed to providing compassionate, comprehensive legal services that address every aspect of your wrongful death claim.
Contact us today to discuss how we can help you during this difficult time. Let us take on the legal challenges while you focus on healing.
While nothing can undo your loss, our Steamboat Springs wrongful death lawyers will do everything we can to lessen your burden and help you put your life back together.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?
Generally, immediate family members are allowed to seek compensation for a wrongful death.
These generally include:
- Spouse
- Child
- Parent
- Sibling
The Colorado Wrongful Death Act stipulates that only the spouse of the deceased can sue for wrongful death within the first year of the fatal incident. In the second year, surviving children of the deceased may file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Of course, not everyone fits into these categories, and Colorado law accommodates many exceptions. Perhaps the deceased was unmarried, or perhaps grandchildren were dependent on their decedent grandparent, or a parent was dependent on their decedent child.
Maybe the decedent had another designated heir. It’s best to talk with a Steamboat Springs wrongful death attorney if you have any questions about your eligibility to file a Colorado wrongful death lawsuit.
Common Causes of Wrongful Death
Several types of accidents and incidents can cause a wrongful death. Some of the cases our office sees include:
Traffic Accidents
Speeding, distracted driving, drunk driving, and road rage can cause fatal car accidents. In addition to car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, bicycle accidents, and pedestrian accidents often occur in and around Steamboat Springs.
Medical Malpractice
Doctors or other medical professionals who provide negligent care can cause a patient’s death. Medical malpractice cases often include surgical errors, misdiagnoses, childbirth injuries, anesthesia errors, and prescription mistakes.
Premises Liability
Owners of various properties have a legal responsibility to see that their properties are safe for residents and visitors.
An apartment building that fails to provide adequate security, a poorly lit store parking lot, and a hotel that fails to childproof its pool area are all examples of how failure to maintain or protect a property can result in wrongful death.
Product Liability
Defective products can lead to wrongful death claims when they fail to work as intended or lack proper safety warnings, resulting in fatal accidents or injuries. If a product’s design, manufacturing, or marketing defects cause death, you can hold the manufacturers, distributors, or retailers liable.
Workplace Accidents
In some cases, a workplace accident can lead to wrongful death. A dangerous work environment, faulty equipment, poor training, or inadequate safety protocols may be to blame.
Compensation for Wrongful Death Claims in Colorado
The value of your Colorado wrongful death lawsuit depends on several factors, each of which can greatly increase or decrease the amount of compensation you may seek.
Damages in wrongful death cases generally fall into two categories: economic and non-economic:
- Economic Damages: These quantifiable costs are directly related to the death of your loved one.
- Medical expenses incurred prior to the death
- Funeral and burial costs
- Loss of the deceased’s expected future income
- Loss of valuable benefits, such as pension plans and medical insurance
- Non-Economic Damages: These subjective damages require a lawyer to put a price on.
- Any pain and suffering of the deceased before they succumbed to their injuries
- Pain and suffering of the deceased’s surviving loved ones
- Loss of companionship, care, or protection offered by the deceased
- Emotional distress, anxiety, and depression of surviving family members
- Loss of consortium for a spouse
- Punitive Damages: In some cases, lawyers will ask the court for punitive damages for their client. Punitive damages punish the defendant for intentional, grossly negligent, or reckless behavior. The court will deny or award punitive damages at its discretion.
Understanding Negligence in Your Colorado Wrongful Death Case
In most cases, your Steamboat Springs wrongful death lawyer must demonstrate that the defendant’s negligence caused or contributed to the accident. Negligence is the failure to use care, resulting in harm to another person.
A successful wrongful death case must prove four elements:
- Duty: The defendant had a responsibility to act safely and not endanger the lives of others.
- Breach: The defendant failed in that responsibility.
- Causation: The defendant’s failure caused your loved one’s death.
- Damages: As a result, the deceased’s family suffered measurable losses.
Colorado uses modified comparative negligence to determine who is eligible for compensation in a wrongful death accident. The amount at-fault parties must pay and the amount plaintiffs may receive is proportional to their percentage of fault in the accident. However, if the deceased had more than 50% fault in the accident, their family would not be able to receive compensation.
Colorado’s modified comparative negligence law underscores the importance of hiring a highly experienced and skilled Steamboat Springs wrongful death attorney to handle your case.
Call a Steamboat Springs Wrongful Death Attorney at Brown Law Firm Today
Attorney Sean Brown, Steamboat Springs Wrongful Death Lawyer
Wrongful death lawsuits are usually extremely complex, with several factors affecting the outcome and the amount of compensation you and your family receive. We know that the stakes couldn’t get any higher for you.
Choosing the right Steamboat Springs personal injury attorney to handle your case is one of the most important decisions you’ll make in your life.
At Brown Law Firm, we are committed to providing compassionate, comprehensive legal services that address every aspect of your wrongful death claim. We will fight for you, and we won’t back down until you receive all the compensation you deserve.
Call us today at (970) 871-7400 to discuss your case. The consultation is free, and you will never pay us anything unless we win your case.
The Brown Law Firm – Steamboat Springs Office
100 Park Ave
Suite 202,
Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
Phone: (970) 871-7400