Wrongful death
in Phoenix
Nothing here is a substitute for the person. What a wrongful death claim can do is stop the family from being financially destroyed on top of everything else, and put on record what happened and who is responsible.
What goes wrong before anyone calls a lawyer
The wrong person files
Arizona restricts who may bring the claim to a surviving spouse, child, parent or the personal representative of the estate. Filing through the wrong party costs months.
Two claims get treated as one
A survival action for what the person suffered before death and a wrongful death claim for what the family lost are separate, and both are frequently missed.
Grief is treated as unprovable
Loss of companionship, care and guidance is compensable in Arizona. It requires evidence, and building that evidence has to be done gently and deliberately.
What this office does instead
Three moves, in this order, on every file of this kind.
Two years from the date of death. 180 days for a notice of claim against a public entity.
We handle the probate step
Where a personal representative has to be appointed before anything can be filed, we do that work so the family is not sent to a second lawyer during the worst month of their life.
We assemble the life, not the file
Employment records, benefits, pension value and household contribution get quantified by an economist, and the human record gets built through people who knew them.
We take the contact away from you
Adjusters, reporters and lienholders come through this office. Families should not be negotiating during a funeral.
Cases of this kind
Turn a card for the story behind the figure.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case turns on its own facts.
Talk to someone who has tried wrongful death cases
Free, confidential, and about twenty minutes. No fee unless we win.
Wrongful death questions
Will we have to testify about our loss?
Sometimes, and we prepare families for it carefully. In most cases the testimony that matters is short, and much of the record is built through friends, coworkers and teachers instead.
What if our family member was partly at fault?
Arizona uses pure comparative fault, so a claim survives even at high percentages of fault and the recovery is reduced proportionally. Do not assume a case is gone because someone told you it is.
What does it cost to hire you?
Nothing up front and nothing if we lose. Our fee is 33.3 percent of the recovery if the case resolves before a lawsuit is filed and 40 percent after that, because a filed case costs a great deal more to run. Case expenses come out of the recovery, not out of your pocket, and if there is no recovery you owe us nothing at all, including expenses.
How long do I have to bring a claim in Arizona?
Two years from the date of injury for most personal injury and wrongful death claims. If a city, county or state entity is involved, you must serve a notice of claim within 180 days, which is the deadline that quietly kills more cases than any other. Claims on behalf of a child are generally paused until they turn 18. Call before you assume you are out of time.