FAQs

Generally, if your loved one was killed due to medical malpractice, you may be able to sue the hospital where the victim was treated and which employed the doctors or staff that committed the medical malpractice. However, if the hospital is a public hospital run by either the state or county, then there may be some limitations on your ability to pursue a wrongful death claim. Typically, government-run entities are given some protection from lawsuits, known as tort immunity. Because the government funds these entities, they are thus essentially financed by the taxpayer, creating an interest to protect such entities from lawsuits in many cases.

When filing a lawsuit against a public hospital, you will be suing the county or state itself, rather than the hospital, and these claims will be filed in the Court of Claims if against the state. In contrast, lawsuits against any individual doctors will be filed in regular civil court. However, Illinois law does provide that the usual one-year statute of limitations for lawsuits against public agencies does not apply when the hospital is sued for a “patient care” injury, in which case you will have two years to file your lawsuit, similar to other personal injury claims.

Wrongful death claims may often be very complicated, especially as the compensation you are seeking is different from other personal injury claims and because you are pursuing compensation for an accident that happened to your loved one rather than an accident that happened to you. You should contact Michael J. Brennan to take advantage of his years of experience in helping the families of other victims pursue the compensation they may be entitled to after their loved one has been killed in an accident as a result of another party’s negligence.

When filing a wrongful death claim in Illinois, four elements must generally first be satisfied before a lawsuit can be filed:

• The victim died
• Another person’s negligence caused the victim’s death
• The victim’s surviving family members have suffered harm, including financial harm, by the victim’s death
• A personal representative

The steps to filing a wrongful death claim typically include:

Contact an Experienced Attorney

Often, the most crucial step to successfully pursuing a wrongful death claim is to hire an experienced and skilled lawyer, such as Michael J. Brennan. Your lawyer will generally discuss your legal options and handle your case while, in turn, allowing you to focus on recovering from the emotional pain of losing a loved one.

Investigation

After contacting an experienced lawyer like Michael, your lawyer may often begin by investigating the accident or events that led to your loved one’s death. This investigation may include gathering any relevant evidence, such as pictures of the scene of the accident and contact information for any witnesses, documentation such as any police reports or insurance claims filed after the accident.

Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit 

Your lawyer will generally discuss your legal options and make sure that your wrongful death lawsuit is filed within the applicable statute of limitations.

Negotiating with the Insurance Company

Your attorney may also often negotiate with the other party’s insurance company to reach an acceptable settlement. Your attorney may make a settlement offer, which may then often be rejected while the insurer presents a counteroffer while each side debates the claim.

Trial

If the insurance company refuses to agree to your attorney’s settlement offers, your lawyer may then take your case to trial and present the evidence gathered during the investigation phase and during the lawsuit proving the other party’s liability for your loved one’s death as well as the financial and emotional impacts their death has had on you.

To pursue compensation for a wrongful death claim, you will generally need to prove that your loved one’s death was caused by the negligent, reckless, or intentional actions of the other party. Often, wrongful deaths will generally involve negligence claims, which will typically require that you prove four key elements including duty of care, breach of duty, causation and damages:

• Duty of Care – You will generally need to prove that the other party owed the victim a duty of care, such as the duty to avoid causing an accident while driving.
• Breach of Duty – You must also prove that the other party breached their duty of care, such as driving while intoxicated.
• Causation – You must prove that the other party’s breach of their duty of care to the victim caused the victim’s death.
• Damages – Your loved one’s death usually satisfies the damages element of a wrongful death claim but will also usually include any medical expenses, burial costs, and other economic or non-economic damages.

If your loved one was killed in an accident that may have been caused by someone else, you should contact Michael J. Brennan to take advantage of his years of experience in helping victims, and their loved ones seek any compensation they may be entitled to after an accident.

A wrongful death claim generally arises from a situation in which a loved one is killed due to another person’s or entity’s negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct. These wrongful deaths may have often occurred in a car accident, from medical malpractice, workplace accidents, or other common types of accidents that may cause someone’s death. Depending on the state, only certain people may be able to bring a wrongful death lawsuit, such as the victim’s surviving spouse, children, or parents, while a few states may allow others to bring a claim, such as siblings or grandparents of the victim.

Common causes of wrongful death may include car accident, large truck accidents, medical malpractice, defective products and workplace accidents:

• Car accidents – Car accidents occur all too frequently, but these accidents may result in death in many cases, based on various factors such as the speed of the vehicles and the force of the impact.
• Large truck accidents – Given the size and force of large commercial trucks, trucking accidents often pose a severe risk of catastrophic injuries or even death, especially for the occupants of a passenger vehicle struck by the truck.
• Medical malpractice – Medical malpractice, such as a doctor’s error during an operation or failure to properly diagnose an issue, may result in death.
• Defective products – Defective products may wrongfully cause a victim’s death, whether the death was caused by a design defect, manufacturing defect, or failure to warn of potential dangers of using the product.
• Workplace accidents – Many dangerous conditions may often be present in a workplace, especially if an employer fails to provide proper safety equipment or training or if employees fail to follow safe work practices. 

Wrongful death lawsuits typically function similarly to other personal injury claims, except that victims’ loved ones often bring the lawsuit rather than the actual victim. Aside from this crucial distinction, wrongful death lawsuits may often include the following steps:

1. Contact A Lawyer – Often, the most crucial step of pursuing compensation for a loved one’s wrongful death is to contact an experienced personal injury attorney such as Michael J. Brennan. Your lawyer may help you understand your legal options while handling your case as you focus on recovering from your loss.
2. Investigation – Your lawyer may begin by investigating the accident and gathering any available evidence proving the other party’s liability for your loved one’s death, such as statements from any witnesses, pictures of the accident, and documentation supporting your claim for damages.
3. Negotiation – Your lawyer may negotiate with the other party’s insurer to seek an acceptable settlement agreement that would avoid the expense and delay of a trial. The insurance company will have a team of lawyers focused on insurer pays as little as possible, making a skilled lawyer crucial to leveling this playing field.
4. Trial – If the insurance company refuses to agree to a reasonable settlement offer, your lawyer may then take your case to trial and present evidence proving the other party’s liability for your loved one’s death. Here, your case will typically be decided by a jury who will determine whether the other party caused the victim’s death as well as how much compensation you may be entitled to.

The compensation you may be entitled to for your loved one’s wrongful death may vary depending on the case but may include both economic and non-economic damages, such as:

• Medical expenses
• Burial costs
• Lost wages
• Loss of potential income
• Loss of consortium
• Loss of parental guidance 

Finally, any wrongful death lawsuit will have to be filed before the expiration of the applicable legal time limits, known as the statute of limitations. Often, victims and their loved ones may have two or three years from the date of the accident in which to file any lawsuit, while most lawsuits filed after the statute of limitations has expired will generally not be allowed.

Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Illinois?

Generally, a wrongful death claim may be filed by the victim’s legal representative, representing the victim’s estate. The wrongful death claim is filed on behalf of certain survivors based on their relationship to the victim. Depending on the state, the survivors eligible to file a wrongful death claim may vary. In Illinois, wrongful death claims are governed under the Illinois Wrongful Death Act. According to 740 Illinois Compiled Statutes 180, the Illinois Wrongful Death Act, a party may file a wrongful death claim whenever “the death of a person shall be caused by wrongful act, neglect or default,” and such act, if it had not caused the victim’s death, would have otherwise allowed the victim to sue for damages personally.

This Act specifies that only the surviving spouse or children of the deceased victim may file a wrongful death lawsuit in Illinois. However, if there are no surviving children or spouse, then other relatives may file a wrongful death claim, including surviving parents or siblings of the deceased victim. While these family members are generally able to file wrongful death lawsuits though, the case itself will be filed under the estate’s personal representative’s name, such as the executor, rather than under the family member’s name.