Of the 432 firms that show wrongful death work on our 108 city lists in the United States, Walkup Personal Injury Lawyers scores highest on malpractice focus, published results, client reviews and experience, followed by Wapner Newman Attorneys At Law and Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A.. Each firm keeps its best score from the cities it serves; open a city for its full list.
Best Wrongful Death Lawyers in the United States
Feature your firm first on this page
This spot goes to one firm for a year. It's shown first, above everyone below, and labeled Featured.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.7226 Google reviewsRated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 226 reviews
Best for: Deaths involving delayed diagnosis
Founded in 1978, Wapner Newman Attorneys At Law has operated for many years with a practice that includes wrongful death as well as medical malpractice.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.8181 Google reviewsRated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 181 reviews
Best for: Deaths linked to medical care
For a deceased patient's family, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. publishes a $1.2 million verdict in Jones v. Harford Memorial Hospital, et al.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.851 Google reviewsRated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 51 reviews
Best for: Deaths linked to medical errors
Among Hastings Law Firm's published results are a $19,750,000 failure-to-diagnose settlement and a $10,700,000 negligent-prescribing jury verdict. Because it focuses on medical malpractice, those results support its place on this list.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
Wrongful death lawyers by state
The rules change from one state to the next, so the lawyers near you are the ones to call.
When a medical error causes someone's death, a wrongful death claim may let the family seek payment for their losses. A lawyer needs to review that. To assess whether the care supports a malpractice case and who may bring it, talk with a lawyer in the state where the claim belongs. Neither question is answered just because someone died after treatment.
For your first consultation, you don't need a finished explanation. After describing what happened and what the medical team told you, explain what you're still trying to understand. Say so if you don't know whether a decision affected the outcome.
What wrongful death means after medical care
Calling something wrongful death describes a legal claim, not a medical diagnosis. Here, a family is concerned that a medical error caused someone's death, leaving them with losses. What happened during care, and how did it affect the patient? Whether that care supports a claim is a legal question that depends on the applicable state rules.
Don't mix those questions together. Even if you don't know whether anyone departed from the standard of care, you may have questions about your family member's death. Before treating a troubling event as malpractice, ask a lawyer what needs to be established about the care.
Who can pursue the claim also depends on state rules. Being a relative doesn't mean you can file separately. Even if someone is speaking with the hospital, that doesn't automatically make them the person who should bring the lawsuit.
“Depends on your state's wrongful death statute. Some allow family to make claims for their loss, some limit the claimants to the estate heirs. Consult a local attorney.”
Because that discussion concerns a death involving a motorist, it isn't about medical treatment. Your family's claim can't rely on it as authority. Use it to ask the local lawyer which statute would apply to your claim and whose interests they would represent.
Identify the medical concern without guessing
There's no single condition or set of warning signs called wrongful death. What concerns you depends on your loved one's treatment. Rather than diagnosing an error yourself, point to the part of the care you'd like someone to examine; that's enough to start.
Something that happened during hospital care might concern you, or you may have questions about a diagnosis or prescription. Your words are enough. After describing the event, ask which records could help explain what happened. If you feel pressure to make your account sound stronger, don't add a medical conclusion to do it.
Although these topics can help you prepare for a consultation, reading them doesn't establish that an error occurred or caused the death. To answer that question, ask the lawyer what medical review would be needed.
What makes it malpractice rather than a bad outcome
When reviewing a claim, a lawyer needs to address harm as well as the standard of care and causation. If you're grieving, those words can feel remote. To discuss the actual treatment, ask what happened instead of what should have happened. After that, ask whether the difference caused the death.
The standard of care
To understand a possible departure from the standard of care, ask what standard applied and how the lawyer would assess it. What the provider should have done differently isn't clear from a terrible result alone. Rather than drawing a conclusion only from the outcome, you need someone to explain concretely what should have happened during the care.
The connection to the death
The connection is what causation means. To understand where there's still uncertainty, ask how the suspected error would be linked to the death. Ask what's missing if the lawyer can't answer that question yet. Even when your account is uncertain, you can request a review without making it sound certain.
The family's losses
To document your losses, first ask which ones the applicable law recognizes. Describe how your family has been affected by the death. Although another family's settlement won't tell you what your case might be worth, the lawyer can explain which parts of your account fit the categories available in a claim.
Prepare for a first case review
A practical way to organize the conversation
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Write a short account
Start by describing the treatment and events you'd like reviewed. When explaining what happened, distinguish what you witnessed from what someone told you later. Rather than filling in a gap, say when you can't remember a date or the name of someone who spoke.
2
Identify the records you already have
If you have the chart or other documents from the care, let the lawyer know. To find out what to share, ask which records they'd like and how to send them. Tell them at the start if you don't have records yet.
3
Explain your relationship to the person who died
To find out who may bring the claim, ask whether someone must act for others. Tell the lawyer about any relative who's already contacted a firm. Relatives who've spoken separately with lawyers aren't necessarily being represented together, so don't assume they are.
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Ask about timing before waiting for more information
Ask whether you need to act before you've gathered the records, while the lawyer checks the deadline that applies in your state. Sending a firm an inquiry doesn't mean it's protecting your claim, and you still need its answer.
5
Clarify the next decision
Ask whether the firm has decided to take or decline your case, or still needs information to decide, before you finish the consultation. You should leave knowing what the next step is, so ask who's agreed to take it, if anyone has agreed at all.
You can keep your account brief here. The first conversation isn't a test of your legal writing, so explain what's worrying you about the care and ask someone to take a look at it.
Deadlines differ by state
Don't count on one filing deadline for the whole country. Ask a lawyer how the applicable statute of limitations works in your circumstances, since the deadline comes from state law rather than a national rule. The state pages are a place to start, but ask a lawyer which deadline applies to your particular claim.
Ask what has to happen before you file a complaint, including whether anything else is required and when your claim's clock starts. You need an answer about your own claim. A deadline you find in an online discussion may concern another type of wrongful death case, so don't use it for yours.
Choosing a firm and understanding its fees
Does the firm handle wrongful death claims involving medical care? Ask that before going further. A general wrongful death practice page won't answer the questions you'll have about your own case. After discussing who would review the treatment, ask how the firm decides which claims it will take.
Examples of contact and consultation information on wrongful death firm pages, not a ranking or recommendation
Firm
What its page advertises
Source URL
Kiefer & Kiefer
Free consultations, no up-front fees and a contact number of 504-828-3313
A free consultation tells you about that meeting, not whether you'll face any up-front fees. Neither statement explains everything you might have to pay if the firm represents you. Get a written agreement. Ask the lawyer to walk you through the fee calculation and the expenses you could be charged, making sure you understand what you'd owe without a recovery.
Ask the firm to work through an example using the terms it's proposing. A percentage won't mean much to you without knowing the amount the firm would apply it to. Compare the firms' written agreements, since ads that sound much the same don't tell you whether the firms would charge you the same amounts.
What to do next
Choose a lawyer who practices in the relevant state and ask them to review your medical concern. Tell them what you know, pointing out anything you can't remember or don't know. Ask about the deadline near the start of the conversation, whether or not you've decided to pursue a lawsuit.
Ask the firm to put in writing exactly what it would handle if it represents you. You'll have that written explanation to discuss with your family. The fee agreement isn't the whole picture: you also need to know whose claim the firm would handle and what it would review next.
Wrongful death is a claim about someone's death and the losses their family suffers, here because a medical error caused the death, not simply because treatment ended badly. Your state's rules determine who can bring it. Ask a lawyer in your state who can file the claim and what they would need to establish about the care. A death after treatment isn't enough on its own, so don't assume it means the care supports a malpractice claim.
What should I tell a wrongful death attorney?
Describe what happened without filling in the parts you don't actually know. Keep what you saw separate from any explanations you heard afterward. Tell the lawyer if another relative has contacted a firm, and ask whose claim the proposed representation would cover. Don't hide a detail just because you think it hurts the case. Check with the lawyer about how to send records or other information.
What percentage do wrongful death lawyers take?
Ask for the firm's proposed fee agreement, since a general percentage won't explain its terms. Kiefer & Kiefer's wrongful death page advertises no up-front fees; Slack Davis describes its consultation as free, not the full representation. Neither statement tells you enough to calculate the full fee. Ask the lawyer what you'd owe under the agreement, making sure the answer covers expenses and what happens if there's no recovery.
Is it worth pursuing a medical wrongful death lawsuit?
Although reviewing a case can help you decide whether to pursue a claim, it can't promise an outcome. Ask the lawyer what they suspect went wrong under the standard of care, then have them explain how that care might be connected to the death. Discuss the recognized losses and proposed fees, then talk about what's still uncertain before you decide. Your family's goals belong in that conversation, so make room for them, too.
How much of a $25,000 settlement would I get?
The settlement amount doesn't tell you what you'd get. Ask the lawyer to work through how the proposed settlement would be divided, using your actual fee agreement and any deductions that would apply. You'll also need the lawyer to explain the relevant state rules, since those determine who would be entitled to the proceeds. Rather than relying on another person's calculation, get a written explanation of how your own proposed settlement would be divided.
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