Wrongful Death Claims in Albuquerque, New Mexico

What is Wrongful Death?

A wrongful death lawsuit is filed against a person or people who have caused the death of another person. The death may have been premeditated or resulted from careless, irresponsible or negligent behavior. The lawsuit is filed on behalf of any surviving dependents or family members and, if successful, provides them with some compensation for the death. The process begins with the Court appointing a personal representative for the estate of the deceased individual.  Usually this is a relative. The personal representative appointed by the Court is in charge of the entire case and makes all the important decisions as to the direction of the case.

Wrongful death can result from a large number of circumstances in which somebody has died needlessly due to another’s carelessness. Wrongful death can include the following:

• A fatality resulting from any sort of vehicle collision
• Dying during an operation that was botched or after the wrong diagnosis had been made
• Fatalities caused by wrong prescriptions or an overdose of a drug used in treatment
• Being killed through the use of a defective product

Purposes of Wrongful Death Claims

Wrongful death claims are not designed so that surviving family members can benefit financially off of somebody else’s death. They have two primary purposes.

1. They provide assistance to a spouse, children or elderly parents who were financially dependent on the person that died. The payment, if granted, is given to the surviving relatives in a carefully prescribed manner. An economist expert is hired by the attorney to review the tax returns and other income documentation to help determine the real loss to the family.  Wrongful death laws do change a little from state to state, so that here in New Mexico, the statutes are somewhat different from what they are in California, Nevada or Texas.
2. Wrongful death laws act as a social deterrent. They serve as a warning, not just to the third party involved in the death, but to anybody else in the community who may act in the same manner.

Who is Entitled to a Wrongful Death Claim?

The lawsuit is brought before a Court and a juty will ultimately decide, on the basis of the evidence presented by the family and the economist expert hired by the attorney,  whether a lawsuit will be successful. The jury will also make a decision about how much should be paid out to the estate of the deceased individual. This will be based on who the likely heirs will be and what their needs are, now and into the future.

Usually, it is the surviving spouse and the dependent children who are the first in line to benefit from a wrongful death claim. There may be other people who benefit in the absence of either spouse or children. These could be the parents, especially if they were dependent or living at home with the deceased. If there is nobody that appears to fit any of the above descriptions, then the judge may decide to make a payment to anybody else who is next of kin or according to normal rules about intestate inheritance.

Wrongful death law is relatively new in the United States. In the past if somebody died as a result of an unexpected, yet needless death, then the possibility of making a claim for damages also ceased. This was changed over time because states decided that dependents of people who had died were suffering financial hardship as a result of the death.

Caruso Law Offices has had 30 years experience handling wrongful death claims.

If you have had a close relative die recently in what you feel was a wrongful death, then contact the Caruso Law Offices in Albuquerque, New Mexico at 505-883-5000. After a discussion of the circumstances surrounding the death, our firm will be able to give you a detailed opinion about the possibility of bringing a wrongful death lawsuit against the person or people who may be considered responsible. We do not charge anything for a consultation and you will not have to pay any legal fees unless we win a claim on your behalf. At our firm, we have 30 years experience and have successfully won many wrongful death claims for our clients over the years.

Caruso Law Offices provides legal service for anybody in Albuquerque, New Mexico area that has had a close relative die due to somebody else’s actions and may want to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit. If you have had a member of your family die needlessly due to somebody else’s negligence or irresponsible action, then contact us. We will work tirelessly on your behalf to make sure that justice is received.

 

 

Albuquerque Accident Attorneys Should Discount Their Fees

You have probably seen all the attorneys advertising on television, billboards and the sides of buses that they will represent you in your personal injury claim on a percentage fee basis.  This is called a contingency fee.  A contingency fee means that you pay the personal injury attorney no hourly fee, but instead pay a "percentage fee" at the conclusion of the claim.  If the lawyer recovers no money on the claim, the attorney gets no attorney fee.

The New Mexico Rules of Professional Conduct set the ethical rules for attorneys to follow when charging clients a contingency fee. The rules require the contingent fee to be reasonable, and require that the contingent fee agreement be in writing and signed by the client and attorney.

Most every auto accident and personal injury  attorneys in Albuquerque, NM  charges a contingency fee of  33 1/3% for all injury cases that are settled prior to a lawsuit being filed. This seems a little steep, especially because so little work is done by the attorney before the lawsuit is filed. Most of the initial gathering of medical records and establishing of liability are done by a paralegal or legal assistant supervised by the attorney.  However, if a lawsuit is filed because the case could not be settled, then the attorney has much more involvement in the claim.

Beginning in 2009 Caruso Law Offices pioneered a new approach to attorneys fees in Albuquerque, NM.  In compliance with the "reasonable fee" requirement of the Rules and knowing that less work was required to settle a case if no lawsuit was yet file, we discounted our percentage contingency fee.  We discount the contingency fee to only 29% if a case is settled before a lawsuit is filed.

The result is that more money goes into the  client's pocket! It also means quicker settlements for clients. As an example, using a settlement of a $50,000 case, the attorney fee would be $14,500 rather than $16,666.  That's $2,100 more into the client's pocket rather than the attorney's pocket.

The response from clients to the discounted contingency fee has been amazing. Caruso Law Offices receives most of its personal injury client referrals from word of mouth, and little advertising is really needed.

Some might believe that a discounted fees means a lesser qualified attorney or law firm. Not so! Mark Caruso, the senior attorney at Caruso Law Offices,  is a former insurance company attorney who now helps injured victims.  He has over 30 years of experience helping injured victims. He is also licensed in both New Mexico and California. Because Caruso Law Offices does not do television, billboard or bus advertising, its overhead is smaller, and it can help the client by putting more money in the client's pocket. Helping the clients should be the number one priority of every attorney, and it is the priority at Caruso Law Offices.

The discount really means  that the attorney isn't spending lots of money on advertising and can afford to pass the savings to his clients.  Advertising is an expensive overhead.  Freeway billboards can cost $5,000 a month, and some attorney television budgets are $20,000 monthly.  The advertising does not mean that the attorney is a better attorney, only that he is spending more on advertising and probably charging the higher 33 1/3% fee rather than the discounted 29% fee.

If you would like to personally talk with Mark Caruso at  a free and confidential consultation, you can call him at 505-883-5000 or toll free at 800-657-9292. We have two locations in Albuquerque--the NorthEast Heights and the West Side.  You can also see our web site at www.carusolaw.com We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks. Mark