Pittsburgh Wrongful Death Attorneys
& Pennsylvania Survival Actions
- Pennsylvania Truck Accidents
- Pittsburgh Bus Accidents
- Pittsburgh Car Accidents
- Pennsylvania Medical Malpractice Errors
- Construction Accidents
- Misdiagnoses | Failure to Diagnose
- Nursing Home Abuse | Elder Neglect
NO FEE UNLESS RECOVERY*
Helping Families Deal With the Loss of a Loved One:
Losing a loved one is never easy. However, it can be even worse when caused by the negligence, carelessness or recklessness of another person.
The hardest part of our job is hearing stories of tragedies about good families and good people losing loved ones. When a child loses a parent. When a parent loses a child. These stories never leave you and remain with us for life.
The clients we help remain in our thoughts and prayers for a lifetime, long after their cases have ended.
We tell families that have suffered tragedies, that the lawsuit will not change what you are feeling. If you are looking for closure in a lawsuit, you will not find it.
What we can do is get answers about what happened and obtain the fullest monetary recovery available under the law. We understand that there is no amount of money that is fair when real tragedies occur. The hope is that by obtaining the highest monetary recovery possible, we can accomplish two things:
1. Make life going forward financially easier. Money will not change the loss of a loved one, but it will make life more economically bearable.
2. Try to ensure that whatever carelessness or recklessness caused the loss, that it does not happen again.
When trusted by families to help in Pennsylvania wrongful death lawsuits, we have an enormous responsibility that we do not take lightly. We remain fully committed to our clients emotional and financial well-being.
Understanding the Pa. Wrongful Death Statute:
A Wrongful Death Action is a case or lawsuit that gives the spouse, parents and children of a decedent the legal right to recover monies for the loss of the individual. These family members are entitled to recover in their right for their loss as opposed to receiving money as the beneficiaries of the estate of the decedent.
Any monetary recovery is not subject to inheritance tax and is not affected by any debts or legal obligations that the decedent may have had at the time of his/her passing.
One other important aspect of Wrongful Death Actions in Pennsylvania is that any monetary recoveries are to be distributed according to the Pennsylvania intestacy laws.
This means they are distributed in the same manner that a assets of a decedent without a will would be required to distribute their assets.
In practical terms, this means that children, spouse and parents may all have a claim to monies regardless of the relationship and/or contact of the parties prior to the passing.
Attorneys are obligated to notify all potential beneficiaries (spouse, children, parents) upon the filing of a wrongful death claim and place them on notice that they may be entitled to money.
Understanding the Pennsylvania Survival Action:
A Survival action is an action belonging to the estate of the decedent and not to the family members. The Purpose of the Pennsylvania Survival Action is to allow the estate of the decedent to recover monies for pain and suffering suffered by the decedent prior to his/her death and/or suffered by his/her estate. In essence, the estate of the decedent is taking the place of the decedent and is entitled to recovery under Pennsylvania law.
The example taught in law school is when an individual is seriously hurt in an accident but does not pass away immediately. Instead, they suffer for a significant period of time. The Pennsylvania Survival Action allows the estate to substitute in the place of the decent and recover for the actual pain and suffering endured.
Damages recovered under a survival action belong to the estate, are subject to estate and inheritance taxes. Also, these monies would pass under the decedent's will to any listed beneficiaries as opposed to the Wrongful Death Statute, whereby the monies are awarded to the beneficiaries of the decedent.
*No Fee Unless Recovery is Made:
Our representation for wrongful death and survival action cases is based on a contingent fee structure. There is absolutely no fee unless we obtain recovery for you. We advance 100% the costs, including experts, filings, and depositions and are only reimbursed from the client's share if we are successful.
If we represent you or a loved one in a wrongful death case, you can rest assured that we cannot make money unless we obtain monetary recovery for you or our client.
Our fees are often reduced in catastrophic situations. We truly believe it is your money and not ours. We will always reduce our fees in tragedies involving minor children.
In these cases, we advance all costs of investigation and litigation, and will not be reimbursed unless we are successful in settlement or at trial regardless of how much money we advance. Our Pittsburgh law firm advances large sums of money with zero risk to our injured clients.
If you are injured, we will make any necessary accommodations to offer you the most convenient consultation possible. Whether you are at home or in a hospital, we will listen to the situation which caused your injury.
Our goal is to win your trust and business as your attorneys and to maximize all recoveries available under the law. There is absolutely no fee or cost for any of our initial consultations. Consultations can be done in person, on-line or via telephone at 412.802.6666 or toll free at 1.877.744.3476.