Wrongful Death

Compassionate and Experienced Wrongful Death Attorneys in Raleigh

The most difficult cases we handle involve those when lives are lost. These tragic cases in which a family member has died are called “wrongful death” cases. The attorneys at Lewis & Roberts have represented numerous families throughout North Carolina in wrongful death cases. The extensive number of cases – and the many scenarios in which they have arisen – gives us a wide area of experience in prosecuting lawsuits for those killed by the fault of others. In every wrongful death case we accept, we work on a contingent basis. We advance all costs and expenses for our clients and accept no fee until there has been a recovery. We handle these difficult and complicated cases from our office in Raleigh.

Wrongful death cases can cover many areas of the law, from product defects, to workplace accidents, medical malpractice, defective tire, and car and truck accidents. In North Carolina, the legal estate of the deceased prosecutes the lawsuit for the damages caused when a family member dies. Most often, those damages include the person’s lost income for their life, medical expenses that might have been incurred before they died, and the lost society and companionship the person provided to their family.

A small list of the many different wrongful death cases we have handled for families include:

Dump Truck Accident: A middle aged executive killed when a dump truck crossed the center line and stuck his car head-on. Although the dump truck driver admitted he was speeding, the case was complicated because another vehicle struck the dump truck first. We used a computer generated recreation of the accident to show the dump truck driver would have avoided the head-on collision if he had been driving the speed limit. The case settled for $2.45 million.

Workplace Accident: Another case involved an experienced airplane mechanic working on a large military refueling tanker from a raised platform. The platform had been recently refurbished and painted so an access panel was camouflaged from view. Our client moved the panel on the platform as designed, unaware that he was exposing himself to an unprotected fall to his death. After an exhaustive investigation, we determined that the platform had originally been painted with contrasting colors with warning signs to prevent the accident from happening. We found years old original photographs that showed how the refurbishing company created a dangerous product with no warning signs or instructions to the end users – including our client. We used a computer reconstruction of the accident at mediation to assist in settling this case. This case settled for $2.0 million.

Product Defect: Another example is a blue collar worker killed when a split-ring wheel assembly suddenly exploded while he was removing a wheel off a commercial vehicle. We determined the wheel assembly was sold with mis-matched and mis-aligned thirty year old parts. We alleged that the seller should have discovered the defect during a pre-sale inspection. Our client was unaware of the defective and dangerous condition when he worked on it. A jury agreed. The seller of the commercial vehicle was held responsible for our client’s death. The jury awarded $2.0 million.

These are just a few examples of the cases our wrongful death attorneys in Raleigh have prosecuted to a successful conclusion.