Utah Wrongful Death Attorney

How To Tell If You Have a Case

Video Transcript:

Kevin Swenson: 

Somebody took an action or failed to take an action that resulted in somebody else's death.

Molly Hendrickson: 

If you have lost a loved one as a result of someone else's actions, can you collect damages for wrongful death? We're gonna find out right now on this episode of "Ask the Lawyer." My guest is a Utah attorney, Kevin Swenson. I wanna remind you that if you wanna ask Kevin questions about your situation, it's easy. Go to askthelawyers.com, click the button up top that says "Ask a lawyer," or you can always call the phone number you'll see at the top of the screen. Kevin, thanks for joining us today.

Kevin Swenson: 

Thank you.

Molly Hendrickson: 

First off, what does wrongful death mean, as far as the law is concerned?

Kevin Swenson: 

Wrongful death means that somebody took an action, or failed to take an action, that resulted in somebody else's death, and that... Those actions were not something that was done as a normal person would do it. So, they were negligent in the way they did it or negligent in failing to act.

Molly Hendrickson: 

So, is a wrongful death case different from a catastrophic injury case, and if so, how?

Kevin Swenson: 

Yeah, so they are different because... Well, in a lot of different ways, but a catastrophic injury case continues for a lot longer. Once the... In a wrongful death case, the death occurs, you pretty much know what the damages are and what the loss is. It's the loss of the life of that individual. With a catastrophic injury, those kind of damages go on for a long period of time and you need continuing medical care. You need continuing psychological care but different things that you're gonna need throughout your life, additional surgeries, all of those kind of things so it changes how you handle a case and how quickly you can handle a case.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Can you give us some examples of some of the wrongful death cases that you've seen there in Utah?

Kevin Swenson: 

Yeah, some of the wrongful death cases... We've seen examples of somebody at work where a co-worker caused a problem that resulted in somebody, for example, falling off a roof or another contractor on the job leaving something in the way that caused an electrocution of an individual. You've got wrongful death just in a car crash case, if somebody is driving and they're careless and they cause a crash that results in the death of a person; that's a wrongful death. You also see it in medical malpractice cases where a doctor or some healthcare provider does something, or doesn't do something, that results in death. So, it can cover a lot of different areas.

Molly Hendrickson: 

So, how does somebody know if they have a case, a wrongful death case? And what are some of the unique challenges in proving that wrongful death occurred?

Kevin Swenson: 

Well, you have to have liability against the person who you believe caused the death. Just because somebody dies, that doesn't make it a wrongful death. Or if somebody runs into your car but they're at fault and they die, there's not a claim there. You still have to establish that the act caused that individual's death and that that act was negligence. So those are the elements you're looking for in a wrongful death.

Molly Hendrickson: 

And how difficult is that burden of proof?

Kevin Swenson: 

The burden of proof is a preponderance of the evidence. So in a civil case, you just have to prove that it was more likely than not that the actions of that individual that caused the death, so it's a much lower standard than a criminal standard where you have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. But there's still a fair amount of work that has to be done in making sure that you prove all of the elements.

Molly Hendrickson: 

And if you do meet that proof, what are some of the damages that somebody can recover in a wrongful death case?

Kevin Swenson: 

Well, you can recover damages for what are called the "economic damages." What that individual would have continued to contribute to their family, how they were helping the family, what they were doing that way, financially, or supporting others. There are also the non-economic damages, the general damages or the intangible damages, so not something you can just add up on a spreadsheet but it's the loss of the companionship of that individual. It's the inability to be with that person and have that person in your life so you can also have those type of damages.

Molly Hendrickson: 

And why is it so important to have an experienced wrongful death attorney? And what do you offer your clients?

Kevin Swenson: 

Yeah, it's important to have somebody who knows the steps because you do have a number of elements that you have to prove. You have to know how to get there, how to prove each of those elements, what you're looking for, when you're looking for it, what's going away, what evidence is being preserved, and make sure that you get that information quickly, you put it together in an experienced way, and in the way that you can present it to a jury to show that you do meet all of those elements. And that's something that you can get with experience and with having handled those types of cases. And something we've done a number of times in wrongful death cases is put that case together and present it to the fact finder so that you can make that type of determination and get the case resolved, either through trial or a settlement.

Molly Hendrickson: 

And what are some of the questions that people should be asking when choosing the right attorney for their case?

Kevin Swenson: 

They should be looking at questions like, "Have they done this before? Do they have experience with it? And if they have experience, do they have good results with it?" Anybody can put up a sign and do any kind of legal work that they want if they're an attorney. I could put up the sign and start doing wills and trusts tomorrow even though I don't know much about that area and so people do that with personal injury, as well. You'll see somebody advertising that they do criminal work, they do wills and trusts, and they also do personal injury, and it's just... It's a tougher area than to be able to spend a little bit of your time in it and be really good at it.

Molly Hendrickson: 

Yeah, it shows why that vetting process is so important. Kevin, thanks for joining us today.

Kevin Swenson: 

Thank you.

Molly Hendrickson: 

That's gonna do it for this episode of Ask the Lawyer. My guest has been lawyer Kevin Swenson. I wanna remind you, if you'd like to ask Kevin questions about your situation, go to askthelawyers.com. Click the button at the top of the page that says, "Ask a Lawyer," and it'll walk you through the very simple process. Thanks for watching. I'm Molly Hendrickson for Ask the Lawyers.

Disclaimer: This video is for informational purposes only. In some states, this video may be deemed Attorney Advertising. The choice of lawyer is an important decision that should not be based solely on advertisements.