A wrongful death lawsuit claim can provide you and your family with financial relief and a sense of justice for the loss of your loved one.
When you suffer the loss of a loved one due to someone’s carelessness, negligence, or intentional actions, your friends, relatives, or co-workers may encourage you to consider a wrongful death lawsuit claim. South Dakota wrongful death law provides certain family members the right to recover financial compensation for funeral expenses, future financial support, and intangible losses like the loss of guidance, companionship, and emotional support resulting from a loved one’s death. Whether you lost a loved one to medical malpractice that occurred at a hospital or nursing home or to a drunk driver in a car accident, you have the right to file a wrongful death lawsuit claim in South Dakota. Knowing how to file a wrongful death lawsuit in South Dakota and the process that follows will help you prepare you for negotiations, settlement discussions, or trials that lie ahead.
1. What Happens During Pre-Litigation?
The pre-litigation phase begins when you, as the immediate next of kin or acting as the deceased victim’s personal representative, initiate the investigation, typically through an attorney experienced with wrongful death lawsuit claims. Depending on the reports of any police or other official investigation, as well as the need to engage an expert’s opinion on circumstances that led up to the death, the gathering of evidence might last for a few weeks or for many months. If the facts of the investigation are clear, such as physical evidence of a bad driver causing a deadly collision or documented, undisputed medical malpractice at a hospital or nursing home, the case might never reach trial. Many wrongful death claims settle out of court, especially if both sides agree that the evidence of fault is overwhelmingly in your favor. A lawyer skilled at bringing personal injury and wrongful death claims will know how to best conduct a thorough investigation to reduce the likelihood that you will have to go to trial.
2. Negotiations with Defendants for a Potential Pre-Lawsuit Settlement
After completing a thorough investigation, your attorney probably will notify the parties at fault that you plan to pursue financial recovery for your loss. It is important to have an experienced South Dakota wrongful death attorney working for you, so the other side knows you are represented by someone able and willing to go to trial if necessary. So the attorney who drafted the deed for your home, handled your brother-in-law’s DUI, or wrote your will usually is not the best choice to handle a wrongful death claim.
Settlement negotiations sometimes begin even before a lawsuit is filed, once the evidence has been gathered and can be shared with the other side. Having an attorney experienced in wrongful death claims working for you is also important at this stage, to be sure you are not undervaluing your claim. It’s also important that your attorney know how to negotiate effectively and how to protect you from being worn down by experienced insurance company negotiators on the other side.
3. Wrongful Death Lawsuit Begins When Negotiations End
If the claim cannot be settled without a lawsuit, the next phase is formal litigation, when the wrongful death lawsuit takes shape. The are several steps to the process:
- First, your lawyer prepares a Summons and Complaint to be served on all the defendants.
- Next, your attorney will guide you through the pre-trial “discovery” phase of litigation, where each side must disclose evidence to the other:
- Interrogatories, which are a set of written questions, are issued by both the plantiff and defendant. They must be answered under oath, or objected to by your attorney, promptly in a written response.
- There also will be requests by either side for the production of documents and other specific materials relevant to the case, such as records related to the injury and death or records of the nursing home, hospital, or insurance company behavior.
- Then depositions are usually taken, in which parties and witnesses are questioned orally under oath, with a written record made of the questions asked and the answers given.
- Often there are pre-trial motions, at which the judge will decide whether certain claims and defenses can proceed to the jury or should be dismissed before trial. Shortly before trial, the judge holds a pre-trial conference with the attorneys to discuss what is necessary for the upcoming trial, and whether a settlement still can be reached before the trial begins.
4. When Your Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claim Goes to Trial
Sometimes the final phase of a wrongful death lawsuit claim is a jury trial, though wrongful death claims in South Dakota are sometimes reached even after a trial has begun, especially when mounting evidence looks bad for the defendant. It is important to be represented by attorneys familiar with the trial arena, whether the situation calls for last minute negotiations or the courtroom trial skills so different from those in most other areas of law practice. If the case goes through trial all the way to a jury verdict, the verdict might be the last word. However, in South Dakota, either party also can choose to challenge the verdict and appeal the case to the state Supreme Court. So occasionally, even the trial is not the final phase.
Turbak Law Office, P.C., has represented many families in wrongful death claims, obtaining substantial verdicts or settlements that provide family members with some solace for their loss. If you have lost a loved one due to the careless or intentional acts of an individual, business, or government agency and are interested in filing a wrongful death lawsuit claim, contact Turbak Law Office at 866.231.0914 to speak to an experienced South Dakota attorney.
