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Wrongful Death Lawyer Your Injury, Our Fight

Wrongful Death Attorneys

Securing Justice for Victims of Fatal Accidents in the Southwest

Coping with the loss of a loved one never is easy. However, prematurely losing someone close to you due to someone else’s negligence can be particularly challenging to move past. Preventable deaths don’t just deprive you of your loved one’s physical presence and leave you with unexpected end-of-life costs. They also rob you of the future emotional and financial contributions they make to your family. As wrongful death lawyers, we often witness the insurmountable financial obstacles families face following their loved one’s untimely passing.

Fortunately, there is a statute in every state that allows for surviving family members to pursue compensation on their deceased loved one’s behalf for their earlier-than-expected demise. You must be able to prove that another party’s negligence directly caused your relative to die to pursue a wrongful death claim. Whether you live in Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Farmington, or another city in the Southwest, our wrongful death attorneys can advise you on what elements you must prove to file a claim.

 Call or email us to schedule your initial consultation.

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Our Results Make a Difference

Explore How We Have Helped Our Clients
  • $5 Million Prescription Drug Error

    Buckingham & Vega Law Firm obtained a $5 million settlement on behalf of a client who was wrongfully killed due to a prescription drug error.

  • $5 Million Pharmaceutical Negligence

    Our team secured $5 million on behalf of a family who lost their loved one due to the negligence of a hospital pharmacy.

  • $2 Million Dental Malpractice

    Our team obtained a $2 million settlement on behalf of a client who was wrongfully killed while undergoing dental surgery using anesthesia.

What a Wrongful Death Claim Is

Anyone’s passing is undesirable or inopportune, whether it results from an illness, injury, or after they’ve lived a long, fulfilling life. However, most situations where someone dies don’t warrant you filing a wrongful death claim as the person’s passing doesn’t stem from a preventable accident. Deaths caused by another person’s negligence, such as the following, may justify you filing a wrongful death lawsuit to recover compensation:

  • Motor vehicle crashes: Any type of driver negligence, whether it involves a motorist running a stop sign or light, or driving their vehicle while intoxicated and then crossing a centerline, could, for example, unnecessarily claim someone’s life. A defective auto part could cause a car to perform unexpectedly, taking someone’s life.
  • Premises liability situations: A property owner who fails to ensure their property is safe may leave visitors vulnerable to losing their lives. For example, slip and falls can result in injuries that claim someone’s life. The absence of adequate lighting or negligent security may allow would-be criminals to assault someone, leaving them for dead.
  • Unsafe workplace incidents: In recent years, there’s been an uptick in on-the-job violence. Cases in which workers physically assault their colleagues or members of the public use weapons in seemingly unprovoked attacks are increasing. Any fatal situations like these may meet the standards for filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
  • Defective product situations: While you may look at a small household appliance and assume that there’s no way it could claim someone’s life, it can. Countless stories have circulated in the media over the years whereby individuals have lost their lives when even the smallest electronic devices have exploded or ignited, killing them on the spot. Airplanes, automobiles, and many other products may have design, manufacturing, or warning issues that claim individuals’ lives.
  • Medical malpractice errors: Doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals, such as pharmacists, can make mistakes in diagnosing, caring for, and administering medications to patients. Each of these circumstances may leave individuals prematurely dead.

As you can see, there are a variety of circumstances in which human error can deprive what was someone with a full life ahead of them of their future.

You owe it to yourself and others to not let someone's negligence that resulted in a loved one's death go unaddressed.

How Wrongful Death Claims Work

It’s a plaintiff’s responsibility to prove liability when they are alleging that negligence resulted in a relative’s passing. Evidence must be compiled and presented that shows:

  • That the defendant owed the decedent a duty of care
  • That the defendant breached their duty of care
  • That the defendant’s actions caused the decedent’s fatal injuries
  • That a decedent and survivors suffered some kind of quantifiable loss from the fatal incident

While the elements a plaintiff must prove are fairly uniform across every state, each jurisdiction is different when it comes to who can file a wrongful death claim. Generally, the personal representative or executor of the decedent’s estate can file this claim on surviving family members’ behalf.

Compensation You May Be Eligible to Recover in Wrongful Death Cases

As referenced above, the void often left by the loss of a loved one is more than physical, it deprives families of the financial contribution they counted on for their survival. A wrongful death claim may allow you to recover:

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