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Wrongful Death Actions

Wrongful death claims are actions for damages stemming from a decedent’s death due to the negligent action or omission of another. The deceased person’s surviving relatives may bring a wrongful death suit seeking monetary damages to compensate for the loss of their loved one. Family members may also bring additional claims, depending on the circumstances, for elements such as loss of companionship. Each jurisdiction has its own statute regarding wrongful death claims, and those rules may differ from state to state. For this reason, it is important to speak to an attorney in your jurisdiction who is knowledgeable in wrongful death actions to learn about the laws in your state.

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Who is Responsible for Injuries Stemming from a Sexual Assault?

As the victim of a sexual assault, you may have civil claims against more than one party. It depends on the circumstances surrounding the assault. You may have a claim for compensation against the assailant, the assailant’s employer or another individual. The injured party (male or female) may have a personal injury claim for damages sustained as a result of suffering a sexual assault. To prove a personal injury claim, the victim must show he or she was sexually assaulted by the defendant (assailant) and was injured as a result (physically or emotionally injured). It must also be shown that the defendant caused the plaintiff’s injuries, either intentionally or due to negligence.

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Injury & Tort Law Case Summaries

[06/25] Crescent Towing & Salvage Co. v. Chios Beauty MV
In an action for damages sustained when defendant's ship collided with plaintiffs' barges and tugboats during Hurricane Katrina, partial judgment for plaintiff is affirmed in part where the district court did not clearly err in its finding of a predicted "direct hit" on New Orleans by the hurricane, its factual findings based on this finding, and the ultimate finding of negligence to the extent that it relied upon this finding. However, the matter is remanded where the district court needed to enter an order setting the total amount of recovery plaintiffs could recover in rem.

[06/25] Bagby Elevator Co. v. Schindler Elevator Corp.
In an action for tortious interference with contract, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed where: 1) under the court's highly deferential standard of review, there was no reversible error in the district court's decision to use the pattern jury instruction; 2) there was sufficient evidence of both malice and gross negligence to support an award of exemplary damages; and 3) there was ample evidence of causation to support the verdict.

[06/25] Lal v. State of Cal.
In an action against the California Highway Patrol and certain officers for the shooting death of plaintiff's husband, dismissal of the action with prejudice under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(b) for failure to prosecute when her attorney failed to meet deadlines and attend hearings is reversed where an attorney's gross negligence constituted an extraordinary circumstance warranting relief from a judgment dismissing the case for failure to prosecute under Rule 41(b).

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