A wrongful death lawsuit not only protects the surviving family members but the estate of the victim. Following an unexpected death, the victims' family will face financial burdens that they likely hadn't anticipated. By hiring a wrongful death attorney the family can attempt to recover compensation for the costs that they've incurred. The most obvious financial burdens are bills for medical treatment and the funeral arrangement. Others aren't as clear but can sometimes be more painful. The loss of a spouse, parent, business partner, friend, etc. has a serious impact on survivors and a wrongful death suit allows survivors to receive compensation for that pain and suffering.

Before a wrongful death suit can go forward, a surviving representative of the estate must step forward and file. Not just any descendant can file a suit, however. He or she must be able to prove to the court that he has a familial relationship to the deceased and that he is suffering as a direct result of the death. This is the point at which a qualified wrongful death attorney should become involved.

There are a number of aspects of a wrongful death that can result in compensation and it's the attorney's job to identify these opportunities. An attorney will likely start with bills that stem directly from the death, like the burdens mentioned above, and then look at other financial matters. This can include the lost income from a deceased spouse. Finally, the attorney will determine the emotional distress the death has caused and attempt to establish a value for that and also look at what kind of suffering the victim experienced prior to his death. All of these factors go into determining the compensation that you deserve.

While any criminal trial related to the wrongful death can bring justice to those who caused the wrongful death, the civil lawsuit can provide a much more tangible result and can ensure that a family isn't left trying to pay for others' mistakes.

This post was written by Michael Ehline of Ehline Law Firm PC at 633 West Fifth Street, 28th Floor, Los Angeles car accident lawyer, dog bite and wrongful death lawyers. You can contact them at 213.596.9642 and 888.400.9721.

If you have experienced injury, disability, or illness from seeking medical treatment, you may have fallen victim to medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is when a doctor or other medical professional - nurse or technician - does something, or fails to do something, that harms his patient.

The key factors involved are:

• A physician or medical professional's error, and


• Resulting harm.

Mistakes can happen at any time during medical treatment. But errors due to negligence can lead to especially tragic results. If a negligent physician error has caused you serious harm, or caused the death of a loved one, you may have a medical malpractice claim.

If you feel that a medical professional made a mistake or error, you may be able to collect damages from those responsible. Compensation can be awarded for:

• Excessive medical bills, bills exceeding your original treatment


• Lost wages (past and future)


• Pain and suffering


• Loss of enjoyment of life


• Emotional distress


• Loss of companionship (for the death of a loved one)

Most importantly, by filing a suit you can make sure that the same medical treatment error never happens to another person in your situation.

However, a medical malpractice claim must be filed timely, before it is too late. If you wait too long, you may be prevented from filing a claim. Furthermore, you do not have to worry about the cost of filing a claim. An experienced medical malpractice attorney will take your case on a "contingency fee" basis, meaning that your attorney only collects payment once the case is won.

No matter the reason, medical malpractice claims manifest in many different ways as there are numerous procedures that medical professionals are required to follow to ensure accuracy and safety. If someone does not do his job properly, you or your loved ones could pay the ultimate price. While we should continue to trust our doctors and medical professionals, we should be mindful of the possible mistakes that can forever affect an innocent person's life.

Medical malpractice mistakes resulting in injury or death can be extremely costly to your family. Medical bills skyrocket from post-error treatment, and the loss of your loved one creates immense emotional suffering and loss of income for which you are entitled to compensation. Often, those who made the mistake will offer to settle and pay for medical expenses, but that rarely serves to make you and your family whole again following such a tragedy. A personal injury attorney qualified in litigating medical malpractice can advise you of the steps you can take to hold those who made the fatal error accountable and to collect the funds that you deserve.

Sadly, in the age of all this innovative technology, a new fatal hazard has erupted. Unfortunately, it is a hazard for which there is no third party to pursue in a personal injury or wrongful death case. Today almost everyone owns some kind of portable device such as an iPhone, iPod, or iPad. Even owners of standard cell phones and blackberries are culprits. These products allow those who are walking to listen to music, text friends or family, return work emails or play games as well as those running for exercise to enjoy listening to their favorite music. Unfortunately, as people are walking or out jogging, their attention is on their handy dandy electronic device and not on the cars and trucks traveling the roadway. Many are aware of the hazards associated with texting and driving, however, the same dangers are present when texting and walking or listening to music while jogging.

A new study conducted by the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore shows that the number of pedestrian injuries that have occurred while users listened to their iPods and MP3 devices with headphone has more than tripled in the past six (6) years.

Unfortunately, when you are walking outside while engaged with your electronic device you are not paying attention to the cars and traffic around you. Thus, many pedestrians are struck by vehicles and some are killed as a result of these accidents. The study further showed that two-thirds of those killed in these accident from 2004-2011 were male, under 30 years old.

Sadly, if you are walking with earphones or headphones and listening to music, you may not hear drivers who attempt to honk their horn to warn pedestrians of danger. If you are not paying attention and are struck by a car and sustain injuries, even if the driver was wrong and at fault, you as a pedestrian may be deemed contributorily negligent in the accident because you were unable to hear a car's horn or were not fully paying attention to traffic. In Maryland and the District of Columbia, if you are contributorily negligent and your actions make you as little as 1% at fault for the accident (where the driver is 99% at fault due to speeding or by some other violation), you are forever barred from receiving any compensation for your injuries. Therefore, if you are distracted when you listen to music, text, or play games as you are out and about and get hit by a car, you most likely will not be able to receive any compensation for the medical bills, lost wages and pain and suffering incurred as a result of the accident. I hope after reading this, all of you make sure to turn your music down so that you can hear a vehicle's warning horn sound, if necessary. The bottom line is enjoy the convenience that these electronic devices offer us, but please be safe while doing so and do not use any of these devices at the cost of your body or your life.