What is a wrongful death claim?

A wrongful death claim is a claim where, unfortunately, someone passes away. Typically, you know, it could be a truck crash, motorcycle crash, car crash, or even a slip and fall where somebody falls, hits their head, and ultimately has a bleed or something in the brain that kills them. It’s a claim where somebody gets killed because of the negligence of another person, and they leave behind others who suffer losses because of it.

One that comes to mind right away was a sad case that I handled in southern Minnesota, right near the Minnesota–Iowa border. It involved a young man who got hit by another driver who lost control, came across the center line, and hit him head-on. He left behind three young girls, a mom and dad, and siblings. In that case, there was a huge loss. The loss was financial, but the loss was even more significant for those young girls. They lost their dad. They didn’t have their dad there anymore when they graduated from high school, when they got married, when they had birthdays, holidays—things like that.

Likewise, this gentleman’s parents were older, but they no longer had their son there for them when it came time for holidays and other important moments. They also had a farm, and he was very instrumental in doing the farm work. They lost the person they relied on to do a lot of things for them in life, as did his siblings.

So, you know, wrongful death cases are about—and come about because of—the loss of relationships. When somebody loses someone close to them, if you lose your dad, that’s not replaceable. There’s not somebody else who’s going to come along and fill that role.

I just had that with another young guy, 22 or 23 years old, who lost his dad, and it, for obvious reasons, turned his life upside down and forever changed everything about how he did life and how he does life. And his dad is never coming back.

Even on a personal level, my little sister was killed in a car crash in 1989. It forever changed my life, and my parents’ lives as well. And that was many years ago.