Death is the most disastrous consequence of an awful mistake; it is the end of the road and it carries a heavy emotional burden for anyone who was directly impacted by it. In the recent past, the idea of a wrongful death lawsuit was unheard of. The courts demanded that the plaintiff directly showed up for the case, which is impossible given the nature of a wrongful death. Fortunately, family members and close heirs can receive compensation for the overwhelming negligence of another. Death is never insular: there is always someone else affected and sometimes in many ways.
The heart of a case with a wrongful death lawyer in Fort Collins involves something called “proving duty.” The plaintiff will have to point to the defendant’s own negligent duty to act as the source and reason for the death. This involves a complicated series of questions and evidence that speak to the involvement of the defendant.
The duty to prove basically means that the defendant being charged with the negligence had a duty to protect the person wrongfully deceased. The defendant’s actions do not have to directly lead to the death, which is often the case with an automobile accident, but they did have a responsibility to protect and they failed.
For example, a construction site involves the death of a worker. The equipment was faulty, and the employees were working unregistered overtime to get the job done. The assumption was that the grounds were safe. The construction worker leader, the on-site manager, had a duty to keep the grounds safe but they violated it by working overtime and working with faulty equipment.
The same can potentially be applied to an auto accident. It is assumed that people who drive do so at a reasonable level. They are mostly responsible and have a duty to uphold that standard of safety. The judge will decide if there is a case due to a lack of duty. A wrongful death Llawyer in Fort Collins will present the idea to continue the case to its logical conclusion. Click here for more on moving a wrongful death case in the right direction.
