Wrongful Death

Driver Strikes and Kills Pedestian in Cicero, Onondaga County, New York.

December 8, 2009 | by Michael Bersani

Today I read news reports that, on Friday evening, December 5, a woman drove her car into a pedestrian in Cicero, Onondaga County, New York. Twenty-nine-year-old Leann Doyle of Canastota struck 51-year-old Joanne Schoenfelder of Bridgeport while she was standing in front of a residential mailbox on Route 298. The car accident happened at about 7:30 p.m. The Ciceroauto accident victim was taken by ambulance to SUNY (University Hospital) in Syracuse where she was pronounced dead. It is not clear whether the pedestrian killed by the car was standing in the roadway or on the shoulder.

I didn’t read these news reports like a NORMAL person. Instead, by force of habit, my personal-injury-lawyer brain began dissecting and analyzing them as I read. Let me share with you my legal thoughts as I read of this tragic accident.

First, without knowing more about this case, it is hard to determine whether the driver, pedestrian, or both were at fault. If the pedestrian’s family files a claim for wrongful death and conscious pain and suffering against the driver, the jury will be allowed to tag each side for its percentage of fault. This directly affects the verdict. For example, if the jury determines the case is worth $1,000,000, and that the driver was 70% at fault, but the pedestrian was 30% at fault, the plaintiff (pedestrian’s family) would end up with only 70% of the $1,000,000, which is $700,000. The verdict is “discounted” to the tune of the victim’s percentage of fault.

Another Central New York Wrongful Death Law Horror Story

November 11, 2009 | by Michael Bersani

Let me tell you about another heartbreaking wrongful death settlement. Heartbreaking for two reasons, as I will explain below.

A middle-aged married woman was walking to work in Geneva, Ontario County, New York. To get to work she had to cross Routes 5/20, also known as Hamilton Street. She crossed in a crosswalk, which meant she had the right of way, and vehicles traveling down Routes 5/20 had to yield to her. But the driver of an 18-wheeler, who was traveling along Routes 5/20, mowed her down. She did not survive.

Her heartbroken widower sought out a Geneva wrongful death claim against the negligent tractor-trailer driver and his commercial carrier/employer.

New York’s Wrongful Death Law Is Wrongful

November 7, 2009 | by Michael Bersani

Ok, imagine this: A speeding car strikes and instantly kills your 3-year-old child as you watch helplessly from a nearby lawn in Seneca County. Turns out the speeding driver was drunk. Your 3-year-old had wandered up to the road as you were distracted by your 2-year-old who was throwing a tantrum. Sure, in hindsight you should have kept a better eye on him, but there is no way a sober driver driving at the speed limit would not have been able to brake in time and avoid running over your son.

Your world is turned upside down, your heart is literally broken, you are devastated. When the shock and horror subside, and the grief that will engulf you forever takes hold, you go to a Central New York wrongful death lawyer. You want justice. You want compensation. You want to make the driver pay. What does he tell you?

If your New York lawyer is both honest and brave, he will tell you the sad truth; your case is worth almost nothing. That’s right, almost nothing. Why? Because New York State’s wrongful death law does not allow compensation for the emotional grief of surviving family members. It allows compensation only for “economic” loss, that is, the loss of economic support the dead victim would have provided, had he not died, to his surviving family members (as well as some incidental expenses such as medical bills, funeral bills). And since your 3-year-old did not support anyone, there is no “value” to your claim.