Family members of someone who has wrongfully died may seek payment of damages from anyone who has legal liability for the death. As a general matter, attorneys for grieving families prove liability by demonstrating:
- A party owed the deceased a duty of care. A duty of care is an obligation not to make decisions or take actions that put someone else at an unreasonable risk of harm. The duty of care that one person may owe another depends on the context of their interactions. For example, all drivers on Philadelphia roads owe each other duties of care not to drive so recklessly as to risk causing an accident. Philadelphia business owners owe their customers a duty of care to keep business premises free of unreasonably dangerous conditions. And so on.
- A party breached a duty of care. A person or entity breaches a duty of care by making decisions or engaging in actions that put someone in harm’s way. A motorist breaches a duty of care by speeding, for example. A business owner breaches a duty of care by failing to clean up spilled liquid on a tile floor.
- The breach caused the victim’s death. Generally speaking, a party has legal liability for breaching a duty of care when that breach causes harm, such as the death of someone in an accident or incident caused by the breach.