The representative of a decedent’s estate is capable of filing a wrongful death lawsuit against a variety of people or entities, depending on the circumstances of the death in question. In a car accident scenario, for example, some of the potential defendants could include:
- The driver who was at fault in the automobile accident
- The employer of that driver, if the driver committed the negligent actions while driving as part of their job-related duties
- A manufacturer, distributor or installer of any defective or inherently dangerous part in the vehicle
- A person who sold alcohol to a driver who was impaired and caused a drunk driving-related accident
- The owner of a premises where alcohol was served to a person who then caused a drunk driving accident
- A government agent or entity who did not provide sufficient warning about inherently dangerous road conditions or hazards
There are some circumstances in which people or entities might be immune from wrongful death lawsuits, which may limit your options in recovery. Immunity will vary from state to state. There are, however, commonly issues involving immunity in some types of product liability cases involving medical devices or certain types of pharmaceutical drugs.
Immunity is an issue on a case-by-case basis, and generally won’t be applied to large groups of people for general types of offenses. The vast majority of the time, immunity won’t be a factor in a wrongful death case, but it is still a factor you’ll need to take into account in certain types of wrongful death scenarios.
For more information about filing a wrongful death claim on behalf of the estate of a person who died due to another party’s negligence, contact a trusted Sarasota personal injury lawyer at Goldman, Babboni, Fernandez & Walsh.