The Intricacies of Wrongful Death Lawsuits: An Expert Examination
When litigating a wrongful death case in New York City, it is crucial to be acutely tuned into the minutia of the procedural mechanisms of the New York wrongful death statute as well as the cause of action that underlies the wrongful death claim. Litigating NYC wrongful death claims can be a strenuous effort that is not well-suited to being handled by inexperienced attorneys. It is imperative to hire a lawyer who has a deep understand of New York’s wrongful death statute and the procedural mechanisms attendant thereto.
If you have a loved one who was killed by the misconduct of another person then you need to retain experienced counsel as soon as possible. Retaining an effective attorney can be make-or-break in terms of maximizing the settlement value of your case. Reach out to the wrongful death attorneys at Dankser & Aspromonte today to schedule your free consultation.
Understanding Wrongful Death Lawsuits
Wrongful Death vs. Survival Actions: What is the Difference?
In New York, there is an interplay of two seemingly similar causes of action: claims for wrongful death and survival actions. Both causes of action allow the personal representative of a deceased person to bring lawsuits arising from the deceased person, but this is where their similarities end.
A wrongful death claim is an action created by New York state statute authorizing the personal representative of a deceased person to commence an action for wrongful death for the sole benefit of the decedent’s statutory distributees.[1] Wrongful death claims limit the damages distributees can recover to the “fair and just compensation for the pecuniary injuries resulting from the decedent’s death to the person for whose benefit the action is brought.”[2]
A survival action sounds similar to a wrongful death claim, but it is quite different. New York’s survival action statute provides that no claim for personal injury or injury to property shall abate because the claimant or the tortfeasor passed away.[3] In effect, this means that a person who was injured and could have sued or did in fact initiate a personal injury lawsuit can have that personal injury lawsuit continued by his or her personal representative after he or she dies as long as the action was not time-barred when they died.[4] One of the most important aspects of a survival action is that, unlike a wrongful death action, plaintiffs bringing a survival action claim can recover damages for the pain and suffering of the deceased person.[5]
The Statutory Basis for Wrongful Death Claims
New York courts are very clear that actions for wrongful death are brought pursuant to statutory authority and that there is no common law basis for a wrongful death claim.[6] Due to its statutory basis, New York judges construe these claims strictly.[7] This means that anyone who brings a wrongful death claim will be required to comply with exacting statutory requirements.[8]
The Elements of a Wrongful Death Claim
There are four elements that a wrongful death claimant must both plead and prove:
- The defendant’s wrongful act would have given rise to a viable claim for personal injury by the decedent against the defendant.
- The defendant’s wrongful act must cause the decedent to die.
- There must be a distributee—meaning someone who is entitled to collect the proceeds of the wrongful death lawsuit under the statute—who suffered a pecuniary loss by reason of the decedent’s passing.
- The person bringing the wrongful death suit must be the personal representative of the decedent’s estate.[9]
A wrongful death act is flexible in defining a “wrongful act,” allowing wrongful death claimants to bring their claims on a large number of theories.[10] The crucial aspect of the wrongful act prong is that, regardless of the nature of the wrongful act, the decedent would have been able to maintain a personal injury action based on the wrongful act against the defendant if not for his death.
Some elaboration on the term “distributee” is also necessary. A distributee is someone who (1) survived the decedent, and, (2) at the time of decedent’s passing, either (a) would have been the decedent’s distributee under the law of intestacy or (b) was the decedent’s parent and the decedent had no kids.[11]
Damages in Wrongful Death Lawsuits
In New York, damages in wrongful death cases are limited compensatory damages for the pecuniary loss suffered by the distributee due to the decedent’s death.[12] In simpler terms, this means that damages can only be awarded to wrongful death claimants for the economic value of the losses they suffer as result of the death. Generally, these damages include the following:
- Reasonable medical and funeral expenses;[13]
- Interest that has accrued since the date of the decedent’s passing;
- When appropriate, punitive damages;
- Loss of services;[14] and
- Loss of parental guidance.[15]
New York falls in the minority of jurisdictions which limit wrongful death remedies to pecuniary losses while prohibiting damage awards for loss of society.[16] Fifteen years after enacting the wrongful death statute, the New York Court of Appeals held that the word pecuniary was used in distinction to those injuries to the affections and sentiments which arise from the death of relatives, and which, though most painful and grievous to be borne, cannot be measured or recompensed by money. It excludes, also, those losses which result from the deprivation of the society and companionship of relatives, which are equally incapable of being defined by any recognized measure of value.[17]
Based on that distinction, New York does not permit wrongful death claimants to recover for grief of the survivors, the loss of the decedent’s love, loss of companionship, loss of society, or the surviving spouse’s loss of consortium because these losses cannot be measured or recompensed by money.[18]
The New York wrongful death statute is not without its critics, who say that the current law disproportionately favors wealthy people litigating wrongful death claims by only awarding damages for pecuniary losses.[19] They also contend that awarding damages only on a pecuniary loss basis measures the value of a human life in terms of the amount of money that person made. Many of these critics support the Grieving Families Act, which would allow damage awards for non-pecuniary losses in wrongful death claims.[20]
In rare occasions, a wrongful death claimant may be entitled to punitive damages.[21] Wrongful death claimants can recover punitive damages so long as the tortfeasor is still alive, but punitive damages will not be awarded if the tortfeasor is deceased.[22]
The Role of a Wrongful Death Attorney
When hiring an attorney for a wrongful death claim, it is always crucial to hire the right NYC wrongful death lawyer. Hiring an experienced wrongful death attorney is of the utmost important, and a client’s selection of counsel is one of the most critical decisions he or she will make in the case. The client should look for the following criteria when selecting an attorney to represent him in his wrongful death claim:
- Experience litigating wrongful death claims;
- A track record of good results for clients;
- A good ethical record with the state bar;
- Significant trial experience to push insurance companies to the negotiating table; and
- Honesty and dependability from the person handling what is likely the most important issue in the client’s life.
Upon being retained, counsel should get to work investigating the case and drafting the initial pleadings as soon as possible. The attorney should take the following steps at the case’s outset:
- Get signed releases from the client allowing the attorney to acquire the decedent’s medical records;
- Interview all possible distributees within the family;
- Inquire into the relationships between the decedent and the family members; and
- Investigate the scene of the death to the extent possible.
The case is going to progress through stages. Discovery will commence shortly after the defendant files an answer to the complaint, and once discovery is complete, dispositive motions such as a motion for summary judgment will likely follow.
Throughout that process, the lawyer should be engaged in settlement talks with defense counsel to determine if a strong recovery is possible without expending too much time or too many resources. Ultimately, it is the lawyer’s job to resolve the case on terms favorable to his or her client. The case should be prepared to go to trial for the start, but trial is rarely the optimum outcome for either side and will typically happen when one side has significantly overvalued or undervalued the settlement of the case.
Challenges and Complexities
The Statute of Limitations in New York Wrongful Death Claims
In New York, the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim begins to run on the day of the decedent’s passing, and it expires two years after he or she dies.[23] This two-year period is strictly enforced in New York, even when cause of action underlying the wrongful death claim would ordinarily have a longer statute of limitations.
New York does follow a few exceptions to the statute of limitations, specifically allowing the statute to be tolled in the following circumstances:
- Infancy: The statute of limitations is tolled during a period where all of the distributees are children and have not yet had a guardian appointed to bring the claim on their behalf.[24]
- Fraudulent Concealment: The statute of limitations cannot run on a claim in New York if the defendant acts fraudulently to conceal his or her wrongful act, thereby preventing its discovery.[25]
- The Discovery Rule: New York applies the discovery rule the statute of limitations, meaning that the statute of limitations will not run on a wrongful death claim arising from exposure to harmful or toxic substances until the exposure is discovered.[26]
The Impact of Family Dynamics in Wrongful Death Cases
The quality of the relationship between the decedent and the distributees is important in determining the decedent’s disposition to have given voluntary assistance or support to them.[27] The quality of these relationships is even more important where the decedent had no legal obligation to support the statutory distributee.
Further, evidence of these relationships is admissible and often comes from unusual sources. In Loetsch v. New York City Omnibus Corp., a decedent-wife left her spouse just one dollar in her will because he had been a cruel, indifferent husband while she had been a faithful, dutiful, and loving wife.[28] The Court held that the decedent’s will, which had been executed just four months earlier, was admissible at trial to prove the decedent’s state of mind.[29] Further, the decedent’s state of mind was highly relevant to whether or not the husband had a reasonable expectancy of future assistance or support from his wife had she lived.[30] Ultimately, that court explained:
It is always proper to make proof of the relations of the decedent to the person for whose benefit the action is maintained, because such proof has a bearing upon the pecuniary loss suffered by the person entitled to the recovery, and this is true whether the beneficiary is the surviving husband or wife or one or more of the next of kin.[31]
The Court went on to hold that the amount recoverable in any particular wrongful death case is heavily influenced by the nature of the relationship between the beneficiary and the decedent precisely because the measure of loss is determined from the standpoint of the surviving spouse and is limited to compensation for pecuniary loss.[32] The decedent’s voluntary decision to provide support for the beneficiary is of essential importance to a jury in determining pecuniary loss.[33]
Conclusion
As has been demonstrated above, the law of wrongful death in New York is complex, and it often accompanies fact patterns in which the worst has befallen innocent families. When litigating these cases, it is always important to keep the humanity of the client at the forefront of one’s mind while helping them to navigate one of the biggest issues they will deal with in their life.
After a loved one is killed by another person’s wrongful act, it can be hard to know where to turn, but you do not have to go it alone. Our attorneys have years of experience litigating these cases and a resume of results to show for it. Reach out to our skilled NYC wrongful death attorneys at Dansker & Aspromonte by calling us at (516) 206-6723 or by contacting us at our webpage, which is linked here.
[1] N.Y. EPTL § 5-4.1.
[2] Mazella v. Hauser, 37 N.Y.S.3d 596 (2016).
[3] N.Y. EPTL § 11-3.2.
[4] Stolarski v. Family Services of Westchester, Inc., 973 N.Y.S.2d 725 (2013).
[5] Tenczar v. Milligan, 365 N.Y.S.2d 272 (1975).
[6] Carrick v. Central General Hospital, 434 N.Y.S.2d 130 (1980).
[7] Ratka v. St. Francis Hosp., 407 N.Y.S.2d 458 (1978).
[8] Young v. Robertshaw Controls Co., 481 N.Y.S.2d 891 (1984).
[9] Chamberlain v. City of White Plains, 986 F.Supp.2d 363 (S.D.N.Y. 2013).
[10] Cauverien v. De Metz, 188 N.Y.S.2d 627 (1959); McDonald v. McDonald, 597 N.Y.S.2d 159 (1993); Greco v. S.S. Kresge Co., 277 N.Y. 26 (1938); Coursen v. New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, 499 N.Y.S.2d 52 (1986); Ploof v. B.I.M. Truck Service, Inc., 384 N.Y.S.2d 521 (1976); Sullivan v. Dunham, 161 N.Y. 290 (1900).
[11] N.Y. EPTL § 4-1.1; N.Y. EPTL § 5-4.5.
[12] Gonzalez v. New York City Housing Authority, 77 N.Y.2d 663 (1991).
[13] Milczarski v. Walaszek, 969 N.Y.S.2d 685 (2013).
[14] De Long v. County of Erie, 60 N.Y.2d 296 (1983).
[15] Gonzalez v. New York City Housing Authority, 77 N.Y.2d 663 (1991).
[16] Gonzalez v. New York City Housing Authority, 77 N.Y.2d 663 (1991).
[17] Tilley v. Hudson Riv. R.R. Co., 24 N.Y. 471 (1862).
[18] Gonzalez v. New York City Housing Authority, 77 N.Y.2d 663 (1991).
[19] Midgley & Potenza, The Push and Pitfalls of New York’s Attempt to Expand Wrongful Death Recovery, Best Lawyers (May 20, 2024), https://www.bestlawyers.com/article/new-york-wrongful-death-recovery-expansion/5859.
[20] Midgley & Potenza, The Push and Pitfalls of New York’s Attempt to Expand Wrongful Death Recovery, Best Lawyers (May 20, 2024), https://www.bestlawyers.com/article/new-york-wrongful-death-recovery-expansion/5859.
[21] N.Y. EPTL § 5-4.3(b).
[22] N.Y. EPTL § 11-3.2(a)(1).
[23] Proano v. Gutman, 180 N.Y.S.3d 279 (2022).
[24] Hernandez v. New York City Health and Hospitals Corp., 78 N.Y.2d 687 (1991).
[25] McIvor v. DiBenedetto, 503 N.Y.S.2d 836 (1986).
[26] N.Y. C.P.L.R. 214-c.
[27] 15 N.Y.Prac., New York Law of Torts § 15:24.
[28] Loetsch v. New York City Omnibus Corp., 291 N.Y. 308 (1943).
[29] Loetsch v. New York City Omnibus Corp., 291 N.Y. 308 (1943).
[30] Loetsch v. New York City Omnibus Corp., 291 N.Y. 308 (1943).
[31] Loetsch v. New York City Omnibus Corp., 291 N.Y. 308 (1943).
[32] Loetsch v. New York City Omnibus Corp., 291 N.Y. 308 (1943).
[33] Loetsch v. New York City Omnibus Corp., 291 N.Y. 308 (1943).