How Much Will it Cost Me to File a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

The good news is that at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, we do not charge an upfront fee for wrongful death cases that we take on. Some of our wrongful death lawsuits involve:

• Medical errors
• Poor nursing home care
• Auto accidents
• Accidents on construction sites
• Bicycle accidents
• Motorcycle crashes
• Pharmacy errors
  

We work on a contingency fee basis, which means there is no fee for our clients unless we obtain a financial recovery in their case that they approve. The amount of our fee will depend on a number of factors, including the amount of time the lawsuit takes to research, negotiate and spend in court as well as the final amount of damages recovered. If we do not win a financial recovery for you, we do not get paid for our services.

Generally, Illinois wrongful death cases can take anywhere from one year to two years but we have examples of this type of litigation taking shorter and longer amounts of time. This time frame only provides an average or a hint at best of what yours could take because every case turns on its own accord. Also, beyond the original facts and circumstances that make every suit unique, the plaintiff’s own wishes and desires color the nature of the suit and dictate how many chapters it will take. Therefore, after explaining the nature of the incident that brought you to your lawyers, it’s helpful to discuss your wishes and needs so that you they know how to proceed accordingly and structure the action to fit your time constraints.

There are a few fundamental stages in Illinois wrongful death cases. Generally, they are delineated as pre-trial, trial, and post-trial. Within each of them, you will have factual, legal, and other goals. However, the central focus across all of them should be to bolster the argument you presented in your complaint: the defendant’s misconduct caused the death of your loved one and that the death caused your damages. Experienced trial attorneys can speak to the intricacies of each phase of these cases, but this is the overall framework within which they sit.

Wrongful death cases involve a number of moving parts. With these different challenges and opportunities, costs and expenses pop up as well. Here is a quick guide to identifying some of the costs involved in bringing a wrongful death case in Illinois:

• Filing a complaint
• Filing a summons
• Filing other documents
• Investigation
• Communications and correspondence
• Research
• Copying and paperwork
• Obtaining expert witnesses
• Case preparation and materials
• Travel and lodging
• Legal work

This overview should give you some insight into the financial burden of a trial. Obviously, as we already noted above, many law firms-including our own- take these costs on as part of their representation. However, looking at this tally should help you better understand an Illinois wrongful death lawsuit in all of its dimensions.

Many people focus on the costs of lawsuits like filing charges, investigative bills, records expenses, legal work, and others. They are right to look at these things but when you do think about a few other things. First, outside of the financial investment, wrongful death cases in Illinois take a considerable amount of time and energy as well. This is important to remember if you are pondering a lawsuit because it might compel you to find legal counsel that can shoulder a lot of this burden. Second, your counsel should also be able to bear a lot of the financial obligations of a lawsuit until the case ends. We do this for all of the wrongful death clients that we engage. We can walk you through exactly what this kind of cause of action demands, both from a financial and non-financial standpoint, if you give us a call.