Meghann Cuniff is a legal affairs journalist who is a veteran of daily newspapers and has deep experience reporting on complex civil litigation, including mass torts and class actions, securities cases, patent disputes and high-stakes litigation involving major tech companies. She's based in Southern California.
Meghann Cuniff
Meghann Cuniff is a legal affairs journalist who is a veteran of daily newspapers and has deep experience reporting on complex civil litigation, including mass torts and class actions, securities cases, patent disputes and high-stakes litigation involving major tech companies. She's based in Southern California.
Jeffrey Johnson has written novels and movies in addition to legal analyses of eminent domain and immigration law. His experience in writing engaging fiction makes him uniquely capable of making the most dry and academic legal topics interesting (or as interesting as possible).
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Jeffrey Johnson, J.D.
Jeffrey Johnson has written novels and movies in addition to legal analyses of eminent domain and immigration law. His experience in writing engaging fiction makes him uniquely capable of making the most dry and academic legal topics interesting (or as interesting as possible).
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Losing a loved one due to an accident or negligence is painful. If you decide to pursue compensation for the death, you will want an experienced attorney. If you are looking for the best wrongful death lawyers in San Diego, there are many skilled attorneys who can help you. Here are 10 options.
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Best Wrongful Death Attorneys in San Diego
Compare Top Wrongful Death Attorneys
Filing a Wrongful Death Lawsuit in California
If someone close to you has died in an accident or other situation, you may be able to collect damages through a wrongful death claim against a person or entity you believe is at least partially responsible for the death. Here are a few things you should know as you get started.
California Statute of Limitations for Wrongful Death Cases
Statutes of limitation dictate the amount of time someone has to bring a legal claim. For wrongful death claims in California, the statute of limitations is two years. That means you have two years from the time of a person’s death to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
California Wrongful Death Laws
- Who can sue: California permits wrongful death claims from the deceased person’s spouse, domestic partner, children or other minors who depended on the deceased person for at least half their financial support. The deceased person’s parents also can be eligible if they were financially dependent on the person.
- Damage caps: California does not cap damages in most wrongful death lawsuits. There is a cap on damages for wrongful death claims related to medical malpractice, and it increased from $250,000 to $540,000 with legislation enacted Jan. 1, 2023. The cap increase yearly until it reaches $1 million over the next decade.
- Economic damages: Economic damages in wrongful death lawsuits cover tangible costs such as funeral and burial costs. They also can include the monetary value of household work that would be performed and the financial support that the deceased person would have given for the rest of the claimant’s life or for the deceased’s expected lifespan, whichever is shorter.
- Non-economic damages: Non-economic damages can include things like pain and suffering of the decedent and loss of companionship and affection by the claimants. It also can include loss of sexual relations for surviving spouses or domstic partners, and loss of the decedent’s guidance for spouses as well as children and other depends. The best wrongful death lawyers know how to maximize both economic and non-economic damages.
Wrongful Death Settlement Considerations
- Taxes: California taxes punitive damages in wrongful death settlements. That means if your settlement goes beyond typical economic and non-economic damages to include damages intended to punish, you’ll be paying taxes on the punitive part.
- Fees: You should expect to pay some amount of attorney fees, and it likely will come out of your settlement because most wrongful death lawyers operate on a contingency basis, meaning they don’t get paid until you do.
- Payments: Your settlement could be paid as a lump sum or through a payment plan negotiated as part of the settlement. If the person or entity you’re suing has insurance, the insurance company and the specific terms of the relevant policy may dictate exactly how and when the settlement is paid.
How Can an Attorney Help You?
- Navigating the system: An experienced wrongful death lawyer in San Diego knows the local court system, which makes it easier to navigate the slow and bureaucratic court process.
- Tracking deadlines: Lawyers have their own systems in place to track filing deadlines and court hearings, and they often have assistants who can double check dates and make sure everything is running on time.
- Seeking discovery: Your wrongful death lawsuit isn’t likely to go to trial, but you may need to obtain information from the other side through the discovery process, which an experienced lawyer knows how to do.
- Negotiating a settlement: The art of negotiation can be difficult, but the best wrongful death lawyers have enough experience to ensure you’re not going to get stuck with a lower offer than they could obtain through informed negotiations.
How to Find the Best Wrongful Death Lawyer in San Diego, CA
Not all lawyers approach their practices the same way, so you’ll want to consider what key attributes are important to you when you’re looking for the best wrongful death lawyer in San Diego. Here are some things to consider
- Trial experience: Wrongful death lawsuits don’t often go to trial, but some do, and it’s important to find an attorney who can handle a trial if needed. Trial experience also leads to more skilled settlement negotiations and can help earn the respect of opposing counsel.
- Time in court: Some lawyers are in court much more than others. Ask prospective attorneys about their litigation and courtroom experience and how that factors into their wrongful death practice.
- Case load: Some wrongful death attorneys handle only a few big cases every year, while others take on many more or also practice general personal injury or other areas of law. Look for an attorney whose approach is a good fit for the facts of your case and your personal preferences.
Methodology
To come up with the best wrongful death lawyers in San Diego of 2023, Forbes Advisor considered many factors. Forbes Advisor’s mathematical analysis considers and weighs the information collected to calculate a specific rating and reviews these results to find the best attorneys in a given practice area.
Within the model, we take into account factors that legal professionals and consumers value in an attorney’s qualifications. After assigning weighted scores to hundreds of data points, we narrowed the field down to our top choices based on:
- Legal experience
- Special licenses and certifications
- Ethics and bar disciplinary measures
- Legal thought leadership
- Education and employment background
- Scholarly lectures and writings
- Awards and honors
Forbes Advisor collects public data from a variety of sources, including state bar associations, court records and other published sources on the internet. This information should not be considered comprehensive, however. It might not include additional relevant information on an attorney’s legal skills and experience.
Each lawyer listed here has their own merits. Bear in mind that our list relates to these lawyers’ legal backgrounds, but does not evaluate their personalities or their knowledge of the law. One attorney may be more suitable than another for your specific legal situation.
One thing that can’t be quantified, though, is the rapport you establish with your attorney. Personality goes a long way when teaming up with an attorney, especially when going through a potentially difficult legal situation. These rankings should serve as a reference and potential starting point in your search for the right lawyer for you and your legal concerns.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About San Diego Wrongful Death Law
How much are most wrongful death settlements in California?
The amount of money you may receive through a wrongful death settlement depends on many factors, including the complexity of your case and the background and finances of the person or entity you are suing. Some wrongful death lawsuits may settle for small amounts of money, while other wrongful death claims could be worth much more. The best wrongful death lawyers in San Diego can explain the different factors in your situation that could affect any settlement you may receive.
What is the burden of proof for wrongful death?
Establishing liability for wrongful death involves proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the person or entity you’re suing acted negligently, had a duty of care to the victim that was breached through an act such as negligent driving and that the action caused the death and resulted in damages.
How long does it take to get a wrongful death settlement?
The amount of time your case may take to reach a settlement depends on the complexity of the case and nature of negotiations with the person or entity you’re suing. You should expect to spend anywhere from several months to more than a year negotiating and possibly litigating in court before your wrongful death lawsuit is completed.
