Wrongful Death Lawyer Interviews

Birmingham, AL: A jury in Alabama was simply standing up for its community and following the rule of law when it awarded $37.5 million to the family of a young Huntsville police officer who was dispatched to investigate a 911 at a Mexican restaurant and then shot dead at point blank by the El Jalisco's intoxicated manager Benito Albarran, according to attorney Matthew Minner.

Jasper County, MS: Veteran Mississippi attorney Tab Turner has handled close to 300 Ford Explorer rollover cases, but the Brian Cole wrongful death case stands out for several reasons. "There's no question this is the largest award I've seen," says Turner, referring to the $131 million the jury awarded to the Cole family in compensatory damages.

Harrisburg, PA: A wrongful death lawsuit contends dangerous conditions and severe safety violations are responsible for catastrophic burn injury and death. Early on March 5, 2010, a young college student on his way to work stopped to gas up his Toyota Yaris at a BP station in the town of Battle Creek.

Fort Worth, TX: It took almost three decades for some of the families affected by the E-Ferol tragedy to be awarded compensation for the wrongful death or injury caused to their premature babies. According to attorney Art Brender, whose Fort Worth firm spent more than seven years litigating on behalf many of those families, they wanted more than compensation. "The mothers of the babies just wanted to know what happened," Brender says.

Woodland Hills, CA: California attorney Peter Williamson is fast becoming Taser International's worst nightmare. Over the last decade and more, the makers of the controversial handheld electroshock gun have been the target of dozens of lawsuits, ranging from product liability to police misconduct and wrongful death. However, Williamson and his co-counsel John Burton are the first attorneys to obtain a favorable verdict on behalf of a plaintiff.

Helena, MT: A jury in Montana recently ordered the makers of the legendary Louis Slugger baseball bats to pay the Patch family $850,000 in a wrongful death and product liability suit the family never expected win. "When we were talking to them after they had no idea how much they had won," says attorney Michael Kauffman from Drake Law Firm. "I think hope the money will go towards what they want to achieve. They don't want another family to go through what they went through."

Washington DC: Attorney Doug Fierberg may be one of the few attorneys in the US who specializes in representing hazing victims and their families. Because of his expert understanding of the old and sometimes deadly practice of fraternity hazing, Fierberg is often called upon--sometimes by the media and/or by grieving families with wrongful death suits--when a freshman dies from too much alcohol or a sorority girl is sexually assaulted.

Baltimore, MD: What happens if the Coast Guard miscalculates a critical piece of safety information and that miscalculation is implicated in an accident that resulted in the death of five people? According to a June 2009 decision by the Federal Court, the Coast Guard is immune from any financial liability. "I respectfully disagree with the court's interpretation," says maritime lawyer Robert Hopkins from the Baltimore firm of Duane Morris.

Chicago, IL: Attorney Jay Paul Deratany has handled many wrongful death suits in the past, but this one promises to be a little different. He is representing the parents of Melina Duckett, a Florida mother who shot and killed herself after a taped interview about her missing baby with the combative crime show host, CNN's Nancy Grace in September of 2006.