Wrongful death trial lawyer for families

No lawsuit undoes a death. What a wrongful death case can do is provide for the people who depended on the person who died, hold the responsible party to account in public, and, in the right case, change the way a company or a city does things. Tobin Lanzetta was part of the trial team that resolved the Santa Monica Farmers Market litigation for $21 million after a driver struck dozens of people at the market; the City of Santa Monica installed permanent barriers afterward.

Who may bring the claim

Under California law (Code Civ. Proc. § 377.60), a wrongful death action may be brought by the surviving spouse or domestic partner, the children, and, if there are no surviving children, the people who would inherit under the laws of intestate succession. A person who was financially dependent on the decedent, including a putative spouse, stepchildren or parents, may also have standing.

What can be recovered

The family's own losses: the financial support the decedent would have provided, the value of household services, and the loss of the decedent's love, companionship, comfort, care, guidance and protection. Funeral and burial expenses are also recoverable.

A separate survival action belongs to the decedent's estate and recovers the losses the decedent personally suffered before death, such as medical expenses and lost earnings, and any punitive damages the decedent could have recovered. For cases filed on or after January 1, 2026, California law no longer allows the estate to recover the decedent's own pain, suffering or disfigurement (Code Civ. Proc. § 377.34); the temporary provision that permitted it expired at the end of 2025. We will explain how this affects the value of a particular case at the first meeting.

The cases we take

Deaths caused by defective vehicles and products, by trains and commercial trucks, by dangerous conditions on public or private property, by heavy machinery at work, and by decisions made by public entities. We take a limited number of these cases so that each is prepared for trial.

Deadlines

A wrongful death claim generally must be filed within two years of the death (Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1). If a city, county, transit agency or other public entity is responsible, a written claim must be presented to that entity within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2), and the lawsuit generally must be filed within six months after the claim is rejected in writing (Gov. Code § 945.6). Missing the claim deadline will usually end the case regardless of its merits.

Consultations are free, confidential and without obligation. We know this is the last call a family wants to make. We will listen first.