If you have experienced the wrongful death of a person that is close to you, be it a friend or a family member, you are probably grieving the death of your loved one and seeking justice in his or her name. This may prompt you to hire a wrongful death attorney in order to make sure that you get your friend or family member the justice that he or she deserves and some financial compensation to aid with continuing to live life after your loved one has passed. Your wrongful death attorney might suggest that you try mediating with the party that caused the wrongful death in the hopes that you can come to a conclusion without having to pay to take it to court. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself before choosing wrongful death mediation as opposed to a wrongful death court case.
1. Are you emotionally able to handle it?
Only you know where you are in the grieving process. If you are still prone to lash out at the people who caused your loved one's wrongful death and are seeking retribution, rather than justice, wrongful death mediation might not be for you. You might still need to rely on the structure of the court system to make sure that your emotions do not run away with you and spoil the case. If, on the other hand, time has passed between the wrongful death of your loved on and the decision to either go to court or try mediation, then you should consider mediation. Mediation will significantly lower your court costs and could potentially result in you being able to get through the compensation process more quickly.
2. Do you need the money to pay off hospital bills immediately?
Going through the court process can take a long time. If you have mounting medical bills from the injuries that resulted in the wrongful death that need to be taken care of or else they are going to go to collections, you might want to consider a mediation. The mediation will allow you to negotiate an earlier settlement and an advance payment of some of the funds that will allow you to pick your lives back up and move on again.
3. Are you going to be more hurt by the court process?
Some people just want to get the settlement over with as smoothly and painlessly as possible. If you think that you are going to be more hurt by the court process and want the settlement process to be just like a bandage that you rip off, consider going with a mediation in order to ensure that you don't have to do all of the work and stress that comes with taking a wrongful death to court.
For more information, visit a wrongful death attorney like those at Bangel, Bangel, & Bangel to discuss both litigation paths.
Share22 January 2016
Hi, my name is Sally. I was living a pretty average, uneventful life until I had an accident. At that point, my life become more stressful and painful than I could have ever imagined. Sadly, my accident happened on private property, and it could have been prevented if the owner of the property had kept up with his shoveling. For months, I missed work, suffered through constant pain and become more and more depressed. Finally, a friend referred me to an accident and injury lawyer, and she showed me how to get the compensation that I deserved. I don't want to see anyone else suffer like I did, and because of that, I decided to create this blog. Here, I hope anyone who has been injured can find the information they need to get fully compensated and regain their lives. Enjoy your reading and thanks for stopping by!
