Georgia Breach of Duty

If negligence played a role in the wrongful death of a family member, you have the legal right to file a wrongful death claim in order to receive compensation for your loss. By hiring an experienced wrongful death attorney, you may recover compensation for mental anguish, loss of potential earnings, and loss of companionship, as well as punitive damages.

In order to show a link between your loved one’s death and the defendant’s action (or inaction), a wrongful death attorney must show that there was a breach of duty on the part of the defendant and that a reasonable person in a similar situation would have acted differently than the defendant did.

The judge or jury must also determine if the defendant had knowledge that there would be a greater risk of injury and/or death during the time he or she had a breach of duty. For example, if a person brings his or her car into an auto shop to have work done on the car’s brake lines, and the mechanic does not fix the brakes properly, the court may rule that a reasonable person would have foreseen the risk of driving a vehicle without brakes that work properly. In this case, the mechanic may be found in breach of duty.

The judge or jury will also look at the extent of risk involved in the breach of duty. For situations in which there is a great risk of injury, the greater the care the defendant must exercise. In medical malpractice cases, the wrongful death attorney may argue that doctor has the duty to exercise greater care because the risks of not taking the appropriate measures could lead to serious injury and/or death.

Another component of a breach of duty case is if the precautions the defendant should have taken were feasible. If there was nothing that the defendant could have done to eliminate the possibility of injury or death, he or she may not be held liable for breach of duty.

The experienced Georgia wrongful death attorneys at Head, Thomas, Webb and Willis are devoted to helping families who have lost a loved one because of breach of duty. To get a free consultation and to learn more about filing a wrongful death claim, please contact our law firm today.