When a person’s death happens due to the fault of some other individual or entity, the surviving members of their family have the right to bring a lawsuit with the help of a personal injury lawyer in Kitchener to seek damages that they incurred due to the death of that person. Commonly known as wrongful death cases, this category of personal injury is governed by different laws for different states. Nonetheless, there are certain common foundations on which the laws are defined in each state. For instance, a wrongful death cases, although it involves the death of the victim, is treated as a civil case and not a criminal case and these lawsuits are filed to get monetary compensation and not get the defendant punished.
The person or the representative who files the lawsuit is called the plaintiff. Usually, the surviving family members appoint their representative with the help of their personal injury lawyer in Kitchener who files the lawsuit. The person or the organization against whom the case is filed is called the defendant in such cases. The case is filed to prove that the defendant was careless or negligent on a particular occasion and that negligence led to the death of the victim.
In order to prove their case, the plaintiff must prove a few things in the court. The plaintiff, with the help of their personal injury lawyer in Kitchener, is expected to prove that the defendant owed the duty to be careful towards the victim. Furthermore, the plaintiff must prove that the defendant did not fulfil their duty of care that they owed to the victim resulting in the mishap which led to the death of the victim. The plaintiff not only needs to prove that the defendant breached their duty towards the victim, but also that a particular action of the defendant caused the harm that led to the eventual death of the victim.
The personal injury lawyer in Kitchener representing the plaintiff would tell their client that the plaintiff has to prove with the help of evidence that the defendant caused the death of the victim. Most of the times, the judges instruct the jury members to find with the help of the evidence whether the defendant caused the death of the victim or not. However, even when the plaintiff has to provide appropriate evidence stating that the defendant caused the death of the victim, the burden of providing the evidence is much lesser than in the criminal case.
Once the plaintiff has produced the evidence with the help of their personal injury lawyer in Kitchener, the court verifies if the evidence produced is good enough and authentic or not. Only when the same has been established that the court instructs the jury to evaluate the evidence and find out if the defendant is actually responsible for the death of the victim. To read more Click Here