Wrongful Death Attorney in Lake Charles, LA

There is no specific average for a wrongful death settlement in Louisiana, as each case is different with different facts. For instance, no two cases have the exact same amount of medical bills. That said, the damages awards and settlements from wrongful death cases are among the highest of all personal injury claims. There is no cap on wrongful death claims, and they can often reach into the millions of dollars.

The factors that most directly affect the value of a wrongful death recovery include the age and health of the deceased at the time of death, the deceased’s income and financial contributions to the family, the number and relationship of surviving family members, the degree of fault of the at-fault party, whether punitive conduct was involved such as drunk driving, and the total medical expenses incurred before death.

Southwest Louisiana wrongful death cases involving the petrochemical industry, LNG facilities in Cameron Parish, and 18-wheeler crashes on Interstate 10 and Highway 171 frequently produce significant recoveries — both in settlements and at trial — because the at-fault parties are often large corporations or commercial trucking companies with substantial insurance coverage and documented safety violations.

The most important thing to understand is that the difference between an adequate settlement and a full recovery often comes down to who is representing your family and how thoroughly they have built the case.

Under Louisiana law, families can recover two distinct types of damages following a fatal accident: a survival action under La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 and a wrongful death claim under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2. There is no limit to the amount of damages that you can recover in a Louisiana wrongful death claim. Typical wrongful death damages include medical bills incurred by the victim, pain and suffering of the family of the victim, the loss of household contributions and financial support of the victim, and the emotional pain and suffering of the surviving family.

The foundational difference between a survival action and a wrongful death action is the parties who suffer the damages. Survival actions are established and regulated by Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.1 while wrongful death actions are handled by Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2.

In a survival action, the person who suffers the loss is the decedent, or person who dies. Whatever suffering and personal injuries that person suffered due to the negligent behavior, up until the point of death, are preserved for the family members of that victim. These are the damages the decedent would have been owed had they survived. So if a person suffered great injuries from a car wreck but fought for two months to survive, the damages from that two months of suffering are preserved after death and can become claims made on behalf of that deceased victim by the surviving family.

The parties who are damaged in a wrongful death are the surviving family members themselves. These are the injuries suffered by the family of the victim. Examples of these damages are funeral expenses, loss of financial support, loss of companionship, medical bills, and emotional pain and suffering.

Civil Code Article 2315.2 regulates who is permitted to file a wrongful death claim. The statute establishes the following order of priority:

1. The surviving spouse and child or children of the deceased, or either the spouse or the child or children.

2. The surviving father and mother of the deceased, or either of them, if the deceased left no spouse or child surviving.

3. The surviving brothers and sisters of the deceased, or any of them, if the deceased left no spouse, child, or parent surviving.

4. The surviving grandfathers and grandmothers of the deceased, or any of them, if the deceased left no spouse, child, parent, or sibling surviving.

Under La. C.C. Art. 2315.2, as amended in 2025, a wrongful death claim prescribes one year from the date of death OR two years from the date the injury or damage was sustained, whichever period is longer. This means that in cases where death is delayed after the initial injury — such as a victim who survives for more than a year before dying — the two-year period from the date of injury may give the family more time to file. For medical malpractice wrongful death claims, the prescriptive period remains one year from the date of death under Section F of the same statute

A wrongful death claim is a civil matter and a murder charge is a criminal matter. A civil claim is one brought between two private parties seeking compensation in terms of damages. A criminal matter is brought by the State of Louisiana against an individual seeking penal punishment for the accused.

However, just because these two concepts are in different areas of law does not mean they cannot overlap. If a person murders your family member, you can sue the killer for both a wrongful death claim for yourself and a survival action on behalf of the deceased. At the same time, the State of Louisiana can prosecute the killer criminally. This applies for all overlapping criminal and civil claims. Drunk driving leading to death is not murder, but it can lead to both civil claims — wrongful death and survival action — and criminal prosecution by the state.

At Colonna Law Firm, LLC we charge a contingency fee. This means that you do not pay the firm unless the firm recovers money on your behalf for the wrongful death claim. The agreement calculates a percentage of the recovery along with certain costs incurred. This means that a family does not have to worry about how they are going to pay for legal representation while already suffering direct financial damage as a result of the wrongful death. The contingency fee contract allows Jacob Colonna to fight on your behalf without requiring immediate payment.