Laplace Wrongful Death Lawyer

Wrongful Death Lawyer Laplace, LA

Nothing prepares a family for the sudden loss of a loved one, and nothing makes it harder than knowing the death was preventable. If someone you loved was killed because of another person’s negligence in Laplace, you have legal rights, and the window to act on them is shorter in Louisiana than in almost any other state.

Our Laplace, LA wrongful death lawyer at Kiefer & Kiefer has spent over 40 years representing families who have lost loved ones to preventable accidents, negligent drivers, dangerous property, and corporate indifference. We handle these cases with the seriousness and care they require. Contact us today for a free consultation.

Why Choose Kiefer & Kiefer for Wrongful Death Cases in Laplace, LA?

We Build the Full Picture of Your Loss

A wrongful death case has two components that are equally important. The first is the legal theory: establishing what happened, who was responsible, and why they bear liability for the death. The second is the human story: who your loved one was, what they meant to your family, and what their absence has taken from the people who depended on them. Most law firms focus on the first and shortchange the second. Our personal injury lawyer in Laplace, LA paints the full picture.

When we take a wrongful death case, we ask to see family photos and videos. We want to hear stories. We want to understand the relationship, the role your loved one played in your family’s life, and the future that was cut short. That investment shapes how we present a case to an insurance company and to a jury. It is what separates a settlement that accounts for the numbers from one that accounts for the full weight of what was lost.

Chris Short is a partner who graduated magna cum laude from Tulane University Law School and is licensed in Louisiana and Florida. His ability to connect with clients during some of the most difficult periods of their lives is a defining characteristic of how he handles wrongful death cases. He was named a partner at Kiefer & Kiefer after building a consistent record of serious results for injured clients and their families across Louisiana.

Megan Kiefer is a partner and one of Louisiana’s most decorated personal injury attorneys. A Tulane University Law School graduate, she also holds specialized training in mediation and negotiation from Humboldt University of Berlin. She has been recognized by Super Lawyers in 2022, 2023, and 2024, inducted into the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and named a top personal injury lawyer by New Orleans Magazine. She is a two-time recipient of the New Orleans City Business Leadership in Law award and serves as an adjunct instructor at Tulane University Law School’s trial advocacy program.

Nat Kiefer Jr. has been practicing Louisiana personal injury and wrongful death law since 1982. He graduated from Tulane University Law School with honors, earned membership in the Order of the Coif, received the Walter Sutton Award, and served on the Moot Court Board. He has spent decades as an adjunct instructor at Loyola University Law School.

Results That Reflect the Work

Kiefer & Kiefer has recovered well over $100 million for injured clients and their families across Louisiana. Our results include a $1.9 million recovery for a family whose loved one died as a result of chemical exposure, a $4.2 million result for a client who sustained catastrophic injuries in a workplace accident, and a $5 million premises liability recovery. We have handled fatal accident cases involving commercial vehicles, dangerous property, industrial exposure, and negligent drivers.

Those results come from doing the work that many firms skip. Retaining the right experts early. Preserving evidence before it disappears. Building both the legal theory and the human story of your loved one’s life simultaneously, because both matter to the outcome.

Immediate Action When It Matters Most

In wrongful death cases, evidence moves fast. Surveillance footage gets deleted. Witnesses become harder to locate. Physical evidence at the scene of an accident changes or disappears. We respond with urgency from the moment a family retains us, moving to preserve everything relevant to the case while also beginning the process of understanding who was lost and what your family has been through.

No Fees Unless We Win

Every wrongful death case we handle is taken on a contingency fee basis. You pay nothing to get started, and we collect no fee unless we recover compensation for your family.

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“Everyone here is friendly and easy to work with. Thank you Megan. I would absolutely use again” — Alan S.

Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.

Types of Wrongful Death Cases We Handle in Laplace

Wrongful death claims arise wherever negligence causes a fatality. The circumstances vary widely, but the legal obligation is the same: when someone’s failure to act reasonably costs another person their life, the surviving family has the right to pursue full compensation for what they have lost. We handle wrongful death cases across Laplace and St. John the Baptist Parish in all of the following situations.

• Fatal truck accidents. Commercial trucks are among the deadliest vehicles on Louisiana roads. When a truck driver’s negligence, a trucking company’s failure to maintain equipment, or a violation of federal hours of service regulations causes a fatality, multiple parties may bear liability. These cases require immediate action to preserve black box data, driver logs, and maintenance records before they are destroyed.
• Fatal motorcycle accidents. Riders killed in crashes with other vehicles leave behind families who deserve answers and full accountability from the at-fault parties. Bias against motorcyclists does not end when a case becomes a wrongful death claim, and we counter it with the same preparation and evidence-based approach we bring to every rider case.
• Fatal pedestrian accidents. A pedestrian struck and killed by a vehicle leaves a family dealing with sudden, devastating loss. We pursue every available avenue of recovery against at-fault drivers and, where applicable, the companies that employ them.
• Fatal workplace accidents. Louisiana workers are killed in industrial accidents, construction incidents, and vehicle crashes every year. A wrongful death claim may be available alongside or separate from workers’ compensation depending on the circumstances, and we evaluate the full picture in every case.
• Deaths caused by dangerous property. When a property owner’s failure to maintain safe conditions causes a fatal accident, the family of the deceased may have a wrongful death claim against that owner. We have secured results against major corporations in premises liability cases, and we bring that same approach to fatal premises cases.
• Deaths caused by chemical or toxic exposure. We recovered $1.9 million for a family whose loved one died as a result of chemical exposure. These cases require specialized experts and a thorough understanding of the regulatory framework governing the responsible parties.
• Wrongful death following criminal conduct. A civil wrongful death claim proceeds independently of any criminal case and does not require a criminal conviction to succeed. Even when the responsible party is not charged or acquitted, filing a wrongful death claim is often a viable path to justice for the family.

Louisiana Legal Requirements for Wrongful Death Cases

Louisiana’s wrongful death framework is defined by two separate statutes that work together in most fatal accident cases, and understanding the distinction between them matters to what your family can recover.

The wrongful death statute at La. C.C. Art. 2315.2 allows specific surviving family members to bring a claim for their own losses resulting from the death. Louisiana establishes a strict priority order: the surviving spouse and children come first, then parents, then siblings, then grandparents. Only the highest-priority category with living members may bring the claim. The damages recoverable under a wrongful death claim are the survivors’ own losses — grief, loss of companionship, loss of financial support, and more.

The survival action statute at La. C.C. Art. 2315.1 is separate and distinct. It allows the estate to recover the damages the deceased suffered between the moment of injury and the moment of death. In most cases, both a wrongful death claim and a survival action are pursued simultaneously. They involve different damages and different legal theories, and both deserve thorough attention.

Louisiana’s comparative fault rules under La. C.C. Art. 2323 apply to wrongful death cases as they do to all personal injury claims. Defense attorneys often argue that the deceased bore partial responsibility for the accident that caused their death. We anticipate those arguments and build cases specifically designed to address them.

The statute of limitations for wrongful death claims in Louisiana is one year from the date of death under La. C.C. Art. 3492. For survival actions, the one-year period runs from the date of injury. Both deadlines are firm. If you have lost a family member in Laplace, contact an attorney as soon as possible.

What Damages Are Recoverable in a Laplace Wrongful Death Case?

Louisiana law allows surviving family members to recover for the full scope of their losses, financial and personal, and in serious wrongful death cases both categories can be substantial.

Economic damages cover the concrete financial impact of the loss. The income and financial support the deceased provided or would have provided over their lifetime. The value of services they performed for the family. Funeral and burial costs.

In cases involving a primary earner, a young person with decades of working life ahead of them, or a parent whose contributions to the household went beyond income, these calculations require forensic economists to project future losses with precision. We retain those experts and use their analysis to build the strongest possible economic case.

Non-economic damages are often the most significant component of a wrongful death recovery and the hardest to quantify. The loss of love, companionship, comfort, and guidance that a spouse, parent, or child provided. The grief of raising children without a parent present. The emptiness left in a household by someone who was central to it.

Louisiana law recognizes these losses as fully compensable, and how well an attorney understands and communicates them directly affects what a wrongful death case resolves for. Wrongful death claims require an attorney who treats the human side of a case with the same rigor as the legal side. That is what we do.

Survival action damages are recovered on behalf of the deceased’s estate and cover what the deceased personally suffered before death: pain and suffering, and medical expenses incurred between injury and death. These are pursued alongside the wrongful death claim in most cases, and they require separate documentation and legal analysis.

Contact Kiefer & Kiefer

If you lost a family member in Laplace due to someone else’s negligence, we are ready to help. We understand this is an extraordinarily difficult time, and we handle every wrongful death case with the care and seriousness it deserves. We offer free consultations and work on a contingency basis. No fees unless we win. Contact us today to tell us about your loved one.