San Antonio Wrongful and Preventable Death Lawyer
Our founder, Joseph R. Echavarria, is a former Bexar County prosecutor who has handled injury claims since 2007 and recovered tens of millions of dollars for injured Texans and their families, and with of-counsel attorneys we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars.
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A wrongful death is a death caused by someone else’s wrongful act, neglect, carelessness or default, and it tends to cost a family both a loved one and an income because § 71.002 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code holds the party at fault liable for the damages.
If someone else’s carelessness took your spouse, child or parent, your family may bring a wrongful death claim for its own losses, and the estate a survival claim (§ 71.021) for what your loved one suffered before death. It is a personal injury claim brought by the people left behind, with its own rules on who may file.
Joseph R. Echavarria of JRE Injury Law is a San Antonio wrongful death attorney and former Bexar County prosecutor who has represented injured Texans since 2007.
Serving all of San Antonio and the Hill Country, our aggressive San Antonio wrongful death attorneys are ready to take your case to trial. A trial-tested team beside you, no matter the size of your claim.
When you call, you speak with a real trial lawyer, not a call center, in English or Spanish.
Go ahead and make the call today. Call our San Antonio office at (210) 272-0101 or use our secure online contact form for a free case review. You Pay Nothing Unless You Win
Who will fight for your family at JRE Injury Law?
A trial bench led by a former Bexar County prosecutor will fight for your family, with one named case manager keeping every relative informed. Mr. Echavarria has recovered tens of millions of dollars for injured clients. Death cases here are tried in the county’s civil district courts at the Bexar County Courthouse, 100 Dolorosa.
Ethan L. Shaw, Of Counsel to JRE Injury Law and a partner at Shaw Cowart, LLP, is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. With co-counsel Tom Rhodes, he won a jury verdict of about $70 million in Tate v. Discover Property & Casualty in the 225th District Court in Bexar County in 2009, against an insurer that wrongfully denied an injured worker’s benefits. The verdict was affirmed on appeal.
Results our trial team has obtained for grieving families include:
- Weissmann v. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway: a confidential settlement after a death at a railroad crossing (Mr. Shaw, lead counsel)
- Odle v. Arroyo: a confidential settlement in a death caused by medical negligence (Mr. Shaw, lead counsel)
A family case often has a spouse, adult children and parents all waiting for news. Your case manager keeps every one of them updated at every step, and Mr. Echavarria, your wrongful death lawyer, returns calls himself, including evenings. We can meet your family at home.
What compensation can a family recover after a wrongful death?
A family can recover the losses the death causes each surviving spouse, child and parent, while the estate separately recovers what your loved one lost before death. What a family receives depends on the facts, any share of fault and the insurance available. The full rules are in Chapter 71 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
Wrongful death damages go to the spouse, children and parents:
- Lost earnings and benefits your loved one would have provided
- Lost household services, care, advice and guidance
- Loss of companionship and society
- Mental anguish
- Loss of inheritance
Survival damages go to the estate:
- Conscious pain and mental anguish before death
- Medical bills from the final injury
- Funeral and burial expenses
When a death is caused by a willful act or omission or by gross negligence, § 71.009 allows exemplary damages on top of actual damages, generally subject to the caps in § 41.008.
Mr. Shaw was lead counsel in Youngblood v. Fell, Ryder Truck Rental, a death case arising from a four-fatality rental-truck crash that resolved in a confidential settlement. Past results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome. Every case is different and depends on its own facts.
How does a jury divide the money among family members?
The jury splits the damages among the spouse, children and parents in the shares it finds (§ 71.010), so a spouse, a young child and an elderly parent can receive very different amounts.
What is a loss-of-inheritance claim?
It is a claim for the money your loved one would likely have saved and left to the family after a normal lifespan. Juries often hear it from an economist who studies earnings, spending and savings habits.
How long does a family have to file a wrongful death lawsuit?
A family generally has two years from the date of death to file (§ 16.003(b)). The survival claim follows your loved one’s own two-year clock, which § 16.062 pauses for up to 12 months after death, or until an executor or administrator qualifies, whichever comes first.
A claim against a government unit needs written notice within six months (§ 101.101), and San Antonio’s charter (§ 150) requires written notice to the City Manager or City Clerk within 90 days of a death involving the city. Child beneficiaries and the discovery rule are narrow exceptions.
What happens if nobody in the family files within three months?
After three calendar months, § 71.004(c) shifts the duty to the estate’s executor or administrator, who must bring the case unless every eligible family member asks them not to.
Does the family need to open an estate in Bexar County Probate Court to sue?
Not for the family’s own claim, but often for the survival claim. The family’s claim belongs to the spouse, children and parents directly, so they can file without any probate case. Under § 71.004(b), any one of them may bring it for the benefit of all, so adult children can file even if the surviving spouse won’t.
The survival claim belongs to the estate. It is usually brought by an executor or administrator appointed by one of the county’s three probate courts at 100 Dolorosa. Courts let the heirs bring it without opening an estate only when no administration is pending and none is necessary.
A wrongful death lawyer should settle that question in the first weeks, and we do, so the survival claim isn’t lost to a missing appointment.
When a child is a beneficiary, a judge must approve any settlement of the child’s share, and the court often appoints a guardian ad litem to protect it. The money is then usually held in the court’s registry or a court-approved trust, not handed to the child or a relative outright.
Can creditors take the money a family recovers?
Not the wrongful death share. Damages recovered in a wrongful death action are not subject to the debts of the person who died (§ 71.011), but survival damages belong to the estate, so the estate’s creditors can reach them.
Do brothers, sisters or grandparents have a claim of their own?
No. The statute limits the wrongful death claim to the surviving spouse, children and parents (§ 71.004(a)). A sibling or grandparent may still share in the survival claim as an heir, depending on who else survives and whether your loved one left a will.
Which kinds of fatal accidents do we handle?
We handle death claims from vehicle crashes of every kind, with commercial trucks at the top of the list. Each type has its own evidence, its own insurance and its own defendants:
- 18-wheeler, tanker and dump-truck collisions on I-35, I-37 and Loop 410
- Rental truck crashes and box-truck crashes
- Delivery vans, company pickups and other fleet vehicles
- Car wrecks, including drunk and hit-and-run drivers
- Motorcycle crashes caused by drivers who turn across a rider’s path
- City bus, charter bus, Uber and Lyft collisions
- Pedestrians and cyclists killed by drivers
- Deaths caused by defective airbags, tires or other vehicle parts
- Deaths on the job behind the wheel, including oilfield and delivery driving
Talk to a San Antonio attorney today about your family’s loss
Talk to an Attorney Today. Call (210) 272-0101 or toll-free (844) 702-0350, 24/7, or use our contact form for a Free Case Review with our San Antonio wrongful death lawyers.
