Los Angeles Wrongful Death Lawyer

Because California permits only one wrongful death action per death, all heirs should be joined in the same Los Angeles case; see our guide to who can file a wrongful death claim in California.

A wrongful death claim and a survival action are two separate legal claims that often arise from the same death. The wrongful death claim (Code Civ. Proc. §377.60) is brought by surviving family members for their own losses, such as financial support, household services, companionship and guidance. The survival action (§377.30) is brought on behalf of the estate for the losses the person who died suffered before dying, such as medical expenses and lost earnings between the injury and death, and for any punitive damages the defendant's conduct warrants (§377.34(a)). For survival actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, the decedent's own pain and suffering is no longer recoverable; California allowed it only for actions filed between 2022 and 2025. Many Los Angeles cases involve both claims, and they can be joined or tried together (§377.62). A legal professional can explain how each applies to your family.

In most California wrongful death cases you have two years from the date of death to file a lawsuit (Code Civ. Proc. §335.1). In Los Angeles, the six-month government-claim rule comes up often: if the death involved a City of Los Angeles vehicle or street, an LA County facility, an LA Metro bus or train, or a Caltrans freeway condition, a written claim must be presented to that agency within six months of the death (Gov. Code §911.2) before any lawsuit can be filed. Deaths caused by medical negligence follow a separate clock (§340.5): three years from the injury or one year from discovery, whichever comes first. Because missing a deadline can end the case, it is best to speak with a legal professional as early as possible.

Los Angeles wrongful death cases are filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the largest trial court in the country, and civil cases from most of the city are heard downtown at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse at 111 North Hill Street. Three sets of local records shape almost every case:

• The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner (renamed from Medical Examiner-Coroner in 2024) investigates sudden and violent deaths and issues the autopsy and toxicology findings that establish cause and manner of death.
• The collision or incident report, from the LAPD for city streets or the California Highway Patrol for freeways such as the I-405, I-10, I-110 and I-5, along with any LADOT signal-timing and Vision Zero High-Injury Network data for the corridor.
• Hospital records from the trauma centers that receive most fatal-injury patients in the county, including Los Angeles General Medical Center (formerly LAC+USC), Harbor-UCLA, Cedars-Sinai and Ronald Reagan UCLA.

We request these records in the first weeks, along with surveillance footage from nearby businesses and Metro, which is often overwritten within 30 days.