Metairie Wrongful Death Lawyer
If you have unexpectedly lost a family member due to someone else’s negligence, a compassionate Metairie wrongful death lawyer at Babcock Injury Lawyers can help your family lock down vital evidence, protect your legal rights, and secure the financial stability you need.
Our Metairie personal injury lawyers step in to handle the complex investigation and legal process so that your family can focus on healing.
Contact Babcock Injury Lawyers today for a free consultation; or call us: (225) 500-5000.
Louisiana Wrongful Death Rules
When a fatal accident occurs, families face immediate legal and operational timelines. Understanding these core elements can help you protect your claim from the start.
1. Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim?
Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2315.2, a hierarchy of surviving relatives have the legal standing to file a wrongful death lawsuit. The law establishes a hierarchy for who may recover damages:
- The surviving spouse and/or children of the deceased.
- If no spouse or child survives, the living parents.
- If no parents survive, the living siblings.
- If no siblings survive, the living grandparents.
2. The One-Year Filing Deadline
Louisiana has one of the shortest legal windows in the nation to take action. The statute of limitations (known in Louisiana as a prescriptive period) for a wrongful death claim is one year from the date of the deceased person’s death. If a lawsuit is not filed within this precise twelve-month window, your family permanently loses the right to seek financial recovery.
3. Wrongful Death vs. Survival Actions
Louisiana splits fatal accident civil claims into two distinct actions:
- Wrongful Death Claim: Compensates the surviving family members for their own losses resulting from the death (such as loss of financial support, emotional trauma, and funeral costs).
- Survival Action: Compensates the estate for the damages the deceased person suffered prior to passing away (such as physical pain, suffering, and mental anguish experienced between the time of the accident and their actual death).
Comprehensive Fatal Accident & Injury Representation
Fatal injuries often arise from severe negligence across various scenarios. We build evidence-driven files to handle complex injury and death claims resulting from:
- Car Accidents
- Truck Accidents
- Motorcycle Accidents
- Bicycle Accidents
- Pedestrian Accidents
- Slip and Fall / Premises Liability
- Catastrophic Injury
- Brain Injury
Types of Damages Recoverable in Louisiana
A successful settlement or civil court verdict can provide compensation for both tangible economic losses, and non-economic intangible losses:
| Damage Type | What It Covers |
| Final Medical Expenses | Emergency medical transport, ICU stays, surgeries, and palliative care prior to passing. |
| Funeral & Burial Costs | All reasonable expenses related to honoring your loved one and their final resting arrangements. |
| Loss of Future Financial Support | Estimated income, wages, and benefits the deceased would have provided to dependents over a normal working lifespan. |
| Loss of Companionship | The profound emotional deprivation of a partner’s or parent’s love, affection, and guidance. |
The Babcock Leverage: Why It Matters for Your Claim
When choosing legal representation for a high-stakes wrongful death matter, the strategic approach of your law firm directly impacts how corporate insurers value your file.
- The Insurance Playbook Insider: Founder Stephen Babcock spent years learning the insurance defense system from the inside. This experience gives our firm direct insight into how adjusters evaluate risk, when they try to use quick-release waivers to limit payouts, and exactly what evidence forces them to pay true case value.
- Built for Litigation, Not Volume: Many personal injury operations run on high volume, favoring fast, discounted settlements to avoid court. We build every file from day one as if it is heading to a jury. Stephen Babcock is a founding member of Trial Masters™, an elite national group reserved exclusively for lawyers who have taken 35 or more cases all the way to a jury verdict.
- Our 30-Day Fit Policy: We believe trust is earned through performance. If you retain our firm and decide within the first 30 days that we are not the right fit for your family, you may cancel our agreement. We waive our attorney fees for any work performed during that initial month.
Contact a Metairie Wrongful Death Attorney
Dealing with corporate legal teams, insurance adjusters, and complex court filings while grieving is an unfair burden.
We work entirely on a contingency fee basis. This means there are no upfront costs, no hourly billing, and you owe us no attorney fees unless we successfully recover compensation for you through a settlement or trial verdict.
Contact Babcock Injury Lawyers today to schedule your free case evaluation, or call (225) 500-5000.
Last reviewed / Updated: June 12th, 2026
Editorial review note: On the above date, we checked the Louisiana Legislature pages and local public planning materials for the source-sensitive information used here.
Authored by: Stephen Babcock, Louisiana injury lawyer