Wrongful Death Lawyer Rockville Centre, NY
If your family has lost someone because another person or company acted negligently, you’re dealing with more than grief. Our firm represents families in wrongful death cases throughout Nassau County. At Isaacson, Schiowitz & Korson, LLP, we’ve handled fatal accident claims for decades, including deaths from car crashes, construction accidents, medical negligence, and nursing home neglect. Our Rockville Centre, NY wrongful death lawyer can meet with you, review what happened, and tell you honestly whether you have a viable claim.
There’s no fee for the consultation. We handle these cases on contingency, so you pay nothing unless we recover money for your family.
Why Choose Isaacson, Schiowitz & Korson, LLP for Your Wrongful Death Case in Rockville Centre, NY?
Exposed to Real Trials, Not Just Settlements
Some attorneys settle every case that comes through the door. That’s not how we operate. Wrongful death claims involve serious money, and defendants know which lawyers will actually take a case to trial. It changes how they negotiate.
Martin Schiowitz founded this firm in 1978. He’s been trying cases for over 50 years, including wrongful death, medical malpractice, product liability claims, and more. He belongs to the New York State Trial Lawyers Association and the New York State Academy of Trial Lawyers, and his peers have selected him as a Super Lawyer based on professional achievement. That designation goes to roughly the top 5% of attorneys.
Jeremy Schiowitz joined the firm after graduating from Brooklyn Law School. He’s practiced for over 16 years, handling complex litigation including wrongful death appeals and trial preparation. The American Institute of Personal Injury Attorneys named him one of the 10 Best Attorneys in New York in 2015. He’s been a Super Lawyer every year since 2014. Licensed in both New York and New Jersey.
Exposed to Cases Like Yours
Our attorneys have recovered millions of dollars in wrongful death and serious injury cases over the years, including fatal car accidents, premises liability deaths, construction fatalities, and medical negligence.
Money doesn’t fix what happened, but it addresses the financial damage, and it holds the responsible party accountable.
You Talk to Lawyers Here
We don’t hand cases off to paralegals and check in once a month. Our attorneys stay involved from start to finish. If you have questions, you get answers from someone who actually knows your file.
No Fee Unless We Win
We get paid when you get paid. Our lawyers don’t take a retainer or bill hourly. If we don’t recover anything, you owe us nothing for attorney fees.
What Our Clients Say
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“I cannot say enough about Jeremy!! His patience, kindness and concern was amazing. His attention to detail and communication was top notch! I highly recommend him and he deserves 5 stars!” — Sandra Ferraiola
Read more reviews on our Google Business Profile.
Types of Wrongful Death Cases We Handle in Rockville Centre
People die from negligence in many different circumstances. We’ve represented families across a range of situations.
- Car accident fatalities. A drunk driver runs a red light. Someone texting rear-ends a stopped car at 50 mph. These crashes kill people every day in New York. We pursue claims against the drivers, their insurers, and sometimes vehicle manufacturers.
- Truck accident deaths. An 80,000-pound tractor-trailer versus a sedan isn’t a fair fight. Truck crash fatalities often involve corporate defendants, federal safety regulations, and layered insurance policies that require investigation to untangle.
- Motorcycle fatalities. Riders die in crashes that would leave car occupants with minor injuries. The physics are brutal. And adjusters often try to blame the motorcyclist regardless of what actually happened.
- Pedestrian deaths. Crosswalk accidents. Parking lot incidents. People struck while jogging along the shoulder. When a vehicle hits someone on foot, the results are usually catastrophic or fatal.
- Construction site fatalities. Falls from scaffolds, trench cave-ins, crane collapses, equipment malfunctions – construction kills more workers than almost any other industry. New York’s labor laws often allow families to pursue claims against general contractors and property owners, not just employers.
- Medical malpractice deaths. A surgeon operates on the wrong site. A diagnosis comes six months too late. The pharmacy dispenses the wrong medication. These errors kill patients who should have survived. The cases are complex, but when negligence causes the death, families have claims.
- Nursing home deaths. Facilities that fail to reposition immobile residents cause fatal bedsores. Staff shortages lead to falls that break hips in 85-year-olds who then develop pneumonia and die. Untreated infections turn septic. Families trust nursing homes to provide care. When that trust is violated and someone dies, the facility should answer for it.
- Premises liability deaths. A fatal fall on an icy sidewalk the property owner didn’t salt. A drowning in a pool without adequate fencing. An electrocution from exposed wiring. Property owners have obligations to maintain safe conditions.
- Defective product deaths. A car’s airbag deploys with shrapnel. A space heater catches fire. A pharmaceutical company hides data showing their drug causes heart attacks. Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers can all face liability when dangerous products kill.
New York Wrongful Death Law
New York has specific statutes governing wrongful death claims. The rules matter because they affect who can sue, when they must sue, and what damages they can recover.
Who Files the Lawsuit
Here’s something that surprises most people: in New York, surviving family members don’t file wrongful death lawsuits directly. Under EPTL Section 5-4.1, only the personal representative of the deceased person’s estate can bring the claim.
If there’s a will, the named executor serves as personal representative. No will? The Surrogate’s Court appoints an administrator, usually a close family member who petitions for the role.
The lawsuit is filed on behalf of the distributees. That’s the legal term for people entitled to inherit. Typically the spouse and children. If there’s no spouse or children, parents might qualify. Sometimes siblings.
The Two-Year Deadline
Wrongful death claims must be filed within two years of the date of death. That’s the statute of limitations under EPTL Section 5-4.1. Not two years from when you hired a lawyer, or two years from when you finished grieving. Miss it and the claim is gone. Courts enforce this strictly.
Two years sounds like plenty of time. It isn’t always. Families are grieving. Estate administration takes months. Medical records need gathering. By the time people feel ready to deal with legal matters, a year has often passed already.
What You Have to Prove
The legal elements are the same as any negligence case.
- The defendant owed your loved one a duty of care.
- The defendant failed to meet that duty.
- The failure caused the death.
- The death resulted in compensable harm to the distributees.
In a car crash case, proving negligence might be straightforward. In a medical malpractice death, you need physician testimony establishing that the treatment fell below the standard of care and that proper treatment would have prevented the death. The complexity varies enormously by case type.
What Damages Can Families Recover in Rockville Centre Wrongful Death Cases
New York law limits what damages are available. The focus is on financial loss, not emotional harm.
Pecuniary Loss
This is the core of every New York wrongful death claim. Pecuniary loss means the economic harm distributees suffer because of the death.
Lost financial support makes up the largest component for most families. If the deceased earned $75,000 annually and would have worked another 20 years, that’s potentially $1.5 million in lost income before adjustments. The calculation considers raises, promotions, benefits, and inflation.
Lost services count too, like if a parent who died provided childcare, household maintenance, guidance. Those services have economic value. So does lost inheritance. If the deceased would have accumulated savings and passed them on, that’s a compensable loss.
Medical Bills and Funeral Expenses
Medical expenses incurred before death are recoverable. So are reasonable funeral and burial costs. These amounts are usually straightforward to calculate.
Conscious Pain and Suffering
If the person survived for some period after the injury and consciously experienced pain before dying, the estate can recover for that suffering. This is technically a survival claim rather than part of the wrongful death claim itself, but both get pursued together.
A person who dies instantly has no conscious pain and suffering claim. Someone who lingers for days or weeks in pain does.
What New York Doesn’t Allow
Here’s the difficult part. New York does not permit recovery for grief. Loss of companionship isn’t compensable. Neither is the emotional distress surviving family members experience.
Many states allow these damages. New York doesn’t. The statute focuses exclusively on economic loss. A 75-year-old retiree with no dependents and no income has a wrongful death case worth far less than a 35-year-old breadwinner with three kids, even though the families’ grief may be identical.
Steps to Take After a Fatal Accident Caused by Negligence
Certain actions help preserve your family’s legal rights. Others can inadvertently harm your case.
Get the death certificate. You’ll need multiple certified copies for insurance claims, estate proceedings, and the eventual lawsuit.
Preserve evidence. Photos from the accident scene. The police report. Names and contact information for witnesses. If there’s physical evidence like a defective product or damaged equipment, don’t throw it away or let anyone else take it.
Collect medical records. Records from the final hospitalization document what happened and help establish causation.
Don’t talk to insurance adjusters without legal advice. This is important. The insurance company for the defendant will contact you. They’ll express condolences. They may even offer a quick settlement. Do not give recorded statements. Do not sign anything. What seems like a fair offer in the fog of grief often turns out to be a fraction of the claim’s actual value.
Consult an attorney promptly. Evidence disappears. Witnesses’ memories fade. The two-year deadline starts running immediately. Early consultation protects your options.
Handle estate administration. Someone needs to be appointed personal representative before a wrongful death suit can be filed. If there’s a will, the executor petitions for letters testamentary. No will means petitioning the Surrogate’s Court for letters of administration. Either way, this takes time, and the process should start soon after the death.
Document the deceased’s finances. Tax returns. Pay stubs. Records of benefits. These establish what the person earned and what the family lost.
Wrongful Death Statistics
Numbers provide context. Fatal accidents happen constantly.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that nearly 43,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes nationally in 2022. New York accounted for over 1,100 of those deaths. Drunk driving, speeding, distracted driving. Preventable behaviors that kill people.
Workplace fatalities remain stubbornly high. Over 5,000 workers died on the job in 2022 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction accounts for a disproportionate share.
Medical errors kill an estimated 250,000 Americans annually according to research published in BMJ. That makes medical negligence the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart disease and cancer.
Nursing home deaths from neglect are harder to quantify, but CMS data shows persistent deficiency citations at facilities nationwide for fall prevention failures, infection control lapses, and inadequate staffing.
Each number represents a family dealing with sudden loss. When that loss resulted from negligence, accountability matters.
Rockville Centre Wrongful Death Lawyer FAQs
Who can bring a wrongful death lawsuit in New York?
Only the personal representative of the estate. Not the spouse directly. Not the children. The estate’s representative files on behalf of the distributees.
What’s the filing deadline?
Two years from the date of death. Courts enforce this strictly. There are very limited exceptions.
We don’t have a will. Can we still pursue a claim?
Yes. Someone petitions the Surrogate’s Court for appointment as administrator of the estate. Usually a spouse or adult child. Once appointed, that person can file the wrongful death lawsuit.
Can we recover damages for our grief?
No. New York law doesn’t allow it. Damages focus on economic loss to the distributees. Grief, loss of companionship, and emotional distress aren’t compensable in wrongful death claims here.
What if our family member was partly at fault?
New York uses comparative negligence. The recovery gets reduced by the deceased’s percentage of fault. If your loved one was 30% responsible, the family recovers 70% of the damages. The claim doesn’t disappear unless the deceased was entirely at fault.
How much is a wrongful death case worth?
It depends on several factors, like the age of the deceased, their income and earning potential, the number of dependents, and whether there was conscious pain and suffering before death. A 40-year-old surgeon with three children presents a very different damage picture than a retired 80-year-old living alone.
The defendant doesn’t seem to have much insurance. Is it worth pursuing?
We investigate all potential defendants and coverage sources. Sometimes there are policies people don’t know about. Sometimes multiple parties share liability. We evaluate what’s actually available before recommending whether to proceed.
Can we sue if workers’ comp is involved?
Workers’ compensation prevents suits against employers. But third parties can still be sued. Equipment manufacturers. Property owners. General contractors on construction sites. Subcontractors. Workers’ comp and a wrongful death lawsuit can proceed simultaneously against different parties.
How long until the case resolves?
Complex wrongful death cases often take two or three years. Cases with clear liability and cooperative defendants sometimes settle faster. We keep families informed throughout.
Will we have to testify in court?
Most cases settle before trial. If the case does go to trial, family members typically testify about the deceased’s role in the family and the impact of the death. We prepare witnesses thoroughly.
How does the settlement get divided?
Distribution follows intestacy rules unless the will specifies otherwise. The Surrogate’s Court supervises distributions. Typically the spouse and children share according to statutory formulas.
What do you charge?
Contingency fee. We advance all costs. Our fee is a percentage of the recovery. If we don’t win, you owe nothing for attorney fees.
What if another lawyer already turned us down?
Different attorneys evaluate cases differently. We’ve taken cases other firms rejected and obtained significant recoveries. It’s worth getting a second opinion.
We’re not sure what caused the death. Can you help figure it out?
Yes. Investigation is part of what we do. Medical records review. Accident reconstruction. Consultation with technical specialists. Sometimes the cause isn’t obvious at the outset, and determining what happened is the first step.
What should we bring to the consultation?
Whatever you have. Examples of importance evidenced are death certificates, medical records, police reports, insurance information, and financial records showing the deceased’s income. Don’t wait until you’ve gathered everything. We can help obtain documents.
Local Resources for Rockville Centre Wrongful Death Cases
Hospitals:
- Mercy Hospital, Rockville Centre, (516) 705-2525
- Nassau University Medical Center, East Meadow, (516) 572-0123
Police:
- Rockville Centre Police Department, (516) 766-1500
- Nassau County Police Department, (516) 573-7000
Courts and Government:
- Village of Rockville Centre, (516) 678-9300
- Nassau County Surrogate’s Court, handles estate administration and probate
Disclaimer: Listing these resources does not constitute an endorsement by Isaacson, Schiowitz & Korson, LLP.
Contact Isaacson, Schiowitz & Korson, LLP
Losing a family member to someone else’s negligence creates burdens no one should have to carry alone. The legal system exists to provide accountability and compensation when preventable deaths occur.
Our firm handles wrongful death cases throughout Rockville Centre and Nassau County. Martin Schiowitz has practiced for over 50 years. Jeremy Schiowitz has tried complex cases for over 16 years. We have the trial experience these matters require, and we stay personally involved in every case we take.
Our consultations are free. We’ll review what happened, explain the legal process, and give you an honest assessment. If you decide to move forward, we handle the case on contingency. Contact us to schedule a consultation. We’re here to help.
