Boston Injury Lawyer Blog

Massachusetts Wrongful Death Laws allow for recovery against people who are negligent, people who cause death by "willful, wanton or reckless" conduct, against common carriers, and against corporations for defective products. In 25 years of practicing law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts I have seen far too many wrongful death cases.

In all wrongful death cases, the executor or administrator of the estate must be the party bringing the claim and filing the lawsuit on behalf of the family. Therefore, seeking appointment in the Probate Court is a critical first step.

Who can recover? Absent a will, there are clear laws as to who can recover against a wrongdoer. If there is a spouse and no children, the spouse recovers. If there is a spouse and one child, the spouse receives one half of the recovery and the child share the other half. If there is a spouse and more than one child, the spouse receives one third of the recovery. Of course, it gets more complicated if there is no spouse or children. To further complicate a wrongful death case, distribution is not necessarily awarded based on the law outlined above; a jury can allocate monetary compensation in any proportion supported by the evidence.

Continue reading "Victims of Wrongful Death in Massachusetts" »

There is a provision in the Massachusetts wrongful death statute regarding punitive damages for "malicious, willful, wonton or reckless conduct." Massachusetts wrongful death attorney Neil Burns has used this portion of the law to secure personal financial information from the defendants; and to pressure insurance companies to pay a fair value to victim families..

Attorney Neil Burns has represented families and loved ones who are victims of a wrongful death for decades. The complexities are multiplied because there are often numerous perspectives on how to proceed. We have experience working with families and loved ones: we assist in probating the estate, in investigating the accident, in finding where there was negligence, and in working to resolve the case.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Wrongful Death Law Allows for Multiple Damages" »

The New Year brought good news to Boston and Massachusetts residents. The Massachusetts state fire marshal says 35 people were killed by fire in Massachusetts last year, the lowest number in nearly seven decades. As Massachusetts attorneys, we have represented victims of fire in wrongful death cases and serious burn cases.

Massachusetts State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan attributed the low number to a variety of factors, including the widespread use of smoke detectors; fire-safe cigarette laws; public education campaigns that also target children; better training of firefighters and paramedics; and better burn treatment at hospitals. Coan said smoke detectors are the first ingredient in home fire safety. Also important is holding home fire drills so everyone knows how to leave safely, he said.

Coan's office says 17 men, 13 women, and five children died in residential, car and outdoor fires in 2009. That was down from 49 in 2008, and the lowest number since the early 1940s. Coan said smoking remains the leading cause of fire deaths. The number of smoking-related fire fatalities dropped from 17 in 2007 to eight in 2009.

Remarkably, Boston, the largest city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, reported no fire-related deaths in 2009, the fire marshal's office reported. There were four in Springfield, the state's third-largest city, and one in Worcester, the second-largest city. In addition, there were no fire-related deaths of firefighters in 2009, Coan said.

The U.S. Fire Safety Administration says Massachusetts has one of the lowest fire death rates in the nation. We remain dedicated to keeping our clients informed of any and all safety information.

We have been representing victims of burn injuries in Boston, and throughout Massachusetts, since 1985. Each case is different, however, we have drafted this column for general reference for our clients.

First, and foremost, get professional medial help. Emergency medical personnel and hospitals throughout Massachusetts are equipped for almost any medical emergency. Following emergency treatment, continue to seed medical help as burn injuries are serious and often permanent.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Burn Injury Cases Handled by Boston Firms" »

The following article regarding our office was published in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on June 1, 2009.

Mother of Four Killed, Truck Driver Pleads Guilty

October 13, 2006, defendant driver was driving a dump truck weighing 68,000 pounds. The truck was traveling east exiting the rotary, in Concord, Massachusetts. After the Route 2 light turned red and the traffic slowed, he swerved from the right lane to the middle lane at a high rate of speed and ran through the red light.

Cars traveling north and south traveled through the green light. The plaintiff's decedent, a 52 year old woman who had lived in Concord most of her life, was the second vehicle traveling north through the green light when the dump truck struck her driver's door.

Continue reading "Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly Publishes Settlement" »