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Phoenix Personal Injury Lawyers
2700 N Central Ave Suite 320, Phoenix, AZ 85004, United States
Phone: (602) 905-7766
Call us at (855) 855-8910
Call us at (855) 855-8910
When someone you love dies because of another person's mistake, the world stops making sense for a while. We've sat across the table from hundreds of Phoenix families in exactly that position. The grief is heavy. The anger is real. And the last thing on your mind is "should I talk to a lawyer?"
But here's why it matters. Arizona law lets your family hold the person responsible accountable. A wrongful death claim can help you recover money for medical bills, funeral costs, the income your family lost, and the emotional damage that doesn't show up on a receipt.
At The Simon Law Group, we handle these cases on a contingency basis. That means free case reviews, no money upfront, and we don't collect a fee unless your family wins.
We get asked this all the time. "Do we even have a case?" The answer usually comes down to one question. Could your loved one have filed a personal injury lawsuit if they'd survived?
If yes, your family almost certainly has a wrongful death claim.
Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-611 spells this out [1]. When someone dies because of another party's wrongful act, neglect, or default, the surviving family can sue. Nobody has to prove the death was on purpose. Carelessness counts.
What does that look like in real life?
A texting driver blows through a red light and kills someone in a T-bone crash. A surgeon operates on the wrong site. A property management company ignores a collapsing stairway they were told about months ago. All wrongful deaths.
Phoenix makes this more common than you'd hope. The I-10, I-17, and Loop 101 see fatal crashes regularly. Construction crews in Tempe and Chandler work through 110-degree summers with heavy equipment and real hazards. And medical errors at hospitals across the Valley happen more often than anyone wants to admit.
If you're wondering whether your family qualifies, we can tell you in a phone call. No charge.
This part of Arizona law is strict. Only certain people have standing, and it surprises families when they learn who's left out.
Under ARS § 12-612, the list is short:
Nobody else. Not siblings. Not grandparents. Not a longtime partner, unless they're the named estate representative. The law requires one single claim filed on behalf of every eligible survivor. You won't see the spouse filing one suit and the children filing a separate one.
For families across the Phoenix metro, whether you're in Scottsdale, Mesa, or Gilbert, everything goes through the Maricopa County Superior Court. Where you live doesn't change the filing process.
What happens when family members can't agree on how to handle the case? The court can step in and appoint someone. But we usually see one attorney working with everyone to keep things simple and moving forward.
We've handled wrongful death cases involving all kinds of incidents. Here's what we see most often in the Phoenix area:
| Type of Accident | Why It's Common in Phoenix |
|---|---|
| Car crashes | Heavy traffic on I-10, I-17, and surface streets. Rear-end, T-bone, and highway pileup fatalities. |
| Truck accidents | Commercial rigs pass through the Valley daily. An 80,000-pound semi hitting a passenger car is almost always fatal. |
| Medical malpractice | Missed diagnoses, surgical mistakes, wrong medications. Standard-of-care failures in hospitals and clinics. |
| Pedestrian collisions | Phoenix is one of the deadliest cities in America for people on foot [2]. Distracted drivers and crosswalk violations. |
| Workplace deaths | Construction falls, electrocutions, equipment failures. Active building industry means year-round risk. |
| Defective products | Manufacturing and design flaws that cause fatal injuries. Strict liability applies, no need to prove negligence. |
The legal test stays the same regardless of cause. Was someone negligent? Did that negligence kill your family member? Many begin as catastrophic injury cases in Phoenix that take a fatal turn.
Our Phoenix car accident attorneys and wrongful death team recovered $1.5 million for the family of a day laborer who fell to his death trimming a palm tree. Premises liability and labor code violations. The case settled in three months. Fatal truck accident representation in Phoenix cases are among the most devastating we handle.
For families navigating the claims process in Arizona, our wrongful death attorneys can advise on which legal avenue best fits your circumstances and ensure no filing deadline is missed.
Something people misunderstand about wrongful death claims: the lawsuit pays your family for what you lost. Not what the person who died went through. (That's a separate legal action called a survival claim, and yes, your family may be able to file both.)
Here's the breakdown:
Economic damages are the costs you can calculate. Think medical bills from treatment before the death, funeral expenses, lost future income your family was counting on, and benefits like health insurance and retirement that vanished.
Non-economic damages cover what you can't easily measure. The love and companionship your family lost. The grief and emotional suffering you're going through right now. The guidance and support your kids won't have. Courts in Arizona take these seriously.
Punitive damages come into play when the behavior that caused the death was extreme. We're talking about drunk drivers doing 100 on the freeway or companies that buried safety data. These damages punish the wrongdoer. They're not awarded in every case, but when the facts support it, they can be substantial.
Something worth knowing about Phoenix specifically: the cost of living, local wage data, and your loved one's work history all feed into the earnings calculations. For families who lost someone working outdoors through Arizona summers, construction and landscaping especially, the risk nature of that work factors in too.
We work with economists to get these numbers right. In one case, our attorneys secured $5 million for the family of a 24-year-old killed in a motorcycle wreck. The young man's dependents needed that money to replace the support they'd been counting on.
Two years. That's what Arizona gives you. The statute of limitations runs from the date of death, not the date of the accident. Miss it and the court will almost certainly dismiss your case, full stop.
But two years isn't always the real deadline. Some situations cut that time dramatically:
Government entity claims. If a City of Phoenix vehicle, an ADOT road defect, or a Valley Metro bus caused the death, your family has just 180 days (six months) to file a notice of claim. And the full lawsuit has to be filed within one year.
Workers' compensation deaths have their own one-year window too.
We've had families walk in who didn't realize they had a claim until half their time was gone. It happens. People are grieving. Legal deadlines aren't top of mind.
That's why we always tell people: make the call early. Even if you're not ready to move forward, talking to an attorney locks in your options. One phone call now could save your case later.
We need to warn you about something. Insurance companies are not on your side. Their entire playbook after a wrongful death is built around one goal: pay as little as possible. And their favorite move? Blame the person who died.
"Your husband was speeding." "Your mother wasn't watching where she walked." "Your son should have been wearing a helmet." They'll say whatever shifts responsibility away from their policyholder.
Here's what they're betting on: Arizona is a pure comparative negligence state [3]. That means if they can prove your loved one was even 10% at fault, the payout drops by that much. So they push hard.
But here's what they don't want you to know. Even if your loved one was partly responsible, your family still collects. Arizona doesn't have a cutoff. If the deceased was 70% at fault, you still recover 30%. The claim doesn't disappear.
Let's say total damages are $1 million. Court assigns 30% fault to your loved one. Your family gets $700,000. That's how the math works.
Fighting blame-shifting comes down to evidence. And in Phoenix, there's usually more available than families realize:
Our attorneys recovered $1.15 million for a family after their loved one was run over by a tractor-trailer in a parking lot. The defense fought on fault. The evidence won.
Don't let the insurance company scare your family into settling cheap. That's their game. We play a different one.
Nobody's thinking clearly after losing a family member. We understand that. But a few early moves can make a massive difference when it's time to pursue your claim.
Skip the conversation with the insurance adjuster. They'll reach out fast, maybe within a week. They sound friendly. They're not. Anything you say becomes ammunition for reducing your payout. Tell them to call your lawyer.
Save every document you can find. Hospital bills, medical records, accident reports, police reports, photos, letters, emails. All of it. Don't organize it. Don't overthink it. Just don't throw anything away.
Pull financial records together when you can. Pay stubs, tax returns, employment letters, benefit summaries. This is how your attorney proves the economic loss your family suffered.
Don't post on social media about the death, the case, or your family's situation. Insurance defense teams screenshot everything. A birthday dinner photo can get spun into "they don't seem that affected."
And call a wrongful death attorney as soon as you're able. Evidence has a shelf life. Witnesses forget things. Deadlines move faster than people expect. Families from Ahwatukee to Glendale to North Phoenix can reach us for same-day consultations.
You don't need to have everything together. That's what our Phoenix injury law firm is here for.
We share our results so families can see what's possible. Not as a promise. Every case is different. But outcomes like these show what happens when your legal team fights hard and prepares thoroughly.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Simple version: it's a civil lawsuit your family files when someone dies because another person or company was negligent. That's the core of it.
Arizona Revised Statutes § 12-611 sets the rule. If the person who died could have sued for personal injury had they lived, the surviving family can file a wrongful death claim instead.
Filing rights belong to the surviving spouse, kids, parents, or the estate's personal representative. No one else.
Your attorney has to prove four things:
Those losses include funeral bills, lost wages, medical costs, grief, loss of companionship, and emotional pain. The filing window is two years from the date of death.
Our attorneys have handled personal injury cases across Arizona and California. We know how Phoenix insurance companies operate, and we know how to push back.
That number reflects real results for real families — medical bills paid, lost wages recovered, and futures protected.
You pay nothing upfront. Our fee comes out of your settlement or verdict. If we do not win your case, you owe us nothing.
Accidents do not follow business hours. Neither do we. Call (602) 905-7766 any time — nights, weekends, and holidays.
Our Phoenix team works out of 2700 N Central Ave, Suite 320. We know the roads, the courts, and the insurance adjusters you are up against.
“After a crash, you need a team that answers the phone, explains your options, and fights for every dollar you are owed. That is what we do at The Simon Law Group.”
Over 250 years of combined attorney experience
Phoenix office at 2700 N Central Ave, Suite 320 |
Licensed in Arizona and California
Crashes caused by impaired or drunk drivers
Whiplash, back injuries, and low-speed collision claims
Hit-and-run crashes and unidentified driver claims
Serious injuries from head-on and wrong-way crashes
High-speed crashes on Phoenix freeways and surface streets
Car wrecks top the list. After that: truck accidents, medical malpractice, workplace deaths, pedestrians getting hit, and defective products. Phoenix's traffic volume and constant construction activity make it a higher-risk metro than most.
Absolutely. They're separate legal tracks. Your civil claim doesn't wait for the criminal trial. And prosecutors often build evidence that helps your wrongful death case too.
Four things. A duty of care existed. That duty was broken. The breach caused the death. Your family has real damages from it. That's the framework every wrongful death case runs on.
Figure 12 to 24 months in most situations. Government defendants, multiple parties, or disputed fault can push it longer. Getting a lawyer involved early shortens the timeline more than anything else.
Yes. Arizona's pure comparative negligence means your family collects damages reduced by the deceased's fault percentage. Even at 80% fault, you'd recover 20% of total damages. There is no bar.
Honestly, there isn't a useful "average." Every case depends on the person's age, income, dependents, and how they died. The only way to get a real estimate is a case review with an attorney. We offer those for free.
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