Recently in Wrongful Death Category

The New York Times explores the disparity between personal injury payouts for wrongful death cases and those involving serious injuries, as illustrated by the recent $3.25 million settlement for the police shooting of Sean Bell. In short, injured plaintiffs get much higher payouts than the families of those wrongfully killed.

Sean Bell was shot to death by police in 2006 on the day of his wedding, apparently the victim of a botched police response to reports of a scuffle. The police were found liable for his death resulting from the debacle.

The New York Daily News reported that Laura Paultre, the mother of slain New Yorker Sean Bell's would-be fiancé, believes the wrongful death settlement with the city was "fair." Sean Bell was killed in a hail of 50 bullets fired by New York City police officers, although he was unarmed.

He was slain by officers outside the Club Kalua strip club in Queens on what would have been his wedding day.

After a four-year legal battle against the city for the unfortunate incident, New York personal injury lawyers for Sean Bell's former fiancé Nicole Paultre-Bell and injured friends Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield were able to secure individual settlements.

Authorities claim the shooting death of New York City paramedic Jason Green is not related to accusations that he and another EMT ignored a distressed pregnant woman at a coffee shop last December who later died, according to an Associated Press article published by Comcast News.

Jason Green was gunned down last weekend after a fight outside a Manhattan nightclub. New York personal injury lawyer Douglas Rosenthal, who was defending the two paramedics against a negligence lawsuit for the woman's death, said he was shocked by the news:

"[He] was a good guy and a dedicated emergency medical technician. It's very sad."

Relatives of slain Army veteran Shem Walker, who was shot and killed by an undercover cop, said they plan on suing the New York Police Dept. for wrongful death, according to the New York Daily News.

The 49-year-old victim punched the undercover officer, whose name has not been released, after he saw the man engaged in a drug deal on the stoop of his mother's Brooklyn apartment. The unnamed cop said the man grabbed for his gun, but it's not clear whether or not he identified himself as an undercover agent.

The officer was working an undercover "buy-and-bust" operation when the incident happened. The plaintiffs' New York personal injury lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein, hopefully will be able to shed some more light on what exactly happened as the case moves into the discovery phase.

Former New York Yankees slugger Jim Leyritz settled a wrongful death lawsuit in connection with a fatal 2007 DUI accident, according to the New York Daily News. But he still faces criminal manslaughter charges for the Dec. 28, 2007 accident.

The family of victim Fredia Ann Veitch was awarded damages of $250,000, which will be paid out by the Jim Leyritz's insurance company. He also will be required to pay the family an additional $1,000 per month for 100 months, slightly more than eight years.

On the same day as a street in Queens was set to be named after him, Sean Bell's fiancée was allowed her first taste at vindication in the wrongful death of her beloved, nearly four years ago.

George Harrison's former doctor is being sued.

But not by the estate of the Beatle's legend.

This time, Dr. Gilbert Lederman's New York personal injury lawyers are defending him in a case of wrongful death stemming from alleged malpractice.

The 9/11 lawsuits aren't fading from the news anytime soon. Nor are the New York personal injury lawyers involved in representing the 9/11 rescue workers.

Last week, the New York injury lawyers representing the city went to a federal appeals court in an attempt to challenge the validity of a judge's authority to block the settlement that was reached last month. The $657.5 million dollar settlement was to be divided among the litigants; based on the extent of their injuries and exposure to toxic substances.

Toyota is facing another wrongful death lawsuit. Tyrene Livingston of New York died after her 2007 Toyota Yaris accelerated and crashed on Route 30, according to Market Watch. Now Ms. Livingston's mother has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation seeking general and punitive damages.

The injury lawyer representing Sandra Livingston, Tyrene Livingston's mother, explained the outline of her complaint:

"The complaint charges that Toyota for years was aware that its vehicles were susceptible to sudden unintended acceleration, leading to fatal accidents... Yet, Toyota never made any significant changes to improve the acceleration and electrical systems of its vehicles, in spite of the availability of several safe and inexpensive modifications."

The United Press International reports that the family of a New York woman is suing the victim's dentist for wrongful death.

The victim who suffered from cerebral palsy; went to Dr. Bruce Lish because her disease had caused some of her teeth to become rotten. On July 23, 2009, the victim underwent surgery to extract the rotten teeth when "she went into respiratory arrest, suffered brain damage and died on Oct. 14 of complications from the surgery." 

The victim's family is now suing St. Luke's Hospital in Manhattan, where the surgery was performed. They are also suing Dr. Lish for the wrongful death of their daughter. The lawsuit does not specify how much the family is seeking in damages.