When a person’s life is suddenly and tragically cut short because of someone else’s negligent or wrongful actions, the aftermath is a storm of grief, anger, and confusion for the family left behind. In an instant, a family in Allentown loses a spouse, a parent, a child—and with them, a future filled with love, support, and companionship.
While the emotional devastation is the heaviest burden, families face unexpected financial hardships. During this incredibly difficult time, Pennsylvania law offers a way to hold the responsible party accountable and secure the financial stability your family needs to face the future in Lehigh County.
No lawsuit can ever replace your loved one or undo the pain of your loss. But a wrongful death claim can provide a powerful sense of justice and the financial stability your family needs to move forward. At Leonard Hill – Personal Injury Lawyers and Car Accident Lawyers, our Allentown wrongful death lawyers are a compassionate team that stands with families in crisis, shouldering the legal burden so you can focus on what matters most: healing.
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Why Choose Leonard Hill to Fight for Your Family?
In the wake of a devastating loss in the Lehigh Valley, choosing a law firm to represent your family is a trust-based decision. You need a team that possesses the legal skill and resources to win a high-stakes case and has the compassion and understanding to guide you through one of the most difficult journeys of your life. At Leonard Hill – Personal Injury Lawyers and Car Accident Lawyers, our firm is built on providing aggressive representation in the courtroom and steadfast, empathetic counsel to our clients.
Our results reflect our commitment. We have recovered over $500 million for injured clients and their families, demonstrating our ability to take on the largest insurance companies and corporations and win. This track record is not just about numbers but about securing futures for families. Our experience as fatal accident attorneys in Allentown, PA, means we know how to investigate complex accidents, hire leading professionals, and tell your loved one’s story in a way that resonates with judges and juries in the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas.
While we serve clients throughout the Lehigh Valley, our main office is conveniently located in the heart of Philadelphia at 1700 Market Street, just a short walk from iconic landmarks like City Hall and LOVE Park. We are always prepared to meet with families from Allentown, Bethlehem, Easton, and the surrounding communities wherever is most convenient for them. We handle every detail of the legal process with the strength, dignity, and compassion your family deserves.
Compensation in an Allentown Wrongful Death Case
If you’ve lost a loved one in a fatal accident in Lehigh County, our wrongful death attorneys will guide you through the full scope of compensation available under Pennsylvania law. While no money can truly make up for your loss, a wrongful death settlement offers financial relief and a strong sense of justice. In Pennsylvania, compensation falls into two categories: damages for the family’s losses under a Wrongful Death Claim and damages for the deceased person’s losses under a Survival Claim.
Our Allentown wrongful death lawyers fight for the maximum compensation your family is entitled to receive, which can include payment for:
- Loss of Financial Support: The income your loved one may have provided the family for the remainder of their life.
- Loss of Companionship and Guidance: The value of the lost comfort, society, and guidance your loved one provided.
- The Deceased’s Pain and Suffering: Compensation for any conscious pain, fear, and emotional distress your loved one endured from the moment of injury until their passing.
- Medical, Funeral, and Burial Expenses: Full reimbursement for all medical bills related to the final injury and all funeral costs.
- Loss of Future Earning Power: The total amount of money the deceased might have likely earned becomes part of their estate.
- The Value of Household Services: The monetary value of the deceased’s tasks, such as childcare, home maintenance, and financial management.
Where Fatal Accidents Occur in the Allentown Area
A fatal accident caused by negligence can happen anywhere in the Lehigh Valley. Our wrongful death attorneys have the experience to investigate these tragic events wherever they occur in Lehigh County and beyond.
We frequently handle cases arising from:
- Major Roadways: Fatal car and truck accidents are tragically common on major arteries like I-78, Route 22, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Hamilton Boulevard, and Cedar Crest Boulevard. Speeding, distracted driving, or drunk driving often causes these crashes. According to the most recent data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), hundreds of people lose their lives on Pennsylvania roads each year.
- Workplaces and Construction Sites: The Lehigh Valley’s industrial, manufacturing, and warehouse sectors are vital to the economy, but they also pose significant risks. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that falls, equipment malfunctions, or other safety violations often cause fatal workplace accidents.
- Hospitals and Medical Facilities: Fatal errors can occur in any healthcare setting. Medical malpractice leading to wrongful death can include surgical errors, failure to diagnose a terminal illness, or medication mistakes at local hospitals like Lehigh Valley Hospital–Cedar Crest or St. Luke’s Allentown Campus. A study from Johns Hopkins estimates that medical errors are a leading cause of death in the country.
- Commercial and Residential Properties: Deaths from falls down dangerous staircases in Allentown apartment buildings, criminal attacks in poorly secured complexes, or drowning incidents in pools can all form the basis of a wrongful death claim in Lehigh County against a negligent property owner.
The Two Claims in an Allentown Wrongful Death Case: Wrongful Death & Survival Actions
Losing a loved one is a devastating experience, and understanding the legal process can feel overwhelming. At its core, a wrongful death claim in Allentown is a civil lawsuit that holds a person or company legally and financially responsible for causing a death through a negligent or wrongful act. Pennsylvania law allows you to bring two distinct legal actions together: a Wrongful Death Action and a Survival Action.
Types of Accidents Leading to Wrongful Death Claims
Our firm has deep experience handling a wide range of wrongful death claims for families in Allentown and across Lehigh County, including:
- Motor Vehicle Accidents: Including cars, commercial trucks, motorcycles, and pedestrian accidents.
- Medical Malpractice: Fatalities caused by the negligence of doctors, surgeons, nurses, or hospitals.
- Premises Liability: Including fatal falls, drownings, or violent attacks due to negligent security.
- Workplace Accidents: Deaths on the job, especially in dangerous industries like construction.
- Defective Products: When a faulty product, such as a defective auto part or a dangerous medical device, leads to a person’s death.
Types of Injuries That Can Lead to a Wrongful Death
The immediate cause of death is a critical element of any claim. Our firm works with medical professionals to prove how a negligent act led to a fatal injury, such as:
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Spinal Cord Injury and Paralysis
- Internal Organ Damage and Internal Bleeding
- Severe Burn Injuries
- Infections and Sepsis resulting from an initial injury
How We Counter Insurance Tactics in Allentown Wrongful Death Cases
After a fatal accident, you should be allowed to grieve in peace. Instead, an insurance adjuster from the at-fault party’s insurance company will likely contact you. Keep in mind that this person does not represent your interests. Their job is to protect their company’s profits by paying your family as little as possible.
Insurance adjusters use many tactics to devalue a wrongful death claim. They may try to argue that your loved one was partially at fault for the accident to reduce the settlement amount. They may question the value of your loved one’s lost income or the depth of your family’s emotional loss. Often, they will offer a quick, lowball settlement, hoping you will accept it before you can speak with an attorney and understand what your Allentown wrongful death claim is truly worth.
Our fatal injury lawyers in Allentown handle all communication with the insurance companies. We build a powerful, evidence-based case to demonstrate the full value of your family’s loss and fight back against their tactics. We prepare every case as if it is going to trial, a strategy that often forces the insurance company to treat your family’s claim with the seriousness it deserves.
How You Can Help Strengthen Your Allentown Wrongful Death Claim
While our legal team handles the investigation and legal filings for your Lehigh County wrongful death claim, there are things your family can do to help strengthen your case.
Gather Your Loved One’s Financial Documents
To secure your family’s financial future, our attorneys must prove the full extent of the economic loss caused by your loved one’s passing. You can provide immense help by beginning to gather key financial documents.
Items like recent pay stubs, W-2s, and the last few years of tax returns are the foundation for calculating the lost income your family will have depended on. Retirement benefit documents like 401(k) or pension statements, along with health insurance information, reveal a much fuller picture of the available financial support. Collecting these records gives our financialists the essential tools they need to build the strongest possible case for your family’s economic damages.
Collect Photos and Videos to Honor Their Memory
A wrongful death claim seeks compensation not just for financial loss, but also for the profound loss of love, companionship, guidance, and society. Pictures and home videos are one of the most powerful ways to show a jury the depth of this loss. This visual evidence makes your loved one’s role in your family real and tangible.
A photo from a family vacation, a video of them playing with their children, or a picture from a holiday gathering can speak volumes more than words alone. We encourage you to create a special digital folder or album to collect these cherished memories. They are not just mementos; in a legal context, they become invaluable evidence that helps us tell the story of who your loved one was and the immense void their absence has left in your lives.
Write Down Your Memories and Their Role in Your Life
Over time, small but important memories can begin to fade, especially during intense grief. We advise our clients to keep a private journal to describe how their loved one contributed to their lives.
Think about the daily things you will miss: Did they handle the household repairs? Did they help the kids with their homework every night? Were they the person you turned to for advice during difficult times? Writing down these specific memories—the guidance they gave, the services they performed, the emotional support they provided—helps us build a strong case for your non-economic damages. These written accounts are a powerful tool that helps us demonstrate the true value of your loss.
Locate Important Legal and Personal Documents
The legal process of a wrongful death claim requires certain official documents to formally establish the case and prove your standing as a beneficiary. If possible, locating the victim’s will is helpful, as it often names the person they wished to serve as the personal representative (or executor) of their estate.
We will also need official copies of their death certificate, which establishes the cause of death, as well as birth certificates and a marriage certificate. These documents legally prove the relationships between the deceased and the beneficiaries (spouse, children, parents). This paperwork is essential for the first step of the legal process, which involves opening an estate with the Lehigh County Register of Wills to have a personal representative formally appointed to act on behalf of your family.
Protect Your Family’s Privacy on Social Media
In today’s world, you must be extremely cautious when using social media during an active wrongful death claim. Insurance companies will assign investigators to monitor the entire family’s social media accounts. They are looking for anything they can twist and take out of context to devalue your claim.
For example, the insurance company may use a photo of you at a family dinner to argue that your grief and suffering aren’t as severe as you claim. The safest action is to refrain from posting updates, photos, or comments about your personal life or emotional state. Ask close friends and family members not to post photos of you or tag you in posts until the case reaches its conclusion. Protecting your privacy is a key step in protecting the integrity of your claim.
Contact Our Compassionate Allentown Wrongful Death Lawyers Today
Losing a loved one is a journey no family should walk alone. The path to justice can seem daunting, but you do not have to face it alone. While we focus on securing justice and financial stability, you can focus on what matters most: healing. Our team is here to provide the answers, support, and aggressive legal representation your family needs to find its way forward in Allentown and the entire Lehigh Valley.
Please contact our team at Leonard Hill – Personal Injury Lawyers and Car Accident Lawyers today by calling (215) 567-7600 for a free and completely confidential consultation. There is no cost or obligation; our Allentown wrongful death lawyers are here to listen.