Contra Costa County · Wrongful Death
Wrongful death lawyers serving Richmond
When negligence takes a life, the responsible parties usually have insurers and lawyers within days. Your family deserves the same — without paying anything unless we win.
A wrongful death claim exists to answer a loss the law cannot undo. California gives certain family members — generally a surviving spouse or domestic partner and children — the right to recover for the support, companionship, and guidance a negligent death takes away, and to require accountability from those responsible. The pursuit of that claim is work, and it is work a grieving family should be able to hand over whole.
Oguz Injury Lawyers LLP represents Richmond families from our office in Walnut Creek. We begin wherever your family is — a phone call, a video meeting, a visit — and we work in English, Spanish, Turkish, and Mandarin Chinese. The first conversation is free and creates no obligation.
From the outset we do the time-sensitive work: preserving evidence, obtaining the official records, identifying every responsible party and every layer of insurance, and protecting each deadline, including the six-month government claim rule where a public entity may be involved. There is no fee unless we recover for your family.
How these cases proceed for Richmond families
Richmond's roads carry some of the heaviest traffic in the county, and the investigating agency follows the map. Fatal crashes on I-80 or I-580 — including the bridge and toll-plaza approaches — are handled by the California Highway Patrol, with specialized reconstruction teams for the most serious collisions. On the city's own streets, from San Pablo Avenue and Macdonald Avenue to the Richmond Parkway, the Richmond Police Department prepares the record, and the county coroner's office conducts its own examination. We obtain every record and pursue what they miss — witnesses, camera footage, vehicle data — before it fades.
Richmond's industrial economy shapes many of these cases. Heavy truck traffic serving the port, the refinery, and the shoreline warehouses means some cases involve commercial carriers, whose logs, maintenance records, and onboard data must be formally preserved at once — and whose insurers begin building a defense immediately. Workplace deaths raise a further question families are rarely told about: alongside workers' compensation, a separate civil claim may exist against a negligent third party such as a contractor, site owner, or equipment manufacturer.
A Richmond wrongful death lawsuit is filed in the Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez. We handle the appearances; your family's involvement is what you choose it to be, and most cases resolve by settlement — on terms set largely by how thoroughly the case was prepared.
California wrongful death law, plainly stated
- The deadline for a wrongful death claim in California is generally two years from the date of death, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
- If a public entity bears responsibility — a government vehicle, a dangerous public road or property — a government claim generally must be presented within six months. This shorter deadline surprises grieving families constantly, and missing it can end the claim.
- Eligible claimants are defined by law: generally the surviving spouse or domestic partner and children first, then those entitled to the estate through intestate succession if there is no surviving spouse or issue.
- Pure comparative negligence applies: if the person who died was partly at fault, the family's recovery is reduced proportionally — not eliminated.
- A criminal prosecution, if any, is separate from the civil claim. The family's wrongful death case proceeds independently, under a different standard of proof, whatever the criminal outcome.
Frequently asked questions
A commercial truck was involved. Does that change the case?
Substantially. A case involving a commercial vehicle usually reaches past the driver to the motor carrier and its insurers, and it depends on evidence — driver logs, maintenance records, onboard data — that must be formally preserved before it disappears. Moving early matters more in these cases than almost any other kind, and it is a key reason to involve counsel promptly.
What deadlines apply to our family?
Generally two years from the date of death under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1, and six months to present a formal claim if a public entity may share responsibility — through a government vehicle, or a dangerous condition of a public road or property. Confirming which deadlines apply is a first-conversation task, and that conversation is free.
Who can bring the claim?
Generally the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and the children; if there are none, the right passes under California's intestate succession rules, often to parents or siblings, and certain financially dependent household members may also qualify. Eligibility can be more nuanced than it looks — it deserves a real answer, not an assumption.
What will our family have to pay?
Nothing out of pocket at any point. We advance all case costs and our fee is contingent — it comes only from a recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe nothing. The initial consultation is free.
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The case review is free and confidential, and you pay nothing unless we win. Tell us what happened, and we will tell you honestly where you stand.