Practice Area

Prison and Jail Wrongful Death

When a person in custody dies, families are so often unable to find answers and accountability.

Our team has extensive experience litigating damages cases on behalf of families who lost a loved one in prison or jail due to denials of medical or mental health care, failures to protect, or other violations of the law. We understand that people who die while incarcerated do not deserve to have their lives discounted simply because they were in custody when they died.

These cases are legally complex, and frequently require hard-fought discovery into the defendants’ policies and practices as well as discovery into deaths or injuries of other prisoners from related misconduct. We have the skill and experience necessary to expose untimely deaths in prison and jail as the unacceptable and preventable tragedies that they are and to fight to hold those responsible accountable.

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Recent Representative Cases

Death from Deliberate Indifference to a Genetic Disorder

Representing the family of a 30-year-old man alleging that he was denied treatment for a long-diagnosed genetic disorder that caused liver failure and death, despite defendants’ understanding the lifesaving care that was required for months.

Failure to Provide Emergency Care

Representing the family of a man alleging that he suffered an emergent cardiac issue while incarcerated but was denied access to an emergency room, leading to his death.

Deliberate Indifference to Mental Illness

Representing the family of a young man alleging he was denied mental health care or medication while suffering a mental health emergency in prison, leading to his death.

Death from Dehydration

Representing the family of a 21-year-old man who, while suffering a mental health crisis, stopped eating, drinking, and taking his medication. The defendants documented that he was not eating, drinking, and taking medications and that he was losing weight rapidly, but they did not provide care and the young man died of dehydration in his cell.