Clovis Wrongful Death Lawyer

Your Attorney — Sarwinder Dhanjan

Sarwinder Dhanjan is the founding attorney of Dhanjan Injury Lawyer. He handles every case personally — you work directly with him from the first call through final resolution. Attorney Dhanjan is admitted to the State Bar of California and is active in Fresno County Superior Court.

Languages: English | Spanish | Punjabi | Hindi

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Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in California

California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 defines who has standing to bring a wrongful death claim. The primary eligible claimants are the surviving spouse or domestic partner, surviving children, and — when there is no surviving spouse or children — individuals who were financially dependent on the decedent. All eligible claimants must join in a single action. Early identification of all eligible claimants is critical — a wrongful death case filed without all proper plaintiffs creates procedural complications that carriers exploit.

A wrongful death claim is separate from a survival action. The wrongful death claim compensates survivors for their losses going forward. The survival action recovers what the decedent suffered before death — pre-death pain and suffering and medical expenses. Both can and should be pursued simultaneously in fatal accident cases.

Valuing a Clovis Wrongful Death Claim

Properly valuing a wrongful death claim requires forensic economic expert analysis. A forensic economist calculates the present value of the decedent’s future earnings and support contributions, accounting for salary history, wage growth, inflation, and life expectancy. For a working-age adult with dependent children, this calculation frequently produces an economic damages figure in the millions.

The value of household services — childcare, cooking, home maintenance — is a separately recoverable component. Non-economic damages for loss of love, companionship, comfort, affection, and moral support are presented through testimony about the specific relationship and its loss. California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.61 governs wrongful death damages. California does not cap these damages in negligence-based wrongful death cases.

Common Causes of Wrongful Death in Clovis

Motor vehicle collisions on Herndon Avenue, Shaw Avenue, and Highway 168 are the leading cause of wrongful death claims in the Clovis area. Commercial truck collisions produce fatal outcomes at a disproportionate rate due to mass disparity. Pedestrian accidents at commercial corridor crossings produce fatal injuries because pedestrians have no structural protection. Premises liability deaths from falls, inadequate security, and structural failures create wrongful death liability for property owners who failed to maintain safe conditions.

Compensation Available in Clovis Wrongful Death Claims

Wrongful death damages in Clovis are calculated on two separate but simultaneous tracks. The wrongful death claim itself compensates surviving family members for what they lost going forward: the financial support the decedent would have provided over their remaining working life, the value of household services they would have performed, and the non-economic losses — loss of love, companionship, comfort, affection, society, and moral support — that have no market value but are fully compensable under California law. These non-economic losses are presented through testimony about the specific relationship and its daily expression, not through generalities.

The simultaneous survival action compensates the estate for what the decedent suffered before death. In cases where the decedent survived the accident for hours, days, or weeks before dying, pre-death pain and suffering can be a substantial component of the survival action damages. Medical expenses incurred between injury and death, and lost earnings from the time of injury to the time of death, are separately recoverable in the survival action. California does not cap these damages in negligence-based wrongful death cases — the MICRA statutory cap applies only to medical malpractice wrongful death claims, not to those arising from vehicle accidents, premises liability, or other negligence theories.

What To Do After a Fatal Accident in Clovis

1. Focus on your family first — but preserve the accident scene information immediately. In the immediate aftermath of a fatal accident, family members are managing grief, hospital communications, and law enforcement simultaneously. Evidence preservation cannot wait for the grief to subside. If you are unable to act, ask a trusted person to take scene photographs and collect witness information while you are with your family.
2. Obtain the official police report. The Clovis Police Department collision report is the official record of the accident. Request a copy and preserve it along with any citations issued and any witness names recorded by officers at the scene.
3. Preserve all medical records from the incident. If the decedent received emergency care before death, those records document the mechanism and severity of injury. They form part of the survival action damages evidence.
4. Do not communicate with the at-fault party’s insurance carrier. Carrier representatives will contact the family within days of the accident. These contacts are designed to gather information and offer premature settlements before the family understands the value of their claim. Do not speak with them before consulting an attorney.
5. Contact Dhanjan Injury Lawyer as soon as you are able. Wrongful death evidence disappears on the same cycles as any other accident evidence — camera footage, vehicle data, witness availability. Acting within the first week preserves the evidence base that supports the maximum recovery for your family.

Two Years From the Date of Death — and Why the Real Deadline Comes Sooner

Two years from the date of death under California Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. If a government entity is involved, six months under the Government Claims Act. For the statewide wrongful death framework, see our California Wrongful Death Lawyer page. For the Clovis personal injury overview, see our Clovis Personal Injury Lawyer hub. For our Fresno practice, see our Fresno Personal Injury Lawyer hub. To discuss your family’s situation, contact us.

Survival Action Alongside Wrongful Death

California Code of Civil Procedure sections 377.30 through 377.62 govern the full scope of wrongful death and survival action rights. The survival action belongs to the estate and recovers what the decedent suffered before death — pre-death pain and suffering, medical expenses incurred between injury and death, and lost earnings from the time of injury to death. In cases where the decedent survived the accident for any period before dying, the survival action can be substantial — particularly in cases involving severe pain and suffering during a prolonged hospitalization.

The wrongful death claim and the survival action are brought as separate causes of action but are typically filed together in the same lawsuit. The total recovery available to the family and the estate is the sum of both claims. A forensic economist must value both components — the future economic losses of the surviving family members and the pre-death economic losses of the estate. We retain the full expert team necessary to maximize both components from the outset of every Clovis wrongful death case.

California courts have consistently held that California’s wrongful death statute is to be construed broadly in favor of recovery for surviving family members. The burden is on the defendant to establish any limitation on recovery — not on the family to prove they fall within a covered category. We identify and name every eligible claimant before filing to ensure the full recovery available to the family is pursued in a single, comprehensive action.

Calculating the Full Economic and Non-Economic Loss in a Clovis Wrongful Death Case

Wrongful death damages in Clovis require two separate but related calculations that must be developed before any settlement demand is made. The wrongful death claim compensates surviving family members for the future financial support the decedent would have provided over their expected working life, the household services they contributed, and the non-economic loss of their companionship and moral guidance. The concurrent survival action recovers what the decedent suffered between the accident and death — a distinct claim with its own damages calculation. A forensic economist quantifies both tracks at present value in the format required by Fresno County Superior Court. The combination of wrongful death damages and survival action damages produces the full recovery picture. No settlement of a Clovis wrongful death case should be discussed before both calculations are complete.

Economic damages are the measurable financial losses the accident produced. Medical expenses from the date of the accident through the end of treatment are documented through medical billing records. Future medical expenses — for injuries that require ongoing care, additional surgeries, or lifetime management — must be projected by a treating physician and, in serious cases, by a certified life care planner whose projections are based on the specific treatment plan and the current market rates for those services in the Fresno area. Lost wages are documented through employer records and tax returns. Lost future earning capacity — when injuries permanently reduce the ability to work — requires vocational rehabilitation expert testimony on the specific functional limitations and their impact on the specific type of work the victim performed before the accident.

Non-economic damages are the human cost of the injury — the harm that does not appear on a medical bill. Physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, permanent disfigurement or scarring, loss of enjoyment of activities and relationships that the injury has disrupted, and loss of consortium where a spouse’s relationship has been affected. These damages are not speculative — they are real, recognized compensable harms under California law. Presenting them persuasively requires detailed testimony about the specific impact of this injury on this person’s specific life — not generic descriptions. We develop this testimony through client interviews and, where appropriate, through testimony from treating mental health providers and family members who can corroborate the daily impact.

How Clovis Wrongful Death Cases Move From Incident to Family Recovery

Clovis wrongful death cases involve administrative steps that run alongside the civil claim. If a government entity was involved, the six-month Government Claims Act deadline begins running from the date of death — we file that claim immediately, before the investigation is complete. The civil wrongful death claim in Fresno County Superior Court is coordinated with the survival action and, if the decedent had significant assets, with the probate proceeding. Most Clovis wrongful death cases resolve through structured demand negotiation after the economic and non-economic damages are fully calculated by a forensic economist. Carriers in wrongful death cases respond to complete expert analysis, documented family financial dependence, and evidence that opposing counsel is prepared to take the case to a Fresno County jury. Cases that do not resolve at the demand or mediation stage proceed to trial. Dhanjan Injury Lawyer has tried cases in Fresno County Superior Court — carriers who operate in this market know it.

From the first call, we begin evidence preservation — litigation hold demands, scene documentation, witness identification. We then guide clients through the medical care process, ensuring consistent treatment and complete documentation. Once treatment is complete and the treating physician has established the long-term prognosis, we prepare a comprehensive demand package — the medical record, economic damages analysis, and non-economic damages narrative — and present it to the carrier. Most serious cases involve multiple rounds of negotiation. When carriers refuse to pay fair value, we file in Fresno County Superior Court at 1100 Van Ness Ave, Fresno, CA 93724 and pursue the case through trial. Our trial-ready preparation standard is what produces full settlement value before trial — and it is what produces full verdict value when trial is necessary.

The Role of Forensic Economic Analysis in Wrongful Death Cases

A forensic economist is essential to maximizing the economic damages recovery in a Clovis wrongful death case. The economist calculates the present value of the decedent’s future earnings and support contributions using the decedent’s actual earnings history, projected wage growth based on industry data, an appropriate discount rate for present value conversion, and the decedent’s statistical life expectancy from actuarial tables. For a working-age adult earning $75,000 per year with 25 years of working life remaining, the raw economic projection before discounting to present value can exceed $2 million before accounting for the value of household services or the non-economic loss to surviving family members. These calculations must be done with precision by a qualified forensic economist whose methodology withstands cross-examination — we retain this expertise from the outset of every Clovis wrongful death case.

What Surviving Families Need to Know Before the First Call

Every serious injury claim in Clovis begins the same way: a conversation with Attorney Sarwinder Dhanjan about what happened, what injuries resulted, and what the realistic path to recovery looks like. That conversation is free, confidential, and available in English, Spanish, Punjabi, and Hindi. There are no upfront costs, no commitment required, and no obligation to retain us after the consultation.

What we do in the first consultation: review the specific facts of the accident, identify every potentially liable party, assess the full insurance stack available for recovery, evaluate the strength of the evidence that currently exists and the evidence that needs to be preserved immediately, and give you an honest assessment of the realistic range of what a well-prepared claim may recover. We do not give optimistic numbers to encourage you to sign a fee agreement — we give honest assessments that allow you to make an informed decision about your case.

If you retain us, we begin work immediately. Litigation hold demands go out the same day. Evidence preservation begins before the automatic overwrite cycles that govern commercial cameras, vehicle data recorders, and electronic logging devices eliminate what currently exists. The window for that evidence is measured in hours — not days. For all Clovis injury matters, contact us at (559) 342-2000, available 24/7, or through the contact form at our contact page. Our office at 2170 N. Winery Ave, Fresno, CA 93703 is 6 miles and 15 minutes from Clovis — the same court, the same county, and the same commitment to full-value recovery that we bring to every Fresno case.

Why Clovis Wrongful Death Families Choose Dhanjan Injury Lawyer

Wrongful death representation requires a different kind of attorney-client relationship than standard injury representation. The clients are not recovering from injuries — they are grieving a loss while simultaneously navigating a legal process with strict deadlines and complex evidentiary requirements. Attorney Dhanjan handles every wrongful death case personally, communicates directly with the family at every stage, and approaches these cases with the understanding that the family’s dignity and grief must be respected throughout a process that is, by necessity, clinical and evidence-focused.

On the legal side, wrongful death cases require forensic economic analysis, forensic pathology evidence in cases where cause of death is disputed, and non-economic damages testimony that presents the specific relationship between the decedent and each surviving family member with the specificity and authenticity that Fresno County juries respond to. We retain the full expert team — forensic economist, life care planner where applicable, and liability experts — from the outset of every Clovis wrongful death case.

How Clovis Wrongful Death Claims Resolve

Wrongful death claims in Clovis involve longer timelines than standard injury claims because the damages analysis is more complex and the emotional stakes for the family are higher. The forensic economic analysis — present value of future earnings and support contributions — requires time to complete properly. The non-economic damages testimony must be developed through detailed client interviews. The liability investigation must be as thorough as in any other serious injury case. A wrongful death case that is rushed to settlement before these components are fully developed consistently undervalues the loss.

Most Clovis wrongful death cases that are properly prepared resolve through settlement — either through direct demand negotiation or mediation — without requiring trial. But preparation for trial is what produces settlement. Carriers know when a plaintiff’s attorney has assembled the complete damages case and retained the necessary experts. That knowledge drives the settlement offers upward. We do not present demands until we are prepared to try the case — and that preparation is evident to carriers in how the demand package is assembled.