UCLA-Trained Attorneys in Sherman Oaks
When someone dies because of another person's negligence in Sherman Oaks, the at-fault party's insurer assigns a claims adjuster almost immediately. Their job is to resolve the case for as little as possible. Sometimes they reach out to the family within days with a settlement offer that sounds large but covers a fraction of what the law actually allows.
California CCP Section 377.60 gives surviving family members, including spouses, domestic partners, children, and dependents, the right to pursue a wrongful death lawsuit. A separate survival action under Section 377.30 recovers damages the deceased person experienced before death. Arya files Sherman Oaks wrongful death cases at Van Nuys Courthouse West, where he has tried cases and knows what local juries respond to.
A Sherman Oaks Attorney Who Knows This Neighborhood
I previously lived in Sherman Oaks, near the Ralphs on Ventura and Hazeltine, and have spent years representing injured residents across the San Fernando Valley. I've spent many nights at Mizlala and The Little IZAKA-YA next door. I know how hard it is to get to the 405 from Sherman Oaks, the Westfield Fashion Square area, and what it takes to get fair results for people injured in this community. I earned my law degree at UCLA and grew up in Woodland Hills, just a few miles away.
What Makes Your Case Different From Day One
The dangerous corridors, the trauma routing, the legal framework, and the deadlines that apply. Sherman Oaks has one of the highest injury collision rates in the Valley. Here is what that means for your case.
California law allows surviving spouses, children, and — in some cases — other dependents to file a civil wrongful death claim for the negligent, reckless, or intentional killing of a family member. This is a separate claim from any criminal prosecution.
A survival action (CCP §377.30) allows the estate to recover damages the deceased could have claimed if they had survived — including pain and suffering experienced before death. Both claims can run simultaneously and are often pursued together.
What Shapes an Injury Case Here
Westfield Fashion Square has a corporate liability team that handles every slip and fall and parking structure incident with the same approach: deny, delay, lowball. Getting the property's prior incident reports early matters because it proves they knew about the hazard. Once those records get buried in a legal hold, they are harder to obtain.
The 101/405 interchange at the south end of Sherman Oaks is one of the busiest freeway junctions in LA. Multi-vehicle crashes here mean multiple insurance policies, and the adjusters from each company will point fingers at each other while your bills pile up.
Sherman Oaks has a huge number of apartment buildings, particularly along the Magnolia and Oxnard corridors. Premises cases against property management companies, things like broken stairwells, inadequate lighting, or security negligence, are a recurring case type. These companies have their own insurance adjusters and their own lawyers. They do not fold easily.
Sepulveda Boulevard between Ventura and Magnolia has one of the highest concentrations of orthopedic, chiropractic, and imaging practices in the Valley. Opposing counsel will scrutinize your choice of treating provider here more than in less medically dense areas, which is why it matters that your attorney knows which providers produce records that hold up.
Cases file at Van Nuys Courthouse, one of the busiest civil courts in LA County.
Where People Get Hurt
The 101/405 junction is the headline, but Ventura Boulevard generates just as many cases. The combination of high pedestrian traffic, valet zones, driveways, and drivers distracted by their phones makes this stretch a persistent source of pedestrian strikes and intersection collisions.
Van Nuys Boulevard carries heavy north-south traffic with signal timing that seems designed to cause T-bones. Sepulveda runs through the medical district where patients pulling in and out of parking lots create their own hazard pattern. Riverside Drive gets the cyclist and jogger incidents along the LA River path.
We recently handled a case where a client was rear-ended at a dead stop on the 101 by a driver doing 55. Another involved a delivery truck that ran a red on Van Nuys and T-boned a minivan with kids inside. A third was a slip and fall in the Fashion Square parking structure where the property had ignored a leaking pipe for weeks. Three cases, three completely different defendants, three different legal strategies.
Crash Data
Recent Crashes
Compensation Available in Your Case
Funeral costs are just the beginning. California wrongful death damages include lost financial support, loss of companionship, and more. Here is the complete list.
Funeral & Burial Expenses
Reasonable funeral, burial, or cremation costs directly caused by the wrongful death.
Lost Financial Support
The income, benefits, and financial stability your loved one would have provided to your family over their remaining lifetime.
Loss of Household Services
Your loved one cooked, cleaned, drove the kids, managed the home. Replacing those contributions costs real money, and the law accounts for that.
Loss of Companionship
The irreplaceable loss of love, affection, moral support, and daily presence. This is one of the largest components of wrongful death damages in California.
Pre-Death Pain & Suffering
If your family member suffered before dying, a survival action compensates that pain. High-speed crashes along the 405 or 101 through Sherman Oaks frequently involve conscious suffering.
Punitive Damages
When death was caused by drunk driving, extreme speeding, or willful misconduct, the court can award punitive damages on top of compensatory amounts.
Call us Today. No fee until you win!
818-224-7940Steps for Wrongful Death Families
Wrongful death claims involve both legal process and profound personal grief. We guide families through both with discretion and determination.
Prioritize your family's wellbeing
Be with your family. The legal process will still be there when you're ready. You don't have to make decisions right now.
Preserve all documentation
The death certificate, CHP or LAPD reports, Sherman Oaks Hospital records, and any contact from the at-fault party's insurance company.
Do not accept any payment or release
Quick settlement offers after a death are designed to limit the insurer's exposure. They rarely reflect the true value of your claim.
Document financial dependence
Tax returns, pay records, mortgage statements, and anything else showing your family's financial reliance on the person you lost.
Contact Westwood Law
Arya Firoozmand represents Sherman Oaks families in wrongful death cases at Van Nuys Courthouse. Acting early protects surveillance footage and scene evidence.