Long Beach Wrongful Death Lawyer

Losing someone in a crash on a Long Beach street is hard enough. Then the insurance calls start, the police report crawls, and a deadline you never heard of is already running. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. is a Los Angeles firm that handles motor-vehicle injury cases only. That includes wrongful death after a fatal car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, bicycle, rideshare, or drunk-driving crash. Attorney Moe Abdallah takes these cases himself and keeps your family updated by call and text. We move fast on video, vehicle data, and witnesses, because they vanish quicker than most people expect. The consultation is free and open 24/7, we speak Spanish, and we charge no fee unless we recover money for your family. You do not need every answer today. Call when you are ready, and we will tell you who can file, how long you have, and what we can do right now.

Who has the right to file when a Long Beach crash takes a life

California decides who can bring a wrongful death claim, and your family does not get to choose. Code of Civil Procedure 377.60 puts the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, the children, and the children of any child who has died first in line. If none of them survive, the people who would inherit under California's intestate rules can file, often a parent. The statute also lets certain dependents file whether or not anyone is in the first group. That covers a putative spouse, stepchildren, and parents who relied on the person for support, plus a minor who lived in the household for the past 180 days and got at least half their support from the person who died. In a Long Beach household, a grandmother, an adult child, and a partner may each stand in a different place under this statute, so we map out who qualifies family member by family member. A separate survival claim belongs to the estate, and the personal representative or successor in interest brings it. It recovers what the person lost between the crash and death, such as medical bills and lost wages. We sort out who qualifies before we file anything, so nobody gets left out and no claim gets thrown out on a technicality.

Where fatal crashes happen in Long Beach and what the numbers say

Long Beach recorded 53 fatal traffic collisions in 2025, the most in more than ten years, according to the Long Beach Post. Thirty-two of the people killed were walking, biking, or riding e-scooters. The state's Office of Traffic Safety ranked Long Beach 1st of 15 comparable cities for total fatal and injury crash victims in 2023, and 1st for fatal and injury crashes between 9pm and 3am. Alcohol-involved victims ranked 2nd. In 2016 the city adopted a Vision Zero goal of ending traffic deaths and serious injuries by 2026, and the Long Beach Post reports that speed cameras are planned at 18 locations. Those numbers describe the whole city, not one road. The same Long Beach Post report described a resident who documented speeding on Orange Avenue between Seventh Street and Hellman Avenue and proposed speed humps there. It also pictured a rollover at 10th Street and Elm Avenue where the driver knocked over a tree and broke through a metal fence. The 710, 405, 605, 91, and 22 freeways and Pacific Coast Highway all run through or along the city, so a fatal case here may involve freeway speeds or a busy surface street. We use this local picture to ask sharper questions. Was the driver speeding, impaired, distracted, or fleeing? Did the road, a signal, or a company vehicle play a part? Every fatal crash is different, and the answers come from evidence, not statistics.

The Long Beach police report and the first weeks

In Long Beach, the Long Beach Police Department writes the collision report, not LAPD or the Sheriff. You request it by mailing the department's Application for Release of Traffic Collision Report to 400 W. Broadway, Long Beach, CA 90802, attention Information Management Division. Include a copy of your photo ID. The fee is $30, and the department says processing may take up to about six months. You can check status by emailing PD-RequestStatus@longbeach.gov. Do not wait for the report before you call a lawyer. In the first weeks, we send preservation letters to the other driver, their insurer, and any company tied to the vehicle. We hunt for nearby business cameras, doorbell video, and city traffic cameras, since many systems record over old footage quickly. We find witnesses while memories are fresh. We also request the vehicle data recorder when one exists. Your family should not talk to the other side's adjuster or sign anything they send. If an insurer asks a grieving relative for a recorded statement, say no and have them call us. Keep the death certificate, funeral bills, and pay records for your loved one in one folder. We will tell you what else to gather.

Deadlines that shorten when a city or agency is involved

You have two years to file a wrongful death lawsuit against a private driver or company (Code of Civil Procedure 335.1). Courts ordinarily count from the date of death. When a public entity is involved, the clock runs much shorter. A city vehicle, a public bus or train, or a dangerous road condition can all lead to a claim against a public agency. For a death claim, you must present the written government claim within six months (Government Code 911.2). For the City of Long Beach, the claim goes to the City Clerk at 411 W. Ocean Blvd., online through the city's claims form or by mail or in person. A crash involving a Long Beach Transit bus or a Metro A Line train may call for a claim to that operator instead, and we confirm the right agency early. Crashes on state highways and freeways may involve the State or Caltrans, which uses a different process, and we check that early. If the six months pass, you can still ask to file a late claim, but you must apply within a reasonable time and no later than one year after the death (Government Code 911.4). If the agency rejects your claim in writing, you have only six months from that notice to sue (Government Code 945.6). That second deadline is easy to overlook. We calendar all of these dates on day one. Not sure whether a government vehicle or road was involved? Call us anyway. It costs nothing to find out, and the answer changes your timeline.

What a Long Beach family can recover and what insurers argue

A wrongful death award is meant to be what is just under all the circumstances (Code of Civil Procedure 377.61). For your family, that can include the loss of the person's financial support, household help, care, comfort, guidance, and companionship, plus funeral and burial costs. The survival claim covers the person's own losses before death, such as ambulance and hospital bills and lost earnings. For survival actions filed on or after January 1, 2026, pain and suffering is not recoverable, so the family's own loss claim carries more weight. Punitive damages can be sought in a survival action when there is clear and convincing proof of malice, and a drunk driver's conscious disregard of safety can support them (Civil Code 3294, Taylor v. Superior Court). Expect pushback. California uses pure comparative negligence, so if the insurer says your loved one was partly at fault, the award shrinks by that share (Li v. Yellow Cab Co., Horwich v. Superior Court). Under Proposition 51, each defendant pays noneconomic damages only in proportion to its own fault, so we name every company and person who contributed. In a city where 32 of the 53 fatal collisions in 2025 killed someone walking, biking, or riding an e-scooter, insurers often argue that a pedestrian stood outside a crosswalk or a cyclist was hard to see. We answer with scene evidence, witness accounts, and reconstruction when it is worth the cost. Past results do not predict a similar outcome, and no lawyer can promise one.

Local hospitals, the courthouse, and how Moe runs your case

Two Level II trauma centers in Long Beach can receive seriously injured crash victims: MemorialCare Long Beach Medical Center, verified for adults and children, and St. Mary Medical Center at 1050 Linden Ave. If your loved one lived for hours or days after the crash, those hospital records matter for the survival claim, and we request them early. The Los Angeles Superior Court's Long Beach location is the Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse at 275 Magnolia Ave., which hears civil, criminal, traffic, and family matters. Which courthouse hears a given case depends on the facts, and we confirm it for each case. Moe Abdallah Law, P.C. is in downtown Los Angeles at 527 W 7th St, Ste 924, and you can reach us by phone or text. Moe personally handles your case and gives you a direct line, not a rotating case manager. We investigate, deal with the insurers, and bring in experts when the case needs them. In past crash cases we have recovered policy limits for clients, including $100,000 in an uninsured motorist claim for a woman rear-ended by a driver who fled. Past results do not predict a similar outcome. You pay no fee unless we win, and the first call is free at (323) 716-1992.

Talk to a Long Beach wrongful death lawyer

Call (323) 716-1992 for a free, no-obligation case review. You pay nothing unless we win, and we'll handle the insurance companies for you. Learn more about our wrongful death representation →

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