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Reviewed by David Gammill, California trial attorney · Last reviewed: September 12, 2026
If someone you love died in Torrance because another person or company was careless, California law gives your family a claim, and it puts a clock on it. Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers is a Torrance trial firm that handles wrongful death cases across the South Bay. The firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients across verdicts and settlements. Its results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict; every case is different, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
A wrongful death claim is the civil case a family brings when a death was caused by someone else’s negligence or wrongful act. It is separate from any criminal case. A prosecutor decides whether to charge a driver; your family decides whether to hold the driver, the company that employed him, or the agency that maintained the road financially responsible. The two cases run on different tracks, and a family can recover in the civil case whether or not a prosecutor ever files anything.
In the South Bay, most of these cases come from the road. In 2023, traffic crashes in Torrance killed or injured 647 people, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety’s crash rankings for Torrance. The fatal cases we handle most often are car crashes, commercial truck collisions, motorcycle crashes, pedestrian deaths, bicycle crashes, Uber and Lyft crashes, and crashes where a dangerous road or intersection was part of the cause. We also handle deaths caused by dangerous property, defective products, and violence that a business or institution should have prevented. When a crash leaves a family member alive but permanently disabled, our Torrance catastrophic injury lawyer page explains how those cases are built.
California limits who may bring a wrongful death lawsuit. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.60, the claim belongs to the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, the children, and, if there are no surviving children, the people who would inherit under California’s intestacy rules. Parents and stepchildren can join the case if they were financially dependent on the person who died. If you are not on the statute’s list, you cannot file, no matter how close you were.
This matters in practice because every eligible family member should be in one lawsuit. California treats wrongful death as a single action, and a relative left out of it can lose the right to recover. Our plain-English guide to CCP § 377.60 and who can file a California wrongful death claim walks through the categories and the dependency rules.
Most families are surprised to learn that a death usually produces two separate legal claims.
The wrongful death claim belongs to the family. It compensates the survivors for what they lost: the financial support the person would have provided, the value of household services, funeral and burial expenses, and the loss of the person’s love, companionship, comfort, care, protection, guidance, and moral support. California does not cap these damages in an ordinary negligence case.
The survival action belongs to the estate. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 377.34, it recovers the losses the person suffered before death, such as medical bills and lost wages between the injury and the death, and it is the claim that can carry punitive damages. As of January 1, 2026, a survival action no longer recovers the person’s own pain and suffering; a temporary law that allowed it has expired. Our guide to CCP § 377.34 and survival action damages explains the change and what it means for a case filed now.
Handled well, the two claims are built together, filed together, and tried together. Handled poorly, one of them is forgotten.
Two years from the date of death. Under Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, most wrongful death lawsuits in California must be filed within two years of the death. The clock runs from the death, not from the injury that caused it. Our guide to CCP § 335.1, California’s two-year statute of limitations, covers the rule and its exceptions, and our companion guide on when to file a wrongful death lawsuit in California applies it to a death.
Six months when the government is involved. If a city vehicle, a Torrance Transit bus, a public school, a Caltrans freeway, or a dangerous public road caused the death, your family must present a written claim to the right public entity within six months under Government Code § 911.2 before any lawsuit can be filed. This deadline catches grieving families constantly, because six months passes quickly after a death. Our guide to the California government claim deadline explains the sequence.
Partial fault does not bar the claim. California follows pure comparative negligence (Li v. Yellow Cab Co. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 804). If the person who died shared some fault, the recovery is reduced by that percentage, never eliminated. Insurers push fault onto the person who can no longer speak for themselves; we answer with evidence.
The worst conduct can owe more. Where the defendant acted with malice, oppression, or fraud, such as a drunk driver or a company that knew about a hazard and left it in place, Civil Code § 3294 allows punitive damages through the survival action. Our guide to California’s punitive damages law explains the standard.
Every wrongful death case answers the same three questions: what happened, whose fault was it, and what did the family lose. The evidence that answers them rarely waits.
In a crash case, that means the vehicles before they are repaired or scrapped, event data recorders, camera footage from nearby businesses and city intersections, 911 recordings, and witness accounts taken while memories are fresh. In a commercial truck case, it means driver logs, dispatch records, and maintenance files that the carrier controls and is entitled to discard on a schedule unless a preservation demand arrives first. In a dangerous-road case, it means the public entity’s own complaint history, prior collision records, and maintenance records for the location.
On the damages side, the family’s loss is proven with the person’s earnings history, the value of the work they did at home, and testimony about who they were to the people who depended on them. Economists translate a working life into numbers a jury can act on. Our job is to make sure the full picture is what gets paid, not the first number the insurer offers while the family is still arranging a funeral.
Trial reputation is leverage. The firm’s results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict in a Los Angeles County jury trial against the State of California over a highway crash cushion, a real verdict in a specific case; outcomes always depend on the facts. When the defense knows a firm will take a wrongful death case to a jury, settlement conversations change.
We prepare every wrongful death case for trial from the first meeting, and we try the ones that should be tried. That preparation is why our settlements hold up: the defense prices a case differently when the alternative is a jury.
We work on a contingency fee: nothing upfront, no hourly bills, and a fee only out of the recovery, under a written contingency fee agreement that complies with California law. Our guide to what a personal injury lawyer costs in Torrance shows the fee math plainly.
You work directly with an attorney, not a case manager. We return calls, we explain things in plain English, and we do not push a family to make decisions before they are ready. If travel is hard, we come to you.
Call any time, including nights, weekends, and holidays, and you will reach a real person: 310-750-4149.
Gammill Law represents families throughout Torrance and the greater South Bay, including Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, El Segundo, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Carson, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, and Lomita. Our Torrance personal injury attorney page covers the firm’s other practice areas.
Two years from the date of death for most claims, under CCP § 335.1. If a public entity is involved, a written government claim is due within six months under Gov. Code § 911.2. Courts rarely excuse a missed deadline.
The surviving spouse or domestic partner, the children, and, if there are no children, the heirs under California’s intestacy rules. Parents and stepchildren may join if they were financially dependent on the person who died. See our guide to CCP § 377.60.
Yes. California’s pure comparative negligence rule reduces the recovery by the person’s share of fault rather than barring it.
No. The civil wrongful death claim is independent of any criminal prosecution, and a family can recover whether or not charges are ever filed. A criminal conviction can help prove fault, but its absence does not defeat the claim.
The wrongful death claim compensates the family for its losses. The survival action, under CCP § 377.34, belongs to the estate and recovers the losses the person suffered before death, and it is where punitive damages are pursued. Most cases include both.
Nothing upfront. We work on a contingency fee under a written agreement that complies with California law, and we are paid only out of a recovery. If there is no recovery, you owe us no fee.
Most wrongful death cases settle, and strong trial preparation is the reason the settlements are fair. We build every case as if a jury will decide it. The decision to settle or try the case is always the family’s, made with our honest advice.
You do not need to have the answers before you call. A free, confidential conversation with an attorney will tell you whether your family has a claim, who can bring it, and what deadlines apply. Evidence disappears quickly after a fatal crash, and the six-month government claim deadline in particular does not wait for a family to be ready.
Get your free case evaluation or call 310-750-4149 now. There are no upfront legal fees; a fee is collected only if we win.
This page is attorney advertising and general information, not legal advice for any specific situation. Deadlines and outcomes are fact-specific; consult a licensed California attorney about your own circumstances. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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Left with few options
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My name is David Gammill. I am a California trial lawyer and the founder of Gammill Law Accident & Injury Lawyers. Our firm has recovered more than $100 million for California clients. Our results include a $21.1 million wrongful death verdict, a $16 million school sexual abuse verdict, and a $12 million whistleblower retaliation verdict. I learned to try cases in front of juries early in my career as a Deputy District Attorney, and trying cases remains the backbone of my practice.
