Grief and Loss: Identifying and Proving Damages in Wrongful Death Cases

Finally, a book that will help two disciplines—attorneys and mental health professionals—understand one another in the work that they do for clients in grief. More importantly, this is a book that provides the clinician with an understanding of grief and all its complicated dynamics. These two authors make an important statement: “that a death in a family is a death of that family as it was then constituted.” This statement is masterfully discussed in examples throughout the book. Finally, this book also serves as an important work, helping licensed mental health professionals understand their ethical duty both in treatment and in court litigation. This is a book that I will read and reread as it becomes an important part of my library, as I hope it does yours.

Mr. Hall and Ms. Tecala have given advice that all lawyers should appreciate in dealing with loss (and, of course, serious injury). I expected nothing less than a jewel from Bob Hall. Forty eight years of practice in this area of the law reveals that Mr. Hall and Ms. Tecala have shared with us a real diamond mine.

Achieving full and fair compensation for our bereaved clients in wrongful death actions has never been more challenging than it is today. Hall and Tecala confront those challenges head-on. They identify key areas of judge and juror resistance that interfere with the awarding of non-economic damages, including those situations traditionally most difficult, like death of a baby or unborn child, an elderly relative, a suicide victim, or a ‘stigmatized’ decedent. By exposing those myths and platitudes about death which jurors comfortably embrace in denying full compensation and by de-mystifying them, Hall and Tecala not only tell us the difficult truths, they provide essential strategies for achieving the best result possible, both as advocates and as counselors for our clients.

This is one amazing book! Hall and Tecala present a perfect model of how attorneys and mental health professionals can work together to help meets the needs of the client involved in the judicial system. This is must reading for attorneys to better understand their clients to enhance their representation. This is must reading for mental health professionals seeking to apply their skill set in a forensic context. This is simply must reading.

At the center of life is a great brooding mystery: death. All of us know something of it, but none of us really knows enough to adequately represent grieving family members who have lost a loved one. This book proves, quietly but forcefully, that we attorneys need to set aside the platitudes and preconceptions with which we “handle”—and too often hurt—our bereaved clients. Robert Hall and Mila Tecala give us the necessary tools to contemplate life’s greatest losses and to show juries and judges the full human dimensions of death and its appropriate compensation in court. But much more than a legal guide, this book educates every reader in a greater appreciation for the myriad ways in which all humans struggle with the challenge to go on living after a family member has died. Read it for your practice, but read it for your life too.