If you have lost a loved one due to another party's negligence, you may be entitled to hold them accountable through a wrongful death lawsuit. While insurers often move quickly to minimize payouts after a fatal accident, Tyroler Leonard Injury Law levels the playing field.
With over $75 million recovered for our clients, including multiple seven-figure results in fatal crash cases, attorneys Isaac Tyroler and Rachel Sperling Leonard have spent over a decade successfully litigating against insurers in highway crashes, commercial trucking collisions, and catastrophic incidents.
We handle wrongful death claims statewide. Whether the accident occurred in the Twin Cities metro, the Iron Range, or along rural highway corridors, our attorneys are ready to come to you to conduct an independent investigation and fight for your family’s recovery.
Free consultation, available 24/7: 651-259-1113
Table of contents
- What Makes a Death "Wrongful" Under Minnesota Law?
- Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Minnesota?
- What Compensation Is Available in a Minnesota Wrongful Death Case?
- The Most Common Causes of Wrongful Death Cases in Minnesota
- How Long Does a Family Have to File in Minnesota or Wisconsin?
- What the Legal Process Looks Like With Tyroler Leonard Injury Law
- Why Tyroler Leonard Injury Law for a Minnesota Wrongful Death Case
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Talk to a Minnesota Wrongful Death Attorney Today
What Makes a Death "Wrongful" Under Minnesota Law?
A death is considered "wrongful" under Minnesota law when it is caused by the negligence or wrongful act of another party.
You do not need to prove intent; you only need to demonstrate that the responsible party’s conduct, such as running a red light, violating commercial trucking regulations, maintaining hazardous property, or manufacturing a defective product, directly caused the fatality and resulted in measurable losses for the surviving family.
Important: Do not assume a lack of criminal charges ends your claim. Law enforcement reports and civil liability use different standards. Our attorneys conduct independent investigations for every wrongful death case, ensuring that a preliminary police assessment is never the final word on who is held accountable for your loss.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Minnesota?
Under Minnesota's wrongful death statute, a wrongful death claim is filed by a court-appointed trustee who acts on behalf of the deceased person's survivors. The trustee, typically a spouse, adult child, or estate executor, initiates the lawsuit and distributes any recovery to the beneficiaries.
The survivors who may receive compensation in a Minnesota wrongful death case typically include:
- A surviving spouse
- Children of the deceased
- Parents, if there is no surviving spouse or children
- Other next of kin, depending on the specific circumstances
You do not need to have a formal role in the estate to begin a conversation with our attorneys. We walk families through the procedural requirements and determine how to move forward based on the specific circumstances.
What Compensation Is Available in a Minnesota Wrongful Death Case?
This is where families often have the least accurate picture, and where the difference between adequate and inadequate legal representation is most consequential.
Economic losses. The income your family member would have earned over the remainder of their working life. The services they provided, childcare, household management, care for elderly parents, that must now be replaced or go unmet. Medical expenses between the injury and the death. Funeral and burial costs.
Non-economic losses. The loss of companionship, guidance, advice, and the relationship itself. These damages are harder to quantify, but Minnesota law recognizes them as real and recoverable. The death of a spouse, parent, or child is not only a financial event.
Punitive damages in exceptional cases. When conduct was egregious, extreme recklessness, conscious disregard for human life, intentional wrongdoing, courts may award damages beyond compensation alone. These cases are the exception, not the rule, but they are a real possibility in certain fatal trucking and DUI cases.
The total value of a wrongful death case depends on the deceased's age and earning history, their role in the family, the strength of the liability evidence, and the insurance coverage available. Attorneys Isaac Tyroler and Rachel Sperling Leonard evaluate all of these factors when building the full picture of what a family should recover.
Talk to our attorneys about the full scope of your case — call 651-259-1113
The Most Common Causes of Wrongful Death Cases in Minnesota
Minnesota wrongful death cases arise across a range of circumstances. These are the situations our attorneys handle most frequently.
Fatal commercial truck and semi-truck crashes. The interstate corridors that run through Minnesota, I-35, I-94, I-90, US-10, US-2, carry some of the heaviest commercial traffic in the Midwest. When a semi-truck causes a fatal crash, the personal injury case typically involves not just the driver but the trucking company, the cargo owner, and potentially the vehicle manufacturer.
These defendants are well-resourced and their insurers are experienced at minimizing payouts. Fatal trucking cases require attorneys who understand commercial carrier liability and are prepared to litigate against large corporate defendants.
Fatal car accidents. High-speed impact crashes, wrong-way drivers, failure-to-yield fatalities, and DUI-related deaths are among the most common wrongful death situations our attorneys see. Many involve disputes about whether the at-fault driver's insurance is adequate, and whether the family's own underinsured motorist coverage applies.
Fatal motorcycle crashes. Motorcyclists are disproportionately represented in Minnesota traffic fatalities. When a motorcyclist is killed because another driver failed to check mirrors, misjudged a left turn, or simply did not look before changing lanes, liability is frequently clear, but insurers often undervalue these cases based on assumptions about the motorcyclist's conduct that the evidence does not support.
Fatal pedestrian and bicycle accidents. Pedestrian fatalities occur at crosswalks, in parking lots, at poorly designed intersections, and along roadways without adequate infrastructure. Bicycle fatalities happen when drivers pass too closely, door a rider without looking, or fail to yield. Right-of-way disputes and speed questions are common points of contention in these cases.
Fatal crashes caused by dangerous road or property conditions. A road designed without adequate sight lines. A business entrance with accumulated ice that no one treated. A poorly lit parking area where a fatal incident occurred. When a hazardous condition on public or private property contributes to a death, the owner or responsible government entity may bear liability.
Fatal product failures. A defective vehicle component that caused a crash. A safety system that malfunctioned. A product that failed in a way the manufacturer should have anticipated and prevented. These cases require expert-supported investigation but can result in significant recoveries, particularly when the defect affected multiple consumers.
If the circumstances of your family's loss do not fit these categories exactly, that is not a reason to assume there is no case. Call us and we will give you a direct answer.
How Long Does a Family Have to File in Minnesota or Wisconsin?
In Minnesota, the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim is 3 years. In Wisconsin, the deadline is 3 years.
Those windows feel long until evidence starts disappearing. Accident scene conditions change. Commercial vehicles are repaired and returned to service. Surveillance footage gets overwritten. Electronic data, black box recordings, dashcam footage, cellular records, has short retention windows. The sooner our attorneys begin investigating, the stronger the case they can build.
If you are uncertain whether your family's situation falls within the applicable filing window, that question has a clear answer. Call us and we will tell you exactly where you stand.
What the Legal Process Looks Like With Tyroler Leonard Injury Law
Evidence preservation, immediately. Fatal crash cases require fast action. Our attorneys take steps on day one to preserve evidence, sending legal holds to carriers, identifying and securing surveillance footage, documenting conditions before they change. This is not paperwork. It is the foundation of the case.
Appointment of a trustee. Minnesota law requires that the person filing a wrongful death claim be formally appointed as trustee by a court. Our attorneys handle this step so your family can focus on what matters, not on legal procedure.
Independent investigation. We do not rely on police reports, carrier incident reports, or initial determinations made by parties with an interest in the outcome. Our attorneys conduct their own investigation — and retain accident reconstruction specialists, medical experts, and other consultants when the case requires it.
Negotiations. Most wrongful death cases resolve through settlement. But the value of that settlement is shaped by one question the responsible party's insurer is always asking: will these attorneys actually take this to trial? Tyroler Leonard Injury Law has a known record of litigation. That changes what insurers offer at the table.
Trial, when needed. Attorneys Isaac Tyroler and Rachel Sperling Leonard are experienced trial attorneys. If the responsible party refuses to compensate a family fairly, they are fully prepared to present the case to a jury. Families dealing with wrongful death deserve attorneys who mean it when they say they will fight for a fair result.
Contingency fees. You pay nothing to get started. Our fee is a percentage of what we recover — and only if we recover something. If the case does not produce compensation, your family owes no legal fees.
Why Tyroler Leonard Injury Law for a Minnesota Wrongful Death Case
The firm takes cases statewide. Tyroler Leonard Injury Law has offices in Minneapolis, Oakdale, and Willmar. For fatal accidents elsewhere in Minnesota, Duluth, Rochester, St. Cloud, the Red River Valley, rural outstate, our attorneys travel to meet with families and work the case. Families outside the Twin Cities metro deserve the same caliber of representation as those in it.
Demonstrated results in fatal-injury cases. Among the results attorneys Isaac Tyroler and Rachel Sperling Leonard have achieved:
- $2,300,000 — Family rear-ended by a semi-truck; vehicle overturned and struck by a second vehicle
- $1,545,000 — Policy limits for a man struck and killed while on a sidewalk when two vehicles collided at an intersection
- $1,500,000 — Policy limits for the deaths of a mother and daughter killed when a commercial vehicle was negligently operated on the highway
- $2,000,000 — Settlement for two men seriously injured when a commercial truck pulled out in front of them
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Every case depends on its own facts.
62 years of combined legal experience. Both attorneys have built careers representing people whose lives were changed because someone else acted carelessly. Wrongful death is the most serious consequence of that carelessness, and they treat it accordingly.
Licensed in Minnesota and Wisconsin. For families dealing with a fatal accident that occurred in Wisconsin, our attorneys are licensed to handle those cases as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
These are the questions Minnesota families search when they are deciding whether to pursue a wrongful death claim, answered directly, as they would be in an initial consultation.
How do I know if I have a wrongful death case?
You may have a case if someone's negligence or wrongful conduct caused your family member's death. You do not need certainty before calling, the initial consultation is specifically for evaluating that question.
Our attorneys will review what happened, tell you honestly whether they believe there is a viable claim, and explain what pursuing it would involve. There is no cost and no obligation for that conversation.
The police report didn't blame anyone. Does that end our case?
Not necessarily. Police reports document what officers observed and often reflect a preliminary assessment under a criminal or administrative standard. Civil liability operates under a different standard of proof.
Our attorneys have pursued successful wrongful death claims in cases where initial reports did not assign fault. If negligence contributed to the death, that can frequently be established through independent investigation regardless of what a police report says.
What if the responsible driver didn't have enough insurance?
Underinsurance is common in fatal crash cases, and it does not necessarily end recovery. Minnesota requires drivers to carry uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which can apply to your own family's policy.
In commercial trucking cases, carrier liability coverage is typically far higher than personal auto coverage. Our attorneys identify every available source of compensation before concluding that a family's recovery is limited by a single policy.
Can we still file if the death happened several months ago?
In most cases, yes — Minnesota's statute of limitations gives families 3 years, and Wisconsin gives 3 years. That said, earlier is always better for evidence. Call us when you are ready, and we will tell you exactly where the timeline stands for your situation.
We live in a rural part of Minnesota, not near the Twin Cities. Will you take our case?
Yes. Tyroler Leonard Injury Law handles wrongful death cases throughout the state. If you are in outstate Minnesota and cannot easily travel to our offices, our attorneys will come to you. Geographic distance is not a barrier to representation.
Does the death need to have been immediate for a wrongful death claim to apply?
No. If someone was injured due to another party's negligence and died as a result of those injuries, even days, weeks, or months later, a wrongful death claim may still be available. What matters legally is the causal connection between the negligent act and the death, not how quickly death followed the injury.
What if the person who died was partly at fault for the accident?
A wrongful death claim can still succeed in Minnesota even if the deceased was partly responsible for what happened. Minnesota's modified comparative fault rule allows recovery as long as the deceased's share of fault was not greater than 50 percent. The family's compensation is reduced proportionally, but is not eliminated.
We live outside of Minnesota — can you still help us if the accident happened in MN?
Yes. Where the family lives is not the relevant factor, the location of the accident and the applicable state law is. If your family member was killed in a Minnesota accident, Minnesota law governs the claim and Tyroler Leonard Injury Law is licensed to handle it.
Will we need to go to court?
Most wrongful death cases are resolved through negotiated settlements before any trial. However, what a family ultimately receives in settlement is shaped significantly by whether the other side believes the opposing attorneys are genuinely prepared to try the case. Because attorneys Isaac Tyroler and Rachel Sperling Leonard have trial experience, that preparation influences negotiations from the beginning. If trial becomes necessary to achieve a fair result, they will take it there.
What does the contingency fee structure mean for our family?
It means you pay nothing out of pocket to begin. If we recover compensation, our fee is a previously agreed percentage of that recovery. If the case does not result in compensation, your family owes no legal fees. This structure ensures that our interests and your family's interests are aligned throughout the case.
Talk to a Minnesota Wrongful Death Attorney Today
If your family has lost someone due to another person's negligence, a fatal highway crash, a commercial truck collision, a death caused by someone's reckless or careless conduct, Tyroler Leonard Injury Law is prepared to evaluate your case and pursue every available avenue of compensation.
The initial consultation costs nothing. There are no legal fees unless we recover for your family. Our attorneys are available around the clock because the questions families face after a sudden loss do not follow business hours.
Minneapolis Office: 5353 Wayzata Boulevard, Suite 410, Minneapolis, MN 55416
Oakdale Office: 434 Hale Avenue North, Suite 130, Oakdale, MN 55128
Willmar Office: 330 4th Street SW, Willmar, MN 56201
Phone: 651-259-1113
► Call 651-259-1113 or contact us at injurylawmn.com/contact
