Macon Wrongful Death Attorney
In the hours after a fatal accident or sudden medical death, families are answering hospital paperwork, talking to police or the coroner, calling relatives. The carrier on the other side of the case has already started its work.
A Macon wrongful death attorney begins on the questions that decide the case in those same days. Evidence has a short shelf life. Decisions about fault and value get made on a different timeline than the family’s.
If you have lost a family member because of someone else’s negligence, recklessness, or medical error in Macon, Warner Robins, or anywhere in Middle Georgia, Gautreaux Law has handled wrongful death cases since 1998 and has resolved six wrongful death matters totaling more than $10 million, with total firm recoveries exceeding $100 million.
Call (478) 238-9758 or request a free case review.
How Gautreaux Law Handles Wrongful Death Cases In Macon
A wrongful death case starts with documenting what happened and why. The Macon Judicial Circuit, the Bibb County courts, and the State Court of Bibb County are familiar territory for our attorneys.
The investigation runs on multiple tracks at once:
1. Liability evidence
Police reports, autopsy records, witness statements, and the official Georgia DOT-523 crash report when a vehicle is involved. Accident reconstruction experts in trucking and auto accident cases. Qualified medical experts in malpractice cases where the standard of care is contested.
2. Cause-of-death documentation
Treating physicians and medical examiners on the cause of death and the conduct of any responsible health care provider.
3. Insurance mapping
Most serious wrongful death cases involve multiple coverage layers: the at-fault party's liability, your family's uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage when a vehicle is involved, employer policies, umbrella coverage, and medical malpractice policy layers when applicable.
4. Strategic positioning
How those layers stack together determines whether the family recovers from one source or several.
In the wrongful death cases we have handled, the difference between a recovery that supports the family and one that does not is usually decided in the first weeks, while the evidence is still fresh and the carrier’s position is still forming.
If the carrier will not pay fair value, we file suit. To discuss your family’s case, call (478) 238-9758.
What Sets Gautreaux Law Apart
Wrongful death is a primary practice area
Six resolved wrongful death matters between $700,000 and $4.85 million each, totaling more than $10 million. These results sit alongside more than $100 million in total firm recoveries across motor vehicle, premises liability, and medical malpractice cases.
Two attorneys with deep Bibb County court experience
David Cooke served two elected terms as District Attorney for the Macon Judicial Circuit and has tried more than 150 jury cases, including the prosecution of the 2011 Lauren Giddings murder case. Griffin Green served as a clerk at the State Court of Bibb County. That kind of court familiarity affects how filings are drafted, how depositions are run, and how trial strategy gets calibrated to specific judges. Jarome Gautreaux has taught at Mercer Law School as an adjunct faculty member for over 20 years, and his Macon roots go deep.
The attorney who answers your call handles your case
Cases stay with the attorneys assigned to them through resolution. Jarome Gautreaux meets with families in person, answers his phone, and stays involved from intake to settlement or verdict.
Liability, Insurance, And Filing Deadlines In A Georgia Wrongful Death Case
Georgia recognizes two separate claims when someone dies because of another party’s wrongdoing, and most families do not know this.
The two claims
The wrongful death claim under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1 through § 51-4-5 recovers the “full value of the life of the decedent.” Filing rights run in this order: surviving spouse first; if no spouse, surviving children; if no children, surviving parents; if none of the above, the personal representative of the estate on behalf of the next of kin. Damages cover lost wages and benefits, lost retirement contributions, and the intangible value of the life itself.
The estate claim, sometimes called the survival claim, recovers what the decedent personally lost between the injury and the death: pain and suffering before death, medical expenses for the final illness or injury, and funeral and burial costs. The estate’s personal representative files this claim, even when a different family member files the wrongful death claim.
Multiple liable parties can mean multiple insurance towers. Identifying each one early shapes what the family ends up recovering. Call (478) 238-9758 to discuss your case.
Deadlines, fault, and damages
The filing deadline is generally two years from the date of death under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Medical malpractice cases carry a separate five-year statute of repose under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71(b). Claims against government entities require an ante litem notice within six months for cities and twelve months for counties and the State of Georgia; missing those notices ends the case.
Georgia follows modified comparative fault under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33. If the decedent is found 50 percent or more at fault, the family recovers nothing. Below that, damages are reduced by the decedent’s share. Punitive damages apply when the defendant’s conduct showed willful misconduct, malice, or conscious indifference under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-5.1, and there is no cap on punitive damages in DUI fatality cases.
Wrongful Death Cases We Have Resolved
$4.85 Million
$1.5 Million
$1.5 Million
$1 Million
$850,000
$700,002
Each case is different and depends on its specific facts and circumstances. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Macon Wrongful Death Attorneys At Gautreaux Law
Jarome Gautreaux
Founding Attorney
Jarome Gautreaux has practiced personal injury and wrongful death law in Georgia since 2000. He has recovered more than $100 million for clients in motor vehicle, premises liability, and medical malpractice cases. He served as a federal law clerk to U.S. District Judge Richard Mills (Central District of Illinois) before entering private practice. He is admitted to the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and all Georgia state and federal courts. He co-authored Georgia Law of Torts: Trial Preparation and Practice (Thomson Reuters), authored Injury and Accident Cases in Georgia, and serves as an adjunct professor at Mercer University School of Law, where he received the Manley F. Brown Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award in 2022. In the cases he has tried, the difference between a fair recovery and a missed one usually comes down to early decisions about evidence, expert review, and coverage.
David Cooke
Attorney
K. David Cooke Jr. served two elected terms as District Attorney for the Macon Judicial Circuit and has tried more than 150 jury cases, including the prosecution of the 2011 Lauren Giddings murder case. He was named Macon Bar Association Attorney of the Year in 2019. He previously served as Chief of the Special Victims Unit in Houston County and as an Assistant United States Attorney. His practice focus at Gautreaux Law is wrongful death, sexual assault, and medical malpractice cases.
Griffin Green
Attorney
Griffin Green is a published member of the Mercer Law Review and previously served as a clerk in the State Court of Bibb County. He works on case investigation, motion practice, and trial preparation across the firm’s wrongful death, auto accident, and medical malpractice practice.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a wrongful death lawsuit in Georgia?
Most wrongful death cases must be filed within two years of the date of death under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-33. Medical malpractice cases have a separate five-year statute of repose under O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71(b). Claims against government defendants have shorter ante litem notice periods (typically six to twelve months). Because deadlines vary by claim type and defendant, every case should be reviewed individually.
Who can file the wrongful death claim?
Filing rights run in order under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2: surviving spouse first; if no spouse, surviving children; if no children, surviving parents; if none of the above, the personal representative of the estate on behalf of the next of kin. The estate claim is filed by the estate’s personal representative.
Can I still recover if my family member was partially at fault?
Generally yes, as long as the decedent’s share of fault is below 50 percent. Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-33, damages are reduced by the decedent’s percentage of fault. At 50 percent or more, the family recovers nothing. Apportionment is contested in most wrongful death cases, which is why preserving evidence in the first weeks matters.
What is my family's case worth?
Wrongful death case value depends on the decedent’s age, earning capacity, and remaining work-life expectancy, the conscious pain and suffering before death, the insurance coverage that can be tapped, and how strong the liability evidence is. We work with vocational economists to calculate the present value of the life. Two cases involving similar deaths can resolve at very different numbers because of these variables.
Should I talk to the insurance company before hiring an attorney?
You are required to report the death to your own insurer if a vehicle is involved, but recorded statements to the at-fault party’s insurer are different. Adjusters typically request these statements within the first weeks after a death, and what a family member says while still gathering basic facts can be used later in settlement discussions. Before giving any recorded statement to the at-fault carrier, you can speak with an attorney about what is required and what is not.
How much does it cost to hire Gautreaux Law?
We handle wrongful death cases on a contingency fee basis. Your family owes no attorney’s fees unless we recover money. Our firm advances all costs of investigation, expert witnesses, court filings, and depositions. Initial consultations are free.
Talk To A Macon Wrongful Death Attorney
If your family has lost someone in Macon, Warner Robins, or anywhere in Georgia because of another party’s negligence or wrongdoing, Gautreaux Law will review your case at no cost.
Call (478) 475-3428
- Gautreaux Law, LLC
- 778 Mulberry Street, Macon, GA 31201
“No fee unless we recover” refers only to attorney’s fees. Court costs and other case expenses are typically advanced by our firm and reimbursed from any recovery. Contingent fee arrangements are not permitted in all types of cases. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each case is different and depends on its specific facts and circumstances.
Reviewed by the attorneys at Gautreaux Law, Attorneys at Law. Last updated April 2026.
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