407 7th St NW Albuquerque, NM 87102
info@collinsattorneys.com
Losing a loved one is devastating, especially when their death could have been prevented. Whether the loss resulted from a car accident, medical error, or institutional neglect, families are often left with grief, unanswered questions, and financial uncertainty. An experienced Albuquerque wrongful death attorney can help you pursue justice, hold the responsible party accountable, and secure the compensation your family needs to move forward.
At Collins & Collins P.C., we represent families across Albuquerque and New Mexico in wrongful death claims involving negligence, misconduct, and systemic failures. While no legal action can replace your loved one, it can provide financial stability and a sense of accountability.
📞 Call (505)-242-5958 today for a no-obligation case evaluation.
Families across New Mexico choose Collins & Collins P.C. because we are more than a typical Albuquerque personal injury firm. We are relentless advocates for justice and systemic change. Choosing the right lawyer matters, especially when a wrongful death is caused by negligence, misconduct, or the indifference of a powerful institution.
Our firm combines proven trial strength, deep civil rights expertise, and local Albuquerque experience to handle the most complex and high-stakes cases. We don’t settle for quick or “easy” outcomes when a system remains broken; we fight to hold wrongdoers fully accountable and pursue the maximum recovery your family deserves.
Civil Rights-Focused Advocacy
We go beyond standard personal injury. As experienced New Mexico personal injury lawyers, our practice is built on the intersection of civil rights and wrongful death, allowing us to pursue constitutional claims that hold government entities and private contractors to a higher standard of care.
Decades of Proven Expertise
Lead attorney Parrish Collins has been practicing law since 1991. His 30+ years of experience span Civil Rights, Medical Malpractice, and Personal Injury. This multidisciplinary background is essential for navigating the legal nuances where these fields overlap in a fatal injury matter.
Trial Readiness Against Powerful Institutions
We do not fear the courtroom. We have a documented history of going to trial against insurance giants, private healthcare corporations, and government agencies. Our reputation for trial readiness ensures that our clients are taken seriously from the moment a claim is filed.
Deep Local Albuquerque Knowledge
Our attorneys have extensive experience within the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County legal systems, including the procedures of the Second Judicial District Court. This local insight allows us to navigate court rules, dockets, and legal processes with precision, giving your case a strategic advantage from start to finish.
Empathetic, Personalized Support
We understand that you are coming to us during the most difficult chapter of your life. We provide compassionate guidance that respects your grieving process while we handle the aggressive legal work behind the scenes.
Secured Over $20 Million for Families
We have a proven history of high-stakes recoveries, specifically in cases involving institutional medical neglect and civil rights violations.
*Past results do not guarantee any future outcome, and every case is different.*
During this devastating time, you shouldn’t have to navigate a complex legal system alone. Contact our law office in Albuquerque today to learn more about how we can support you.
Under New Mexico law (NMSA § 41-2-1), a wrongful death occurs when a person dies due to the “wrongful act, neglect, or default” of another. If the decedent had been entitled to bring a personal injury claim had they survived, a wrongful death claim may exist.
This legal standard applies in cases involving:
If you or a loved one has suffered severe permanent harm or death please call 505-242-5958 or complete our Case Review Form
New Mexico law has unique requirements regarding who can officially bring a case to court. Under the New Mexico Wrongful Death Act, a lawsuit cannot be filed directly by any family member; instead, it must be brought by a Personal Representative.
Let our Albuquerque wrongful death lawyers handle the legal hurdles so you can focus on your family. Call us today for help starting this process.
At Collins & Collins P.C., we represent families who have lost loved ones in a wide range of preventable tragedies. Our firm focuses on cases that require deep investigation and strong advocacy to hold negligent individuals, corporations, and government entities accountable.
We handle wrongful death claims involving:
Accident-Related Deaths
Medical & Institutional Negligence
Civil Rights Violations
Elder & Institutional Abuse
Other Fatal Incidents
We prioritize cases that demand a thorough investigation into corporate or governmental wrongdoing, including deaths caused by medical neglect, unconstitutional actions, and institutional failures.
We know that money can never replace your loved one. However, a fair settlement can provide the financial security your family needs to move forward and a sense that justice has been served. Our wrongful death lawyers in Albuquerque aggressively pursue every category of damage available under New Mexico law:
Understanding where the recovery goes is vital for your family’s future. We strategically manage two distinct legal pathways to ensure your family is protected:
This claim is brought for the benefit of the statutory heirs. Under NMSA 1978 § 41-2-3, New Mexico law mandates a specific hierarchy for distribution:
Critical Note: Proceeds from a New Mexico wrongful death judgment are generally not liable for the debts of the deceased. This ensures that the compensation intended for the family is protected from creditors.
While a wrongful death claim focuses on the loss to the survivors and the value of the life lost, a survival action allows the estate to recover damages for the harm the decedent suffered before they passed away. This includes:
Unlike wrongful death proceeds, survival action damages flow directly into the probate estate. These funds are distributed according to the decedent’s will (or state intestacy laws if there is no will) and may be subject to claims from the estate’s creditors. We strategically manage both claims to ensure the maximum amount of recovery remains with the family.
We understand that families need answers, not just compensation. That’s why we begin every case with our Systemic Discovery approach. In cases involving jails, hospitals, or other institutions in New Mexico, we look beyond the moment of death and examine staffing levels, chain of command, policies, and decisions that led to the tragedy.
We secure key evidence such as internal records, reports, and communications to build a strong case and prove negligence. Our goal is to pursue maximum recovery through settlement or trial while you focus on your family and healing.
If you believe negligence caused your loved one’s death, it’s important to act quickly: preserve medical records, avoid speaking with insurance companies, consult a wrongful death attorney, and allow experienced lawyers to handle the investigation.
Our team takes on the legal burden so you can focus on what matters most—your family.
While we encourage you to take the time you need to grieve, it is important to be aware that the state of New Mexico imposes strict deadlines on seeking justice.
Don’t wait and risk losing your right to justice. Contact us today for a no-obligation case evaluation.
We are proud of the results we’ve achieved for our clients, but more importantly, we are proud of the peace of mind these settlements have provided to grieving families:
$6.9 Million
$6.9 Million
$5 Million
$5 Million
$5 Million
$5 Million
$1.6 Million
$1.6 Million
$1.5 Million
$1.5 Million
$1.495 Million
$1.495 Million
*Past results do not guarantee future outcomes, but they demonstrate our commitment to your cause.*
If you have experienced the sudden, tragic death of a family member in Albuquerque, please know that you are not alone. You deserve justice, and we are determined to help you get it. Let our Albuquerque wrongful death attorneys take on the insurance companies and powerful corporations so you can focus on moving forward.
Contact Collins & Collins P.C. today at 505-242-5958 to set up your no-obligation case evaluation.
We simplify complex legal matters by providing clear, concise, and accurate answers to your most pressing questions.
Our lawyers work on a contingency fee basis for wrongful death cases; you pay nothing upfront, and we only collect a fee if we successfully recover compensation for your family.
The odds of winning a wrongful death lawsuit depend on proving the defendant's negligence directly caused the fatality; we maximize these odds by securing institutional records and expert testimony to establish liability.
The life worth is determined by calculating lost future earnings, medical expenses, loss of companionship, and hedonic damages, which compensate for the intrinsic value of the decedent’s lost enjoyment of life.
Yes, hospitals usually settle lawsuits for wrongful death matters to avoid public trial risks, provided the evidence of medical negligence is strong, and the legal team demonstrates a readiness for trial.
The typical amount of pain and suffering varies based on the decedent's degree of conscious suffering and the profound emotional impact on survivors; New Mexico law allows for substantial awards when systemic neglect or egregious misconduct is proven.
Yes, the decedent’s shared fault will impact a wrongful death settlement in Albuquerque because New Mexico is a pure comparative negligence state; the decedent’s fault percentage reduces any recovery but is never barred entirely.
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Past results do not guarantee any future outcome, and every case is different.
Collins & Collins, P.C.
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To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.
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Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:
Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.
These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside it.
Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Disability profiles supported in our website
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
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We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers).
Notes, comments, and feedback
Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs. There may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to