Williams v. Work

KENNEY, Judge.

These consolidated appeals involve a single decedent and two suits with different plaintiffs, multiple defendants, and both wrongful death and under-insured motorist claims. Their resolution has led us into the “largely unmapped swamp” 1 of use plaintiffs in wrongful death actions and the appropriate protection of statutory beneficiaries in court-approved settlements that do not make provisions for all known beneficiaries.

Steven Williams, a minor, through his mother and next friend Donna Schrack (“Donna”), and Michael C. Williams (referred to as “Steven” and “Michael”),…