Did the victim pose an immediate threat to officers or threaten the safety of others on the scene? Did the officers involved follow crisis intervention and de-escalation procedures and uphold the constitutional rights of the victim?

We’ve asked these difficult questions for our clients: for James Boyd, shot and killed for illegal camping, and for Kenneth Ellis III, the decorated Iraq War vet shot while on the phone with his mother.

And we ask perhaps the most difficult question of all, what is the value of a human life? What is the cost to a 4-year-old whose father was murdered by police? What price do you attach to this child’s confusion when his father the war hero is shot dead by police, the very people he’s been told his entire life are there to keep him safe.

We honor our clients’ tragic loss by asking the difficult questions and demanding answers from those who are responsible.

We collaborate with experts to determine if police accounts are physically possible. We bring in experts who educate juries about how these traumatic losses affect family.

We bring in economists who assist with the uncomfortable task of calculating the monetary value of a person’s life. The loss of care and guidance for family, the loss of income and the loss of companionship all factor into the total compensation you and your family deserve.

Nothing will make your loss right, but we hope to help — and to change the broken systems that led to a needless death.