When Your Child Does Not Come Home From Service
Sarah Beckstrom was twenty years old. She was serving her country in the nation’s capital. She will not come home. Andrew Wolfe took a bullet to the head in the same attack and survived, but the life he is rebuilding now is not the life he was building before.
If you are reading this in the days after learning what happened — if you are the Beckstrom family in West Virginia, or if you are sitting beside Andrew Wolfe in a hospital room, or if you are one of the National Guard brothers and sisters who served with them — two things are already true. The first is that no legal outcome brings Sarah back, and no dollar figure equals what was taken. The second is that the next several months will move fast whether you are ready for them or not. Investigators will call. Insurance adjusters will find you. Evidence that proves what happened to your family will begin to disappear on clocks that are not yours. The federal government will pursue the criminal case on its own timeline. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, you will be asked to make decisions that affect the rest of your family’s life.
This page exists to make sure you understand what is about to happen before any of it runs on you.
What Is Known About the Attack Near the White House
According to the federal indictment unsealed by the Department of Justice, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a thirty-year-old Afghan national who previously worked as a CIA contractor in Afghanistan, drove a Toyota Prius from Bellingham, Washington, across the country to Washington, D.C. During the drive, he was in possession of a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver that had been reported stolen in Seattle in 2023. After arriving in the District, he opened fire on West Virginia National Guard members, striking Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Guardsman Andrew Wolfe in the head. Two nearby National Guard members subdued Lakanwal at the scene. Beckstrom died from her injuries on Thanksgiving Day. Wolfe survived.
The DOJ has charged Lakanwal in a seventeen-count federal superseding indictment including first-degree murder while armed, assault with intent to kill while armed, and two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence — making him eligible for the federal death penalty. U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro stated publicly: “Sarah Beckstrom was 20 years old, serving her country in the nation’s capital, when Rahmanullah Lakanwal allegedly drove across the country and executed her in cold blood steps from the White House. That is not just a crime, it is a major offense against the United States.” The criminal case will be prosecuted by the Department of Justice and could take years. The next status hearing is set for September 16.
For purposes of this page, we set aside the criminal prosecution and focus entirely on what the civil justice system can do for the Beckstrom and Wolfe families — and what it cannot.
Why a Civil Case Exists Alongside the Criminal Case
The federal criminal prosecution will pursue one thing: punishment. If the death penalty is sought and imposed, it punishes Lakanwal for what he did. It does not pay Sarah Beckstrom’s funeral bill. It does not fund the medical care Andrew Wolfe will need for the rest of his life. It does not replace the salary Sarah would have earned as a soldier over a full military career. It does not compensate her parents for the loss of their daughter’s guidance, companionship, and love. It does not pay for the modifications to a home that a TBI survivor may require, the round-the-clock care, the lost earning capacity over decades. Punishment and compensation are different jobs, performed in different courtrooms, by different parties, on different timelines.
The civil case is the one that produces financial accountability. It seeks damages — money — from every party whose conduct contributed to what happened. That includes Lakanwal personally. It includes, potentially, the owner of the stolen firearm whose negligence made the weapon available. It includes, potentially, the owner of the Prius if a different person let Lakanwal use it. And it includes, under the right circumstances and the right facts, the United States itself for failures in security along one of the most surveilled corridors in the world.
The families we represent are entitled to both systems. The criminal case runs without them. The civil case runs because of them.
The law recognizes that a death caused by the wrongful act of another creates two distinct claims — one brought by the estate for the decedent’s pre-death suffering and losses, and one brought by the family for the loss of the person themselves. Washington D.C. law, like most American jurisdictions, treats these as separate causes of action with separate damages.
Who Can Be Held Accountable in Civil Court
The instinct of most families is to focus only on the shooter. That instinct is understandable, and it is also incomplete. Lakanwal is the direct cause. But the civil justice system asks a broader question: who else, by what they did or failed to do, made this attack possible? When the answer is “someone with money,” that someone becomes a defendant.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal — The Direct Perpetrator
Lakanwal is the primary defendant. His conduct was intentional. In D.C., as in nearly every jurisdiction, an intentional tortfeasor is one hundred percent liable for the damages he causes — comparative fault is not a defense to an intentional act. The legal case against him in civil court is, on liability, among the strongest a plaintiff can bring.
The problem is collection. A former CIA contractor who is now in federal custody and faces the death penalty is highly likely to be judgment-proof — meaning a civil verdict against him personally may be uncollectible. We file against him anyway, for three reasons: a judgment is a permanent asset that follows him in any future financial recovery, his conduct supports punitive damages that matter against anyone else in the case, and the record of the civil judgment becomes part of the full story the family tells.
The Owner of the Stolen .357 Revolver
Here is the most important civil defendant for most families to understand. The firearm used in this attack was a .357 Smith & Wesson revolver reported stolen in Seattle in 2023. Someone owned that gun before it was stolen. Washington state — where the theft occurred — has a negligent storage statute (RCW 9.41.360) that imposes civil liability on gun owners who fail to secure their weapons against foreseeable theft. General principles of negligent entrustment and negligent storage also apply across most jurisdictions.
The questions become: How was the gun secured before it was stolen? Was the theft reported promptly to police? Could the owner have done anything to prevent the weapon from being taken? If the answer to any of these questions reveals negligence, the original owner is civilly liable for the foreseeable misuse of the weapon. This is the deepest pocket in most cases like this — typically a homeowner with homeowner’s insurance that responds to negligent storage claims.
The Owner of the Toyota Prius
If Lakanwal did not own the Prius he drove across the country, the owner of that vehicle may face negligent entrustment liability. Negligent entrustment is a civil claim that asks: did this person give Lakanwal the vehicle when they knew or should have known he presented an unreasonable risk of harm? The 2,800-mile drive from Bellingham to Washington, D.C. — a journey that took days and involved dozens of fueling stops, hotel stays, and observable behaviors — is not invisible. The owner of the Prius, if a different person, is someone whose knowledge and conduct we will examine.
The United States Under the Federal Tort Claims Act
The area near the White House is one of the most heavily surveilled locations in the United States. The High Activity Location Observation (HALO) camera network, operated by the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, and the Metropolitan Police Department, covers this corridor densely. The question a negligent security claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act would ask is whether federal agents failed to identify a known threat or a suspicious vehicle loitering in a high-security zone in the period before the attack.
FTCA claims are hard. The United States has not waived sovereign immunity for every kind of claim — only for negligent or wrongful acts of federal employees acting within the scope of their employment. Discretionary functions (decisions about how to deploy security resources) are often shielded. But the FTCA is the only path to hold the federal government civilly accountable, and for the family of a National Guard member killed on federal orders steps from the White House, it is a path worth investigating with full resources.
The Stolen Firearm and Negligent Storage Under Washington Law
Washington’s negligent storage statute, RCW 9.41.360, was written for the proposition that a gun owner has a duty to secure weapons against foreseeable unauthorized use. The law applies not only to children but, through its general duty language, to any foreseeably negligent storage. When a firearm is stolen because it was left unsecured, and that firearm is then used in a violent crime, the original owner can face civil liability for the foreseeable consequences.
The investigation in this case will examine: where was the .357 stored before the 2023 theft? Was it in a locked container? Was a cable lock used? Was the owner even aware the gun was missing before or after the reported theft, and did they report it promptly to Seattle Police? The 2023 theft report from the Seattle Police Department is one of the most important documents in this entire case — it identifies the original owner and contains the narrative of how the theft was reported (or not).
Beyond the statute, common-law negligent entrustment principles reach the same conduct. The owner’s homeowner’s insurance policy typically responds to negligent storage and negligent entrustment claims — this is the deep pocket the civil case looks for when the shooter himself is judgment-proof.
The Federal Tort Claims Act Path
The Federal Tort Claims Act is the only mechanism by which an individual can sue the United States for money damages. It is a statute of strict procedural requirements. Two deadlines are critical and unforgiving.
First, an administrative claim must be presented to the appropriate federal agency using Standard Form 95 (SF-95) within two years after the claim accrues. Second, after the agency either denies the claim or six months pass without a final disposition, the plaintiff has six months to file suit in the appropriate federal district court.
The Beckstrom family and the Wolfe family must understand this trap: the federal government does not pay anything automatically. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia who prosecutes the criminal case is not the same office that responds to a civil claim. The civil claim must be filed, must be investigated by the agency’s claims office, and may be denied. Without counsel, the families will not know the deadlines are running — and missing the two-year administrative filing window kills the case before it starts.
The FTCA claim is hardest when it challenges discretionary security decisions — courts have historically given federal agencies wide latitude in how they deploy personnel and surveillance. But the FTCA does reach operational failures, and the investigation will examine every record of what federal personnel saw and did in the hours before the shooting. The HALO camera footage, the dispatch logs, the patrol records, the intelligence reports — these are all discoverable in a properly filed FTCA case.
D.C.’s Wrongful Death Act and Survival Act
The District of Columbia recognizes two distinct causes of action after a death caused by another’s wrongful conduct. Understanding the difference matters because the damages categories are different and the beneficiaries are different.
The Wrongful Death Act allows certain family members — typically the spouse, children, and parents of the deceased — to recover for their own losses caused by the death. These losses include the loss of financial support Sarah Beckstrom would have provided over her military career, the loss of her companionship, guidance, and love, and the loss of the household services she would have contributed. Sarah’s parents, as her surviving family, have a direct claim under this statute.
The Survival Act allows the estate of the deceased to recover for losses Sarah herself suffered before her death — her medical expenses, her conscious pain and suffering between the moment of injury and her death on Thanksgiving Day, and any lost earnings in that brief window. The Survival Act claim belongs to the estate, not the family directly, and is brought by the personal representative of the estate.
For Andrew Wolfe, who survived the attack, the civil claim is a straightforward personal injury action for his own damages — not wrongful death, not survival, but the full catastrophic injury claim described below.
The Damages: Beckstrom’s Estate and Wolfe’s Survival
The damages categories in a case like this are not abstract. They are the line items of what the family will need to live.
For the Beckstrom Estate
Funeral and burial expenses. Lost future earnings — Sarah Beckstrom was twenty years old with a full military career ahead. A soldier’s base pay, housing allowance, healthcare benefits, retirement benefits, and promotion trajectory over a twenty-year career represent millions of dollars in present value, and the analysis a forensic economist prepares accounts for every step of that arc. Pre-death pain and suffering — Sarah was shot in the head but did not die immediately. The hours between the shooting and her death on Thanksgiving Day are her conscious experience, and the law recognizes that experience as compensable suffering. Loss of parental consortium — the loss of a daughter’s companionship, guidance, and love is a recognized category of damages for parents in D.C., and it is among the most important damages the family will claim.
For Andrew Wolfe’s Personal Injury Claim
Wolfe took a bullet to the head and survived. The medical expenses begin in the hundreds of thousands and end in the millions for the acute phase alone. TBI rehabilitation is a years-long process of speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, neuropsychological care, and adaptive retraining. The lifetime cost of severe TBI care, modeled by life-care planners and reduced to present value by economists, runs into the millions of dollars — the firm has handled TBI cases resulting in settlements of $5 million or more for the catastrophic end of the spectrum, with every case dependent on the specific facts. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
Beyond the medical expenses: lost earning capacity over Wolfe’s working lifetime, the permanent neurological impairment that may never fully resolve, the disfigurement from the head wound, the pain and suffering he has experienced and will continue to experience, and the loss of enjoyment of life — the activities, relationships, and experiences that TBI takes from a young person who was building a career and a life.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are designed to punish and deter, not to compensate. Lakanwal’s conduct — a 2,800-mile drive with a stolen weapon to ambush service members — is exactly the kind of conduct punitive damages exist to address. A jury will be asked to award them. The practical collection problem against Lakanwal personally remains, but a punitive damages finding also strengthens any claim against the gun owner whose negligence made the weapon available.
Evidence Preservation: The Clocks Are Already Running
The evidence that proves what happened to Sarah Beckstrom and Andrew Wolfe exists right now. How long it continues to exist depends on who acts first.
The Toyota Prius and Its Event Data Recorder
The Prius Lakanwal drove from Bellingham to Washington, D.C. is in federal custody. Its Event Data Recorder captures vehicle speed, braking, throttle position, and other operational data in the seconds before and after any triggering event. Its GPS and telematics, if equipped, captured the route, the stops, the timing. This evidence proves premeditation — the 2,800-mile drive did not happen by accident. A preservation letter to the federal agency holding the vehicle must go out the day we are retained. Federal “servicing” of the vehicle, or release to a salvage contractor, could destroy this evidence before civil discovery begins.
The HALO Camera Footage
The federal HALO camera network around the White House captures high-definition video of everything that happens in the corridor. This footage shows the suspect’s vehicle, his behavior in the minutes before the attack, the shooting itself, and the aftermath. Federal agencies preserve this footage for finite periods as a matter of routine policy. A formal preservation demand from civil counsel is required to extend that retention and to ensure the footage survives through the civil case.
The Seattle Police Stolen Gun Report
The 2023 Seattle Police Department report on the stolen .357 Smith & Wesson revolver identifies the original owner and contains the officer’s narrative of how the theft was reported. This document is retrievable through a Washington Public Records Act request. It is the starting point of the negligent storage investigation. We obtain it within the first thirty days.
The Suspect’s CIA Personnel File
Lakanwal’s prior employment with the CIA, including any post-employment security clearance monitoring, is relevant to several aspects of the civil case. This material is obtained through FOIA requests to the CIA and through federal subpoena in the civil case. The timeline for FOIA is long, so the request goes out immediately.
The Suspect’s Digital Footprint
Social media, search history, communications — all of this evidence is in the federal criminal case file and will eventually be accessible through civil discovery. We file our preservation request to ensure this material is retained for civil use even after the criminal prosecution concludes.
The Insurance Playbook and How to Beat It
Even when the perpetrator is a stranger and the criminal case is a federal capital prosecution, the insurance plays start within days. The gun owner’s homeowner’s insurance carrier will learn about the attack through news coverage. An adjuster — trained to sound like a friend — will reach out to the Beckstrom or Wolfe family, often within the first week. The adjuster’s job is to settle the claim for as little as possible before the family understands what the claim is actually worth.
Play One: The Sympathetic Adjuster
The phone call will begin with condolences. The adjuster will say “we just want to help.” Then the questions begin — and every answer is recorded or noted for use against the family later. The questions will be designed to get a family member to minimize the loss, to speculate about Sarah’s career plans, to accept some share of fault, to express doubt about the case. The counter: do not speak with any adjuster without counsel present. Refer every call to your lawyer.
Play Two: The Quick Settlement Offer
The first offer will arrive before the full extent of the damages is known. For Wolfe, that means before the long-term TBI prognosis is clear. For Beckstrom’s family, that means before the full career trajectory has been economically modeled. The counter: do not sign anything before a life-care planner and forensic economist have completed their work. Early offers are designed to lock in low numbers before the true value appears.
Play Three: The Recorded Statement
An adjuster may request a recorded statement “just to formalize the file.” The statement will be used to lock the family into a version of events, to extract admissions about Sarah’s plans or Wolfe’s prior medical history, and to create contradictions the insurer can exploit later. The counter: no recorded statements. Ever.
Play Four: The Medical Authorization
The adjuster will ask the family to sign a broad medical authorization so the insurer can pull every medical record in existence for both Sarah and Andrew. For Wolfe, this means every headache, every sports injury, every mental health visit for the last decade. The counter: do not sign any authorization. Medical records the insurer is entitled to under the law will be produced through formal discovery, on our schedule, with our redactions.
Play Five: The Delay Tactic
Insurance carriers are notorious for stretching out the process until a financially strained family accepts less than the case is worth. The counter: prepare the case from day one as if it will be tried. The carrier’s willingness to settle fairly is directly proportional to the strength of the file we have built.
The playbook for federal defendants is different but no less aggressive. Federal agencies will channel the family toward administrative remedies that may be inadequate. They will request extensions, raise discretionary-function defenses, and attempt to settle for nuisance value. The counter: file the SF-95 within the two-year window without exception, prepare the federal court complaint as if it will be filed, and let the strength of the evidence drive the negotiation.
How a Case Like This Is Actually Built
The families we represent will want to understand what we do between today and the day the case resolves. Here is the work, in the order it happens.
Week one: preservation letters out the door. The federal agencies holding the Prius get a formal demand. The Secret Service, Park Police, and MPD get demands to preserve all HALO and surveillance footage. The Seattle Police Department gets a public records request. FOIAs are filed with the CIA. The gun owner’s homeowner’s insurance carrier receives a claim notice.
Weeks two through twelve: records demands and expert engagement. We retain a forensic economist to model Sarah’s lost earning capacity. We retain a life-care planner to model Wolfe’s lifetime care costs. We retain a neurologist to establish the permanent nature of Wolfe’s injuries. We retain a forensic pathologist to review the medical evidence of Sarah’s pre-death suffering. We obtain Sarah’s complete military service record, her medical records, her training records, her performance reviews. We obtain Wolfe’s complete medical records from his acute care.
Months three through twelve: discovery. We depose the gun owner about the storage of the firearm and the circumstances of the 2023 theft. We depose the Seattle Police officers who took the original theft report. We depose federal security personnel about what surveillance showed and when. We depose the Prius owner, if different from Lakanwal, about how the vehicle came to be in his possession. We obtain all communications between Lakanwal and any associates in the weeks before the attack.
Months twelve and beyond: resolution or trial. Most civil cases settle, but the cases that settle for full value are the cases that are ready for trial. Our preparation is what produces the number the carrier agrees to pay.
The First Seventy-Two Hours: What to Do and Not Do
In the immediate aftermath of an attack like this, the family is making decisions under the worst conditions of their lives. The decisions still matter. Here is what we tell the families we represent.
Do not speak to any insurance adjuster before speaking with counsel. Refer every call to your lawyer. This includes the sympathetic adjuster for the gun owner’s homeowner’s policy and any adjuster who calls about the Prius.
Do not sign any release, authorization, or settlement document before counsel reviews it. Once signed, a release cannot be undone. The first offer is rarely the best offer.
Do not delete anything from Sarah’s or Andrew’s social media accounts, email accounts, or phones. Anything deleted can be subpoenaed and will be assumed to have been destroyed for a reason.
Do write down everything you remember about the attack, the call from the military, the hospital, and everything that has happened since. Witnesses’ memories fade. Your written record today is evidence tomorrow.
Do identify everyone who had contact with Sarah or Andrew in the days and weeks before the attack — fellow soldiers, friends, family. Their testimony is part of proving who Sarah was and what Andrew has lost.
Do secure your own emotional support. The legal process will be long. Your health matters to the case and to your family.
The Deadlines You Cannot Afford to Miss
Two clocks govern this case. Both are unforgiving.
The D.C. wrongful death statute of limitations gives the family three years from the date of death to file suit. Sarah Beckstrom died on Thanksgiving Day. The clock runs from that date. The personal injury statute for Andrew Wolfe’s survival claim runs three years from the date of injury.
The Federal Tort Claims Act imposes a separate two-year deadline to present the administrative claim on Standard Form 95 to the appropriate federal agency. This deadline runs from the date the claim accrues — which is the date of the attack. If the SF-95 is not filed within two years, the FTCA case is over before it begins. After the agency denies the claim or six months pass without a final disposition, the family has six months to file suit in federal court.
These deadlines exist because Congress wrote them into the statute. They do not pause for grief, for the criminal case, or for the family’s readiness. They run on their own calendar, and missing them ends the case. The single most important thing a family does in the weeks after this kind of attack is to engage counsel who files both the FTCA administrative claim and reserves the D.C. civil claim within the applicable windows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can we sue the man who did this?
Yes. A civil wrongful death and personal injury case can be filed against Rahmanullah Lakanwal in D.C. Superior Court or in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The legal case against him on liability is straightforward — he was identified at the scene, has been indicted by a federal grand jury, and has been linked to the attack by physical evidence. The practical challenge is collection. A man facing the federal death penalty who is currently in custody is unlikely to have assets a civil judgment can reach. We file against him anyway because the judgment is permanent, supports claims against other defendants, and is part of the complete record of what happened to your family.
What about the person who owned the stolen gun?
The owner of the .357 Smith & Wesson revolver reported stolen in Seattle in 2023 may be civilly liable under Washington’s negligent storage statute (RCW 9.41.360) and under general negligent entrustment principles. If the owner failed to secure the firearm against foreseeable theft, failed to report the theft promptly, or failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the weapon from being used by an unauthorized person, the owner can be held responsible for the foreseeable harm caused. The owner’s homeowner’s insurance typically responds to this kind of claim, which is the practical path to financial recovery.
Can we sue the federal government?
Possibly, under the Federal Tort Claims Act. The FTCA allows claims against the United States for negligent or wrongful acts of federal employees acting within the scope of their employment. For an attack that occurred in one of the most heavily surveilled locations in the country, the question is whether federal security personnel failed to identify a known threat or failed to act on information that should have prevented the attack. The FTCA has strict procedural requirements — most importantly, an administrative claim must be filed on Standard Form 95 within two years of the attack. The discretionary-function doctrine often shields federal agencies from liability for how they deploy security resources, but operational failures are reachable. The investigation will examine every federal record of what happened in the hours before the shooting.
How long do we have to file?
Three years from the date of Sarah’s death for the D.C. wrongful death claim. Three years from the date of Andrew’s injury for his personal injury claim. Two years from the date of the attack to file the FTCA administrative claim. These deadlines are statutory — they do not extend for grief, for the criminal case, or for any other reason. Missing them ends the case permanently.
Will the criminal case affect the civil case?
They run on parallel tracks. The criminal prosecution may take years, especially with a potential death penalty case. The civil case does not have to wait. In fact, the civil case often proceeds faster and gives the family answers and accountability the criminal case cannot. A conviction in the criminal case makes the civil case easier to prove but is not required. The civil case can succeed even if the criminal case results in an acquittal, because the burden of proof in civil court (more likely than not) is lower than in criminal court (beyond a reasonable doubt).
How much is Sarah’s case worth?
There is no honest average for a case like this. The case value depends on Sarah’s specific career trajectory, her specific family relationships, the specific defendants and their insurance, and the specific evidence. For a twenty-year-old with a full military career ahead, lost future earnings alone run into the millions when modeled by a forensic economist. Loss of parental consortium — the loss of a daughter’s companionship, guidance, and love — is recognized in D.C. and is among the most significant damages. Punitive damages are available against the intentional actor. The realistic range, accounting for collection against various defendants, is broad. Every case turns on its facts.
How much is Andrew Wolfe’s case worth?
A gunshot wound to the head producing traumatic brain injury is among the most catastrophic injuries in civil litigation. Medical expenses alone for acute TBI care run into the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Lifetime care — rehabilitation, attendant care, adaptive equipment, neuropsychological care, lost earning capacity over a working lifetime — can total several million dollars when modeled by a life-care planner and economist. The firm has handled TBI cases resulting in settlements of $5 million or more for the catastrophic end of the spectrum. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
Will we have to go to court?
Most civil cases settle before trial. The cases that settle for full value, however, are the cases prepared for trial. Our approach is to build the case from day one as if a jury will decide it. That preparation produces the leverage that brings a fair settlement.
What if Andrew was at fault in any way?
D.C. follows a modified comparative negligence rule, but the rule does not apply to intentional torts. Lakanwal’s intentional conduct forecloses any comparative fault defense for him personally. For the gun owner under negligent storage, the analysis focuses on whether the owner’s negligence was a substantial factor in producing the harm. For Andrew’s own recovery, his conduct is not the issue — the issue is what the defendants did that enabled the attack.
How are attorney fees handled?
We work on contingency. There is no fee unless we win. The free consultation is confidential and costs nothing. You pay nothing up front. The fee comes from the recovery we obtain for you. If we do not obtain a recovery, you owe us nothing.
Do you handle cases in Washington, D.C.?
Yes. Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC — handles complex civil litigation in federal courts across the country. Ralph Manginello is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas and has spent twenty-seven years in courtrooms including federal court on matters ranging from the BP Texas City refinery explosion litigation to catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases. For matters in other jurisdictions, we typically associate with local counsel who are admitted in the relevant federal district. We will explain exactly how that works in your case during the consultation.
What about the military? Does the government pay for Wolfe’s care?
No. The federal government does not automatically pay the medical bills of National Guard members injured in the line of duty beyond the standard military medical system. The TRICARE system provides care, but it does not cover everything a TBI survivor needs — particularly long-term rehabilitation, attendant care, and adaptive equipment outside the military treatment facility. The civil case exists to recover the difference.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hablamos Español. Lupe Peña, an associate attorney with the firm, is fully bilingual and serves families in Spanish throughout every stage of the case.
About Our Firm and How to Reach Us
Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC — was built on a single idea: people in a legal emergency deserve someone who picks up now. Ralph P. Manginello has spent twenty-seven years in courtrooms, including federal court, fighting for families against the largest corporations and most aggressive insurance carriers in the country. He was a journalist before he was a trial lawyer, and he explains cases the way a sharp friend would — plainly, with the story behind the law. He was a championship point guard at Cheshire Academy in Connecticut before all of it, and he still competes the same way: he hates losing more than he likes winning.
Lupe Peña is the firm’s associate attorney and the reason we know what the other side is going to do before they do it. Lupe spent years inside a national insurance defense firm — the rooms where adjusters, software, and outside counsel decided how to deny, delay, and devalue claims exactly like the ones we now bring for victims. He knows how Colossus-style settlement software works because he used it from the other side of the table. He now uses that knowledge for the families we represent. He is fully bilingual and serves clients in English and in Spanish.
Our practice spans complex personal injury, wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, refinery and industrial accidents, commercial vehicle and trucking litigation, and insurance bad faith. We have recovered more than fifty million dollars for Texas families since 1998. We have fought in the BP Texas City refinery explosion litigation. We work on contingency — no fee unless we win. The consultation is free, confidential, and available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The consultation costs nothing. There is no obligation. We will tell you honestly whether we are the right firm for your case. If we are, we will begin work the same day — preservation letters, records demands, expert engagement, and the proof story that produces accountability for what happened to your family.
Call 1-888-ATTY-911. Free consultation. No fee unless we win. We serve families fully in Spanish — Hablamos Español. Additional information about our practice areas is available on our law practice areas page, and our contact page provides multiple ways to reach us. To learn more about Ralph’s background, visit his attorney profile. To learn more about Lupe, visit his attorney profile. The wrongful death practice area is detailed on our wrongful death lawyer page, and the brain injury practice area on our brain injury lawyer page. Our analysis of what to do in the first hours after catastrophic injury — the same principles that govern the Beckstrom and Wolfe cases — is available on our first steps after an accident guide. Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.