A California wrongful death lawyer would file the wrongful death lawsuit in the California county where the defendant (at -fault party) resides OR in the county where the injury causing death occurred.  The lawsuit would be brought in the nearest courthouse to the zip code where the wrongful death happened in California state court if the legal action is in state court.  Check out my video on zip codes and why they are relevant injury actions in California. For example, if a wrongful death occurred in San Diego, near the downtown area, then the Superior Court of California in the County of San Diego located at 330 W. Broadway would be the appropriate state court to file the wrongful death legal action.