Nursing homes are established to ensure proper care of senior citizens. The primary responsibility of the staff in nursing homes is to take care of the people who are there to receive their service. But in many cases, it is seen that the caregivers are neglecting their duty.
Though nursing homes are regularly inspected to ensure compliance, the number of abusive events is still significant.
However, there is law and lawyers to help you. Filing a nursing home abuse case can help the victims to receive justice and compensation for the damages caused by the abusive events. A compatible nursing home abuse lawyer can help you with such issues.
What is Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse is any abusive event taking place in a nursing home where any senior citizen or someone receiving care becomes the victim.
It can be an intentional event where a caregiver intentionally exploits a care receiver in the nursing home, for instance- by kicking or hitting. Sometimes it is an unintentional event where the caregiver fails to perform the duty and meet the needs of a senior citizen.
Who is a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer?
The victims of nursing home abuse events or their close relatives can seek justice for the intentional or unintentional occurrence of abuse. A legal professional who helps the victim to receive justice is called a nursing home abuse lawyer.
Such abuse cases are counted as personal injury cases. So, a nursing home abuse lawyer is a personal injury lawyer with special attention on such cases. Their focus is to establish the rights of older adults against abusive activities in nursing homes.
Such a lawyer can practice other types of personal injury cases too. But as nursing home abuse lawyers, they must know the law regarding care homes and some basic medical events.
What Do Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Do?
You’ve already seen that they work to ensure justice for the victims of abusive events taking place in nursing homes. But that’s the basic idea of what they do. Let’s know details about what they do for the clients.
Evaluating the Situation
To be qualified as a valid nursing home abuse case, it should have certain criteria. Also, sometimes, filing a lawsuit directly doesn’t help much. A situation has different viewpoints, and you might have the wrong one.
A legal professional helps you assess your situation and measure the validity or strength of the case.
Helping Collect Evidence
Evidence is a must when you’re filing a lawsuit. Without clear evidence, which can prove the intentional or unintentional failure of providing a proper case, the court won’t help you much.
Attorneys have an idea about the evidence granted in court. So, they can help you gather proof of occurrence before going for a lawsuit.
Calculating the Compensation
Nursing home abuse cases often include compensation for damage. Any kind of problem caused by the abuse should be compensated by the authority. Proper calculation of damage helps you receive enough money to get rid of the damage.
Here your lawyer can help you. They know the compensation calculation fields applicable in your case. So, they can come up with the proper amount you should receive.
Filing the Lawsuit
Abuse in care homes can be of different types. Thus, you must pick the right type while filing the lawsuit. Besides this, filing a case have many other points to focus on. Lawyers have experience, so they know how to do this properly to bring the best benefit out of it.
So, you can take their help while filing a lawsuit.
Representing Clients in Court
Attorneys are allowed to represent the client in court. Thus, they can help people unfamiliar with the court environment.
Representing the client means talking on behalf of them. If you’re not comfortable in court, the attorney you hire can talk from your perspective.
Arranging Professional Opinion
In such cases, you may need some professional opinion about how nursing homes should run or the impact of the abuse to strengthen your standpoint. Your lawyer or attorney can help you by arranging a professional opinion.
They know professionals who offer such services. So, if your case demands an opinion, they can arrange it.
Besides these, the attorneys you hire can do many things for you. If you hire someone compatible, you don’t have to take any responsibility regarding the case. They’ll handle the process and the paperwork. You just have to act as they suggest.
How to Select the Best Attorney for Nursing Home Abuse?
Nursing home abuse cases are complex. So, finding a capable legal professional is crucial. Putting in some effort for that can help you a lot.
An easy process can help you find compatible legal help to make you win. Here I’m sharing the process of selecting the best attorney for any case. Following this process, you can pick someone compatible to handle your case.
Step 1- Searching for Options
In the first step, you have to list at least 12-15 compatible attorneys for your type of case. So, search for recommendations.
Your family, friends, or neighbors can help you with some valuable recommendations. So, look for someone who has faced a similar kind of case.
Also, search engines are there to recommend you some names. Check search engine results when you search for ‘best nursing home abuse lawyers around me’ and collect some names.
The bar community in your locality can be a great source of suggestions. Pay a visit there, and you’ll find legal professionals working with such cases around you.
If you know any lawyer practicing in a different field, asking them for suggestions will help. They know a few attorneys working in different fields.
Step 2- Online Investigation
Once you have around 12-15 names in your list, you should start step 2. You’ll judge the attorneys based on their online presence at this stage.
Most attorneys and law firms are active online through their websites or social media pages. Find the sites or pages and check the options. Try to have an idea about their experience, preferred cases, success rate, successful cases, and so on.
Also, don’t forget to take a look at service review websites. There, you’ll find out what clients think about them. Also, the reviews contain valuable information crucial for a decision.
Based on the online evaluation, rank the options and pick the top 4-5 for the next stage.
Step 3- Offline Meeting
After you have 4-5 options left, it’s time to meet them directly.
Most lawyers or firms offer the opportunity of free or low-cost consultation if it’s the first meeting. Try to grab such opportunities and arrange a meeting with them.
In the meeting, describe the situation and seek their opinion about it. Also, ask some questions regarding their experience, any previous cases similar to yours, fees, and other issues. I’ll show some common questions you can ask in this step.
Check their approach toward your case. Also, focus on their communication skills. Know their fee and payment structure to make a better decision.
Step 4- Selecting One
After meeting all five lawyers or firms, you’ll know whom to pick.
Try to prioritize experience and communication skills. Also, pick someone with a positive approach.
The fee should be a factor to consider but don’t make it the only measure to select someone.
Questions You Must Ask Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
While meeting a legal professional for such cases, you must ask them some important questions. These questions help you to understand their ability, the possibility of winning, and several other things. You can start by asking a question about the validity of your case.
Can I go for a nursing home abuse lawsuit?
As the incident should meet some criteria to be considered abuse in a nursing home, you must ask this question to check your case’s validity. Sometimes, the case may not be counted as abuse. In such cases, proceeding with lawsuits doesn’t help much.
So, ask this question to know whether to proceed or not.
Have you handled a similar abuse case before?
This question will help you understand their experience working on a similar case. Abuse cases are different based on the type of abuse. So, hiring someone who has helped someone facing a similar abuse case would help you have a better result.
What you’ll do for me?
Typically, attorneys or law firms help you with everything, from assessing the validity to representing you in court. But some exceptions are there too. So, to be on the safe place, you must ask them how much they can assist you or what tasks they’ll perform for you.
How much is your fee?
Asking about the fees is very common. You must have a clear idea of the fees and how you’ll pay them.
Without a proper understanding of it, you may face embarrassing situations later. So, don’t forget to ask this question. Also, ensure you know how and when to pay the fees.
Signs of Nursing Home Abuse
Such abuse can be of different types. Thus, the signs vary a lot too. The faster you recognize the signs, the faster you can take the necessary steps. So, understanding the signs is a must.
Given below are the most common signs of abuse in care homes. Some of them may not indicate the abuse directly. So, whenever you see the signs, try to collect proof.
- Broken or fractured bone(s)
- Burns, bruises, and welts on skin
- Tears or cuts on skin
- Bedsores
- Dehydration and malnutrition
- Dental, facial, or other injuries
- Infections not taken care of
- Unexplained weight loss
- Unexplainable sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)
Ignoring any of the signs can result in unwanted death. So, don’t be late to take proper steps whenever you see one or more of the signs above.
Besides them, any type of unexplained change in the patient can also be caused by abuse. Communicate with the patient and caregivers properly to get a proper explanation.
If they fail to provide a proper explanation, consulting a legal professional is what you need to do.
How Much do Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Charge?
As such cases include compensation, most attorneys follow the contingency fee method to take care of your case.
This method tells you to pay the fee only if you win the case. You don’t have to pay anything if the lawyer fails to bring you compensation. However, if they make you win, they’ll take a percentage of the compensation amount.
The typical charge for such cases is around 25%-40% of the compensation fee. For complex scenarios, they may ask for 35%-40%. Otherwise, 25%-30% is okay. Also, experienced people or firms ask for a higher portion of the compensation.
Some may charge you hourly. In such cases, the usual hourly rate is around $150-$400. However, you may find someone charging out of the range, either less or more.
But hiring someone at an hourly rate is counted as a risk. Whether you win or lose, you have to pay the lawyer. So, most people avoid this.
Hourly rates are great when the lawyer only consults you or performs a portion of the case. Otherwise, you may have to pay a huge amount even if you don’t win any compensation.
What if I Can’t Afford an Attorney for Nursing Home Abuse?
As such cases offer you compensation, you won’t have to worry much about the attorney’s fee. You can follow the contingency plan for their fee. Also, in some cases, the other party bears your lawyer fee if you claim. So, you can proceed without worrying.
If you’re still worried, I’m giving you some options.
Many lawyers and law firms offer discounts on their services on different occasions. Keep your eyes open for such offers. Visiting your local legal community can be a good way, as you’ll find many lawyers offering service at a low charge.
You can also take the help of law schools that can help you with the case. In exchange, you may have to permit them to use it as study material.
Some firms offer services to a particular group for free or at a low cost. If you belong to that particular group they help, try their service.
You have plenty of options open. So, don’t hesitate to bring justice to the patients of an incapable nursing home staff or the entire place.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can such cases be settled outside court?
Yes, these cases can be settled outside the court. But out-of-the-court agreements won’t help you with the compensation in most cases. Also, the patient may face some negative impacts as they have to stay there.
So, letting the court handle it is the best possible solution.
Whom to contact first for nursing home abuses?
For such abuses, you must contact the nursing home authority first. You may want to talk to the Head Nurse or the Director of Nursing first. Doing this is also okay. However, if they don’t fix the issue, talking to the authority to take necessary steps is a must.
If this doesn’t help, talk to a legal professional with experience. They can help you proceed further.