Hiring a nursing home abuse lawyer is a practical approach toward ensuring your loved one’s well-being while pursuing a potential claim for compensation. The first step in recognizing when you might need a nursing home abuse lawyer begins with observing the signs of nursing home abuse.
How Nursing Home Abuse Differs From Neglect
Nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect are different. Nursing home abuse is the deliberate and willful intent to cause harm, while negligence is unintentional.
Nursing home neglect typically involves a failure to meet the general standard of care that nursing home facilities have toward their residents. However, both abuse and neglect cause impactful injuries and losses to the victim and his or her family members.
When You Might Need a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
You may need to seek the help of a nursing home abuse lawyer if you believe that your family member is the target of nursing home abuse. Recognizing its signs is a critical first step. There are many degrees and classifications of nursing home abuse.
There are five primary types of abuse that your loved one may endure:
- Failure to meet his or her basic needs
- Emotional, verbal, and social abuse
- Sexual abuse
- Physical abuse
- Financial abuse
You might need a nursing home abuse lawyer if you think that your loved one is dealing with the trauma of abuse. He or she helps you determine the options available to ensure your family member’s safety while building a claim against the nursing home.
If you choose to pursue a legal claim on your own, there are a few challenges and expectations to manage beforehand.
For a free legal consultation, call (800) 842-6336
There Are Challenges to Overcome If You Choose to File a Claim Alone
United States’ laws allow people the right to file a lawsuit without a lawyer. However, there are a few challenges you might encounter as you navigate the legal system on your own.
Consider the following factors as you explore your options:
- Insurers will fight back with their attorneys: Insurance companies consider lawsuits to be a hazard of doing business. While this sentiment seems harsh, it is true. Insurers are on the receiving end of a lawsuit daily. Therefore, they maintain in-house counsel that thrives on striking down insurance claims. Fighting them without an attorney feels overwhelming when filing a nursing home abuse claim.
- You will be held to the same standards in court: Every state enacts its own rules, in addition to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Judges expect that you will be able to understand these rules when drafting court documents and conducting your arguments in court. A single misstep could upset your entire case and get it thrown out of court.
- Financing your lawsuit is expensive: Proving a nursing home abuse case requires significant financial resources and time. Filing fees, expert testimony, depositions, and mediation hit the five-figure range. In the past, people filing lawsuits on their own funded their cases by taking out a line of credit or putting their home up for sale.
While the above-referenced list does not include every challenge you will face, it paints an accurate picture regarding self-representation in a nursing home abuse case. There are several advantages to hiring a nursing home abuse lawyer. Pintas & Mullins Law Firm will even take your case on a contingency fee basis, which means you will not have to pay unless we win.
How a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Will Help You
A nursing home abuse lawyer helps you by investigating your claim, negotiating with insurance companies, or filing a lawsuit. There is a strong likelihood that the nursing home and its insurance company will aggressively deny your allegations.
Therefore, having a nursing home abuse lawyer on your side during the process provides tremendous peace of mind in knowing that you are doing everything you can to help your family member.
A nursing home abuse lawyer will work toward accomplishing the following:
- Protecting your rights under attorney-client privilege
- Evidence gathering and documentation
- Legal advice throughout the process
- Negotiating with insurance companies
- Litigating your case in court
- Funding your case through the final trial
Your nursing home abuse lawyer is in a position to provide you with the guidance and counsel you need while fighting your case in court and through negotiation talks.
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Pintas & Mullins Law Firm Is Available to Help 24/7
Pintas & Mullins Law Firm will work with you under your state’s laws to protect your family member while taking every possible avenue for legal restitution for your losses. Contact our compassionate legal team by calling (800) 842-6336 for a free, no-obligation case review today.
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