If your loved ones are residing in a nursing home for any reason, you must watch out for the signs of damage to their mental and physical health. You must be vigilant about nursing home abuse.
Many nursing homes provide good quality services, but many others fail in their duty. Therefore, nursing home abuse cannot be brushed aside. A nursing home abuse/neglect makes you eligible for a nursing home abuse claim.
Making a nursing home abuse claim is not always straightforward. Intricacies in the form of a patient’s medical history, evidence, etc., are often involved in this process.
If you handle the case alone, you might overlook substantial evidence and make other mistakes. These slip-ups may reduce your compensation for your loved one’s mental and physical damages.
Therefore, instead of navigating the legal system alone and making mistakes, you should better hire a nursing home abuse attorney. Some reasons that make hiring a lawyer mandatory are:
1. You need someone on your side
If you suspect nursing home abuse inflicted on your loved one, you must report it to the facility’s management. But be ready to witness a cold shoulder from them and that they may disagree with your claims.
Nursing homes are businesses that are there to make money. So, businesses are seldom transparent about accepting such events happening in their facility. The facility will take all the steps to cover the reality of the events.
Because of the higher probability of a cover-up by the nursing facility, you need someone professional on your side who can dig up the evidence and expose their doings. A nursing home abuse lawyer is the perfect person for this job. They have the credentials and experience to be on your side.
2. A lawyer knows the intricacies of law
The law, in general, is very intricate, but the law pertaining to nursing home neglect and abuse is more complicated. Therefore, if you represent yourself, you will most certainly not understand the law—the chances of making mistakes increase considerably.
On the other hand, a lawyer knows how the legal system works, how to avoid ruts, and prevent legal loopholes from discrediting your case. With a lawyer by your side, you will surely get the compensation you deserve.
3. You need someone with perseverance
When you deal with your case on your own, chances are you will lose hope after not getting enough evidence or cooperation from the nursing home facility. Besides, you will also be responsible for arranging for the treatment of your loved one who suffered the abuse.
Torn between the immediate responsibility of your loved one and failure to get evidence, you might lose hope and abandon the thought of pursuing your case.
For a lawyer, on the other hand, fighting such cases involving intricate details is a routine matter. An experienced attorney will remain steadfast in the face of challenges. They will do anything in their power to get the rightful compensation your family deserves.
4. A lawyer knows what kind of evidence to collect
Before collecting evidence and information about your case, you must know what evidence you need to strengthen your case. A lawyer is a suitable person to solve this mystery. They will look for the right evidence without wasting time digging up unnecessary information. Your lawyer may search for the following information:
- Hiring and training procedure of the facility
- Qualification of the staff
- Staff’s working schedule
- The person allocated to care for your loved one
- Eyewitness statements
Your lawyer will explain the importance of the abovementioned information for your case, look at the right places, and contact the right people for swift evidence collection.
5. Count in all the damages for settlement calculation
The compensation received due to a legal complaint depends on a resident’s mental and physical injuries. The more exhaustive the damages mentioned in the lawsuit, the higher the chance of getting a larger compensation.The damages include any harm to your loved one’s mental and physical health, money spent on resident’s treatment due to abuse, stress, trauma, and so on.
Suppose you file the claim on your own. In that case, there is a high probability that you will overlook certain damages or represent the damages in a way making it easier for the other party to discredit them.
On the contrary, a nursing home abuse attorney will know not to overlook any important aspect of your case. They will also define your damages most substantially. And your prospect of getting a fair settlement or court judgment when all the evidence is presented most effectively increases considerably.
6. Make the insurance company cooperate with you
The insurance company may choose a strict stance during the settlement negotiation. With the trauma and mental agony engulfing your life, you might succumb to the pressure of these ruthless and emotionless institutions.
But if you hire a seasoned nursing home abuse attorney, the insurance company will get a clear message that they cannot mess with you and that you are aware of your rights. As a result, they might be more eager to cooperate and comply with the legal formalities and your lawyer.
7. To help you avoid detrimental mistakes
When you handle your case without any professional help, there are a lot of mistakes you can make. From not filing the claim on time to providing a recorded statement to discussing the case on social media, the list of blunders is endless. You might also fail to keep a record of important documents or not track damages. All these errors can be very costly for your case; they can delay or damage it altogether. A seasoned attorney helps you stay on top of these problems and strengthen your case.
Conclusion
Winning a nursing home abuse lawsuit is very intricate. It requires knowing the particulars of the law and digging up evidence. As a layman, it will be difficult to go through this exercise independently. Therefore, you need an experienced attorney to stay by your side throughout this exercise.
