Filing a Lawsuit or Settling a Nursing Home Abuse Case

If you suspect your loved one is being abused in a nursing home and want to take legal action, you will generally have two legal options: Filing a personal injury lawsuit against the nursing home or settling the case against them.

Each of these legal options has its own legal process and potential complications that can arise throughout it. There are pros and cons to settling your case or taking it to trial. The best way to determine which legal avenue you should take is to consult with an experienced lawyer.

A nursing home abuse lawyer from Siniard Law, LLC, can sit down with you to discuss your situation in detail. Our nursing home lawyers have extensive experience handling these sensitive legal claims and understand what you’re up against. Let us put our knowledge and experience to work for you. Call us today for your free consultation.

Settlement

The first and simplest option for resolving your personal injury claim is through a nursing home abuse settlement. Nursing homes generally have insurance policies that can pay compensation to aggrieved residents and their families if they determine that someone on their staff has abused or neglected someone in their care. Through a settlement, you agree not to sue the nursing home (or have your lawsuit dismissed if you’ve already filed it) in exchange for receiving a certain amount of compensation.

Timeline in a Personal Injury Claim

Every personal injury case is different, so there’s generally no average time you can expect to resolve yours. The personal injury lawyers at Siniard Law, LLC, work diligently to advance your case while fighting for maximum compensation. We don’t want to rush your case if that would cause you to lose compensation you deserve.

A nursing home abuse attorney can help you through each phase of your personal injury claim, which might include:

Reporting the Abuse or Neglect

Your legal claim officially begins when you report the abuse or neglect. You might use various routes to report the abuse, such as:

Reporting your suspicions to the Alabama Department of Public Health, Bureau of Health Provider Standards
Contacting Alabama’s Office of the State Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program
Contacting law enforcement to report a crime and to get your loved one out of danger
Reporting your concerns to the nursing home directly

Our nursing home attorneys can help you report the abuse and demand an investigation into the matter.

Conducting an Investigation

Once the nursing home receives notice of your claim, an investigation into the matter may begin. However, the nursing home will try to minimize your concerns to protect their own bottom line, so it’s vital that you work with an experienced attorney who will be focused on protecting your loved one and your rights.

Your lawyer can conduct an independent investigation, which might involve:

Requesting records regarding your report and your loved one’s injuries
Reviewing any public records regarding abuse, neglect, or substandard care at the nursing home
Interviewing witnesses
Reviewing your loved one’s medical records
Speaking to your loved one
Requesting any video footage that may have shown the abuse

Assessing Damages

Your personal injury attorney will also be compiling information about your loved one’s damages by reviewing documentation such as:

Medical records and bills
Ledgers for medical appointments and travel related to seeking medical treatment
Your lost wages as you pursued the claim
Records of your loved one’s injuries, pain and suffering, and emotional distress

Demanding Fair Compensation

Nursing home settlement amounts can vary widely from one case to another. Larger settlements tend to involve:

More serious injuries
Extensive recovery times
Damage to your loved one’s body, as well as to their mental health
Egregious actions or conduct

A nursing home abuse attorney can emphasize why your loved one’s case warrants a larger settlement value. Our attorneys have a track record of achieving fair settlements because we take time to properly prepare cases and assess damages. We use our in-depth knowledge of Alabama’s nursing home abuse laws and negotiation skills to secure fair compensation.

Settling Your Claim

A successful claim will end in a settlement. At this stage, you sign a settlement agreement that states that you will not take any further legal action against the defendant or their insurance provider. In exchange, you agree to receive a specified amount of compensation. You receive the settlement check within a few weeks of reaching the agreement.

Potential Compensation You Can Recover in Nursing Home Settlements

A nursing home neglect settlement may provide compensation for your loved one’s additional medical expenses, costs associated with re-homing them, travel expenses, your lost wages, and pain and suffering. If the abuse caused fatal injuries, a wrongful death claim settlement can seek recompense for funeral costs and burial expenses.

Legal Complexities Involved in Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Claims

Nursing home abuse and neglect cases can be difficult. The nursing home might try to deny that they were aware of any abuse. The burden of proof is on you to prove that the abuse occurred and the nursing home is responsible for the criminal actions of its employee(s).

Nursing home residents may have cognitive disabilities or difficulty communicating what happened. It may be necessary to conduct extensive investigations or hire expert witnesses to help prove your claim.

Pros of Settling Your Nursing Home Abuse Case

Some advantages of settling nursing facility abuse cases include the following:

Faster resolution of the case and receipt of compensation
Preserving privacy
Not having the nursing home abuse victim having to testify about the ordeal
A certain outcome

Cons of Settling a Nursing Home Abuse Case

Some of the drawbacks to settling a nursing home lawsuit settlement are:

The nursing home staff may continue their criminal actions, leading to elder abuse of other individuals.
Victims of nursing home abuse don’t get to have their day in court to explain what happened to them, which might leave them feeling like they didn’t receive justice.
Less financial compensation might be awarded than if you took the case to court and won.

Personal Injury Lawsuit

The other major option you have for taking legal action is filing a personal injury lawsuit against the offender, the nursing home, or both. This process involves filing a formal complaint in court and proving your case at trial.

Timeline in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Personal injury lawsuits will generally follow the same process as settling your claim. However, after your personal injury lawyer and the nursing home are unable to reach a fair settlement amount, your lawyer will file a civil lawsuit. Additional steps that may be involved in lawsuits for nursing home abuse may include:

Serving the defendant with the legal notice of claim
Waiting for the defendant’s response to the allegations against them
Preparing and responding to various motions, such as motions to dismiss, motions for summary judgment, and motions to compel discovery
Preparing and responding to discovery requests
Attending pre-trial conferences
Participating in negotiations
Conducting a trial

It is still possible to settle your claim even after you file a nursing home negligence lawsuit. If you agree to a settlement, your personal injury lawyer will ask the court to dismiss your case, and further legal proceedings will be halted.

Potential Financial Compensation You Can Recover by Filing a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Personal injury victims and their families may be able to recover economic damages and non-economic damages just as they would through a personal injury claim that ends in a settlement, such as:

Payment for additional medical bills
Physical therapy and rehabilitation
Future medical expenses
Pain and suffering
Lost quality of life
Funeral expenses
Burial costs

However, judges and juries may award more compensation than insurance companies agree to as part of a settlement. Additionally, nursing home abuse victims can seek punitive damages when they file a lawsuit. Punitive damages are generally intended to punish the wrongdoer for particularly harmful behavior and deter similar conduct in the future.

Under Alabama law, personal injury victims and their families can request punitive damages when they can show by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant consciously and deliberately acted with any of the following:

Oppression, which involves subjecting a person to cruel and unjust hardship in conscious disregard of their rights
Wantonness, which lawmakers describe as conduct that is carried out with a reckless or conscious disregard of others’ rights or safety
Malice, which the law defines as the intentional commission of a wrongful act without just cause or excuse to injure someone else or their property, or under such circumstances that the law would imply an evil intent
Fraud, which is defined as “an intentional misrepresentation, deceit, or concealment of a material fact the concealing party had a duty to disclose, which was gross, oppressive, or malicious and committed with the intention” on the defendant’s part to deprive a person or entity of property or legal rights or otherwise cause injury

Legal Complexities Involved in a Personal Injury Lawsuit

Additional legal complexities are involved in a lawsuit for nursing home abuse. Your lawyer must be able to prepare motions, respond to motions, request necessary information during the discovery process, protect you from overreaching discovery requests, follow the rules of civil procedure and evidence, and effectively handle your trial. You will want an experienced trial attorney if you pursue this route.

Additionally, you will be subject to the statute of limitations when filing your case. Under this law, a personal injury lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date of injury. However, if the case is based on assault, battery, or false imprisonment, the time limit to file your case is six years after the injury. A wrongful death lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date of death.

If you don’t file your lawsuit for nursing home abuse or neglect within this timeframe, the court can later dismiss any subsequent case you file as untimely.

Pros of Filing Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuits

The primary reason many people consider filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit is that they may be able to recover more compensation than they might have received in a nursing home abuse or wrongful death settlement. Additionally, bringing this type of case forward may help expose systemic issues, potentially leading to the nursing home taking corrective action or the state taking separate legal action against it.

Cons of Nursing Home Lawsuits

Some of the drawbacks of filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit include the following:

Expense: It is usually more expensive to try your case rather than settle it. One of the most expensive parts of the case is the discovery phase, in which you are requesting information from the other side, such as medical records, facility records, and other forms of evidence. Your attorney might hire a medical expert witness, and the other side may subpoena them to determine what expert witness testimony they can expect at trial.

Time frame: Lawsuits often take much longer to reach a conclusion compared to out-of-court settlements. A lengthy trial can be hard physically and mentally on those involved.

Public nature: You might also not want to subject your loved one to a public forum where they have to discuss, in detail, what happened to them.

Uncertain outcome: When you leave an important decision up to a judge or jury, there is no guaranteed outcome.

Contact Our Skilled Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers for a Free Case Evaluation

Determining whether you should settle your case or continue to trial is a difficult decision and one that you should not try to make alone. An experienced nursing home abuse lawyer can help you sort out your legal options and help you reach the decision of whether to settle your case or proceed to trial. Contact Siniard Law, LLC today to schedule a free, no-obligation consultation where you can meet with an experienced lawyer in person to discuss your case.

Choosing Between Filing a Lawsuit or Settling a Nursing Home Abuse Case