Assisted Living Abuse & Neglect Lawsuits
Senior Justice Law Firm is a multi-state law firm focused on assisted living, memory care and nursing home injury cases.
Has your loved one suffered an injury, broken bone or wrongful death inside an assisted living or memory care facility? Our law firm can help.
Our narrowly focused assisted living facility negligence attorneys can help your family heal after a preventable tragedy occurs inside an assisted living facility.
This is All That We Do – Let Our Assisted Living Abuse Attorneys Help You Achieve Justice
Call us now, toll-free, to learn more about your legal rights.
Receive a free case consultation from one of our experienced and compassionate Assisted Living Abuse Attorneys: 1-888-375-9998.
Assisted Living Negligence Cases 101
Most clients come to us with more questions than answers. That is perfectly OK. Our assisted living injury attorneys provide a basic primer on assisted living negligence cases below.
If you have any questions at all, call or chat with us now. All case consultations are free and we only get paid if we make a financial recovery for you on your case.
Quick Assisted Living Facility Abuse Attorney FAQ’s
How are ALF abuse and neglect cases brought if the injured person has dementia, or has passed away?
Usually, the claim is brought against the memory care or assisted living facility by a family member. Most commonly this is the spouse, if alive and competent. Oftentimes cases are brought by the victim’s adult children as well.
Who is the proper party in my family to bring my case against the ALF?
If the victim is alive but incompetent, the family member with power of attorney usually brings the claim.
If the victim is deceased, a personal representative or executor will need to be appointed.
Most families work together on this. However, occasionally, there will be a rift in the family dynamic. This is not a reason to allow a negligent assisted living facility to get away with their wrongdoing. If you have specific questions on who and how to bring a case, feel free to contact our assisted living abuse lawyers for a free consultation.
What do you sue for in an assisted living facility lawsuit?
These ALF negligence lawsuits seek money damages. Unfortunately, we are unable to shut down a facility through a civil suit. However, the idea is to impact the facility in their pocketbook- so that they do not allow the nursing error to happen again.
Are falls in assisted living and memory care preventable? If so, how?
More than 75% of our lawsuits against assisted living facilities involve falls. Most of the time, they are not isolated occurrences.
While it is true that a one-time fall may not be preventable, most of the time, our attorneys discover that the resident suffered multiple falls. When we see a pattern of falls in assisted living, we analyze what nursing staff did to stop the cycle of falls. Most of the time, no fall preventative measures were put in place. This allows the pattern of falls to continue, and eventually- result in a serious fracture, brain injury, or wrongful death.
How does the assisted living abuse attorney get paid?
Our assisted living abuse attorneys work 100% on contingency fees. This means we only get paid if you make a recovery. If we investigate the case and end up declining representation, you owe us nothing. If we lose the case at trial, you don’t pay us anything.
When we do successfully win the case on your behalf, our attorneys’ fees range from 33 1/3% to 40% of the recovery, plus costs. More than 90% of the ALF liability cases we sign up end up successfully resolving in favor of the plaintiff, usually through a settlement.
How long do ALF negligence cases take to resolve?
This answer varies widely based on a number of factors. Many families want to make their voices heard, but then settle the case. Others want their day in court.
We try to accommodate our client’s desires. However, for obvious reasons, we do not have 100% control on when a case resolves. Some ALF negligence lawsuits get settled in a matter of months, while others can take two years.
Will my lawsuit against the assisted living facility go to trial?
This too depends on your expectations. Most cases settle without going to trial. However, if you want your day in court, our attorneys are ready, willing and able to try your case.
OK, So I Understand I Can Sue an Assisted Living Facility for Negligence, But How Do I Know if My Case Warrants a Lawsuit?
You Need Negligence and Damages
Many potential clients contact us following ‘near miss’ cases. These cases may demonstrate terrible incidents of negligence. However, they lack significant damages. These cases may not warrant the filing of an assisted living negligence lawsuit.
For example, our assisted living negligence lawyers may receive a call about a dementia resident who escaped from the facility and was found a mile down the road. This is obviously negligent. But the follow up question is, what damages did he sustain as a result of eloping from the facility? If he was luckily uninjured from the wandering incident, this likely does not rise to the level of bringing an ALF lawsuit.
Contrast this to a family who discovers that their family member was diagnosed with a broken hip and bruising on her right side. The facility has no explanation as the resident was discovered in her wheelchair with the injury. Here, we are not entirely sure how the resident fell, but clearly, she has catastrophic damages. This is a common fact pattern that our assisted living facility abuse law firm routinely litigates. This kind of case clearly rises to the level of bringing a claim.
Frequent Injuries Resulting in a Lawsuit vs. the Assisted Living Facility
There is no exhaustive list of injuries that rule in or out a potential case. However, below is a “cheat sheet” of the most common assisted living injuries that end up being accepted by our firm.
- Resident falls resulting in broken bones.
- Medication mistakes and incorrect prescription drug administration.
- Significant weight loss from dehydration and malnutrition.
- Sexual abuse and rape.
- Elopement (wandering) from the facility resulting in injury.
If your loved one developed any of the above injuries inside an assisted living facility, contact our law firm today.
I Am Not Interested in Money; Why Would I Bring an A.L.F. Neglect Lawsuit?
Here is something that will surprise you. Most of our clients do not come to us looking for money. Even though these cases are brought by family members to seek monetary damages, money is not the sole motivator to bring a suit.
Most families come to us seeking justice. In just about every state in the U.S., regulation and oversight into assisted living facilities is lax. These A.L.F.’s get away with repeated systemic problems. Sometimes, regulators will give them a slap on the wrist in the form of a $500 fine. Other times, they receive a written reprimand. Needless to say, most families who lose a loved one are underwhelmed by the state’s response to reported elder abuse.
You May Not Care About Money, But They Do…
The majority of assisted living facilities in the U.S. are run by large, for-profit corporations.
Civil lawsuits sue negligent corporations for money damages. While this may not be the reason you pick up the phone and call our assisted living abuse attorneys, it is the best we can do. This is what the civil justice system provides for to balance out the harm done to your loved one.
Recently, we have seen a vast corporatization of the assisted living industry. We see Memory Care facilities springing up in towns across America. Most of these are not one-off mom and pop facilities, but rather, a part of a much larger corporate run chain of ALF’s.
These for-profit chain facilities care most about money. If you want to get their attention, take their money. If you want to deter them from committing this kind of harmful act in the future, take their money. If you want to make a difference and end the cycle of elder abuse and neglect, take their money.
When a board of directors has to approve a hefty six figure settlement check because of a negligence error in one of its facilities, action is taken. Policies and procedures are changed and staff are trained appropriately.
So while money may not bring your family member back, it may right the wrong caused by the assisted living company. This is why our civil court system balances out preventable injuries with money damages. This is what we try to accomplish in an assisted living abuse lawsuit.
A Brief Discussion on Appropriateness of Residency in an Assisted Living or Memory Care Facility
Families will come to us after their loved one was grievously injured inside an assisted living facility. Clearly, the damages are there, but they are apprehensive about bringing a claim because the ALF convinced them that they do not provide a “nursing home level of care.”
While it is true that a memory care or assisted living facility provides less care than a nursing home, this does not allow the ALF to disavow responsibility for the injuries.
ALF’s must comply with strict regulations on appropriateness of residency guidelines. This means if a resident has heightened care needs, the ALF cannot keep them in-house and continue cashing their check. Instead, if the ALF cannot appropriately care for and supervise the resident, they must discharge the resident to a skilled nursing facility.
A common fact pattern we see in assisted living facility abuse and neglect lawsuits involves repeated falls.
If a resident suffers multiple falls, the ALF cannot immunize itself from liability by simply saying, “we are only an assisted living facility – we cannot provide close supervision.” Instead, it is the legal duty of the ALF to review the resident’s fall prevention care plan. If the memory care facility cannot adequately prevent future falls, they cannot keep the resident in-house.
Many of our multiple fall ALF negligence lawsuits involve allegations of inappropriate candidacy. In other words, if the facility knew they could not handle the resident’s falls, they should have informed the family and recommended discharge to a nursing home.
This is what the law and regulations require. We are usually able to elicit expert testimony showing that the ALF wrongfully kept the resident in the facility in order to maximize its profits.
Senior Justice Law Firm – Your Assisted Living Abuse Attorneys
Our lawyers do not dabble in cases against long-term care facilities. These kinds of cases are our law firm’s focus. Our attorneys have the experience, expert witnesses and courtroom know-how needed to maximize your case value.
Speak with a qualified and experienced assisted living facility abuse lawyer today. Call, chat or email with a skilled assisted living abuse lawyer now at 1-888-375-9998.
