Dallas Nursing Home Attorney | Standing Up to Senior Abuse

Standing Up to Senior Abuse

A senior abuse case will oftentimes have two versions based on the same incident. The first will be the criminal case brought against whoever was perpetrating the abuse. This is something the authorities will handle, though they may need your help with the case at some time in the form of testimony from your or your loved one that was abused. There is oftentimes a lawsuit filed in these cases, as well, which is filed based on the negligence that was involved in letting the abuse go on.

What is Negligence?

Negligence is when someone doesn't live up to reasonable expectations that could be applied to any normal person in their situation. Where a nursing home or a homecare facility is concerned, the expectations are much higher, but they're based on the services that these agencies sell to their customers. When they allow abuse to go on or when they don’t have enough supervision to detect it, they may be held to be negligent in their duties and may be sued based on that.

Building the Lawsuit

Sometimes, there will be evidence that will be available to establish that the abuse took place, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the evidence establishes negligence. If there was really no way for anyone to have known it was going on or to have intervened, no one may have actually been negligent at all. Your lawyer will help to build the case for negligence.

Finding a Lawyer

Finding a lawyer that specializes in nursing home mistreatment is imperative toward maximizing your chances of winning your claim. There are very specific elements of the law that apply in these cases. These cases are sometimes similar to medical malpractice claims, in some regards, so having knowledge about the world of medicine is also helpful.

The nursing home mistreatment lawyer will work with you to build a case. You may end up having to go to court over it or you may not, depending upon whether or not the party you're suing opts to settle. If they offer a settlement, it means that you walk away with money in lieu of taking them to court. Sometimes, even though the settlement amount will be less than the award you're seeking, you come out ahead because you don't have to pay legal fees to cover the costs of going to court and only have to pay your lawyer for negotiating the settlement.