Has a loved one been been a victim of nursing home abuse? Read these 3 nursing home negligence tips, then give our Kansas attorneys a call.
1. Choosing the Best Attorney
One, you want to make sure that you find an attorney who has a core focus in nursing home negligence cases. You will not want to use an attorney that has a general practice and handles a variety of different types of cases. You want to find somebody who really is focusing on nursing home negligence cases.
You also want to find somebody who has experience and success in handling nursing home negligence cases. There are very specific rules and regulations that apply to nursing homes. You want to make sure you find somebody who is familiar with all the ins and outs of the law surrounding nursing home negligence.
Finally, you want to make sure that you find a trial attorney. Trial attorneys are attorneys who know how to take a case to trial and try a case to a jury. Not all attorneys practice in the courtroom; not all attorneys go to trial, present cases in a jury trial. You want to make sure you find someone that can present your case to a jury in a jury trial if that’s necessary in your case.
They will work up the case from the beginning with the goal of pursuing the case all the way through a jury trial if necessary and so you want to make sure that you have someone from the beginning who can take this case to trial if that’s necessary.
2. Common Mistakes To Avoid
One is that people fail to gather all the evidence that they can about what happened. When something like this happens, it’s common for everyone to be very focused and concerned, rightfully so, on caring for your loved one who has been injured in a nursing home.
A lot of people think that the nursing home is going to be making sure that the events are well documented, and all of that information is going to be able to be located later in the record, but that is simply not that case. Oftentimes, we see very vague at best statements about events in a nursing home. Oftentimes, what has happened to your loved one in a nursing home isn’t witnessed by anyone else, any disinterested witness. It’s usually either just your loved one and the nursing home staff. You want to make sure that you are gathering as much evidence as you can right away and documenting that: taking photographs, talking to people, getting specific details documented.
Another common mistake people make in these types of cases is they talk to the nursing home representative or their insurance company and give them a statement early on. You do not want to do that. The insurance company or the nursing home is looking for evidence to try to put the blame on the nursing home resident for an injury and to take the blame off themselves for an injury that has occurred. You may think it’s okay to go ahead and talk to them because you don’t have anything to hide, you’re going to tell them the truth, but in fact, they are really skilled at gathering information through a statement from you that they will later use to help themselves.
Finally, probably the biggest mistake people make is that they hire the wrong attorney. You really want to make sure that you hire an attorney that is knowledgeable and experienced in handling nursing home negligence cases and is prepared to take your case to a jury trial if that’s necessary to get you the best recovery.
3. Attorney Fees
If you or a loved one has been injured in a nursing home and you are interested in hiring an attorney to handle a nursing home abuse case in Kansas for you, the last thing you want to worry about is how do you come up with money to hire an attorney. We handle these types of cases on a contingency fee basis, which simply means that we are paid a percentage of the amount that we recover for you. You do not have to pay anything upfront; you don’t have to pay a retainer; you don’t have to pay an hourly rate; you won’t ever get a bill as we’re working on the case. Our fee is solely a percentage of the amount that we recover for you.
When the case is resolved and when the check has arrived, that’s when we get paid— exactly when you get paid. Don’t worry about having to come up with money to hire an attorney.
Has a loved one been been a victim of nursing home negligence in Kansas and have questions about these 3 nursing home negligence tips? Contact our experienced Kansas nursing home negligence lawyers today for a free consultation and case evaluation.
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