If your loved one is the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, your family could file a personal injury case in an effort to seek justice. You may be able to recover compensation for injuries and bills related to those injuries. In this section of our website, we take you through some of the common steps involved in a personal injury case. Consider this your introduction to personal injury. This information can help you determine if you should file a lawsuit, and how you can do it.
Establishing Your Case
The first question that you might have if you are looking into personal injury is, “do I have a case?” Consider a few factors, such as if you have evidence, if people can testify on your loved one’s behalf, if you can get nursing home records, and more. There are other elements of personal injury that must be fulfilled, such as negligence, breach of duty, and other terms that we define in our legal terms section.
If you are interested in filing a personal injury lawsuit, you should familiarize yourself with some common arguments that your family might make to support your claim. In addition, you should familiarize yourself with the common counter arguments to a personal injury claim that nursing homes might make. For example, if your loved one signed a contract, that could limit the freedom your loved one has in making a claim against the home. The home may also try to claim that an accident or injury was “unavoidable” and try to prove that they are not at-fault.
If you think that you have a claim, check out our neglect and abuse claims page. This explains some common types of injury claims that your family might make on your injured loved one’s behalf.
Seeking Justice
Also keep in mind that there are a few ways in which your family might get justice. If an abuser broke the law, they could be prosecuted by the state for a criminal offense. The criminal process could give your family peace if the abuser is punished. A personal injury case is a civil process and it is different from this criminal process. This is something that your family could initiate to get monetary compensation for injuries. Remember that a criminal case and a civil case are two different things. They do not overlap. The criminal case is likely out of your hands, but your family is entitled to filing a personal injury claim if you think that you have a case.
Finally, if you have some general questions about personal injury cases, check out our frequently asked questions page.
This section of our website gives some basic information regarding the personal injury process. If your family is interested in filing a claim in order to seek justice, feel free to contact our office. We can offer additional resources and answer any questions that you might have at this time. We are happy to help!