If you have a loved one who suffered abuse or neglect while in a long-term care facility, you may have a civil case against the facility. While it is possible to file a claim on your own, you should always consider the help of a nursing home lawyer. A lawyer is there to help your family receive the financial compensation that you deserve. Here are three things that a lawyer can do for you during the case.
Collect Information and Evidence
To file a civil lawsuit, you have to have evidence. If you have no evidence of the abuse, then your case may not make it to trial. Insurance companies may refuse to offer a settlement and if you do make it to trial, you will likely lose. You have to prove your case. To prove your case, you need all medical documents, witness statements and other pieces of evidence.
Gathering the evidence is only a part of what a lawyer has to do, however. With the evidence, he or she has to build the strategy. You have to know how to present the evidence in a way that will prove to the judge and jury that your family deserves compensation.
File the Nursing Home Abuse Case
Have you ever filed a personal injury lawsuit before? If you haven’t, you may be unaware of the forms that you need to file or the deadlines that you need to adhere to. When you have a lawyer, he or she will file the case for you and ensure that the defendants are notified.
Guide You Through the Federal and State Laws
Unless you work in nursing home injury law, you probably aren’t aware of the different local and state laws that surround nursing home abuse. Your lawyer will know which laws to abide by and which to rely on to file your lawsuit. A lawyer is a source of information throughout the entirety of the process.
To have to file a lawsuit against a nursing home is stressful enough. A nursing home will have its own insurance company and lawyers that will try to defend the caregivers against the allegations. If you do not have a lawyer who is ready to fight for your case, you may be in over your head. If you’re ready to file a claim against the facility, set up a consultation with a nursing home abuse lawyer, like the attorneys at Davis & Brusca, LLC, as soon as possible to find out if you have a claim.