Legal Claims against Nursing Homes

There is a timeline of events that occurs when a legal claim is brought against a nursing home. From the point of view of the plaintiff (i.e. you) here is a brief outline of the process itself:

Step #1: This is the step where you realize that something is wrong and start to look more deeply into the issue. You might retain the services of an attorney at this point, but the main thing to keep in mind is your suspicion of a problem.

Step #2: Either you or your lawyer has confirmed your suspicions and filed a legal claim against the nursing home. If you do not have a lawyer by now it is very important that you hire one immediately. People that prosecute their own cases generally do not do well, and therefore it is important that you have a lawyer to help you. This is the pre-legal phase and constitutes the lawyer getting as much information as he or she can about your case. Your lawyer might ask you additional questions and start preparing a case and this step ends when the papers are finally filed.

Step #3: This is the case itself. There are a number of different ways that cases happen, but the usual method is plaintiff against defendant in a court of law with a judge. Juries usually are not used in these cases, and the judge is the one that gives the final solution. The whole case is presented by your lawyer in court and then the lawyer for the defendant attempts to refute some part of it. The step ends when the decision is handed down by the judge.

Step #4: The appeal. The losing side has the right to appeal the case and if your defendants lose you can be reasonably sure that they will be appealing the decision.