Elder Abuse Lawyer Orange County

As with medical malpractice cases, it's really important in elder abuse litigation to seek the assistance of a knowledgeable attorney, as soon as possible, there are several reasons for that. Mainly there are important mandatory deadlines that have to be met. These cases have to be filed within a certain period of time and certain causes of action have different deadlines. But also evidence can get lost, evidence can be lost in some way, memories fade, so it's really important that potential clients reach out to attorneys as soon as possible, if they feel that a loved one has been wronged. A typical scenario might be that an elder is in a 24-hour care facility. They're reliant on their caregivers for food, water, medication. They may be unable to move themselves in their beds, so they're reliant on the care providers to change their position, so that their skin is not damaged, and there are a number of services relating to activities of daily living that these people are dependent on. So often very sadly, our elders are abused in nursing facilities. I am particularly passionate about this area of the law. These are very vulnerable people, just as are dependent adults, and so when I receive a call regarding for instance, an elder 65 or older, I'm not only viewing that case from a medical malpractice perspective, but I'm also viewing that case from the perspective of a potential elder abuse case. There are potential enhanced remedies that are available to those who are pursuing a case from an elder abuse litigation angle. Let's say you have and elder, a 70-year-old woman who was injured in the hands of caregivers at a nursing facility. The person died. If that was strictly a wrongful death case then the estate, the family members could not seek compensation for that elder's pain and suffering at the hands of the caregivers in the nursing home. That pain and suffering, in a wrongful death medical malpractice case would die with the elder. However, with an elder abuse litigation case, as long as certain conditions are met, to prove that it falls within the certain parameters of an elder abuse case then the estate can pursue compensation for that elder's pain and suffering. In addition to that, they can seek compensation for attorney's fees and costs, and potentially if the case is egregious enough, punitive damages, which would be damages to punish the wrongdoers.