Nursing homes are supposed to be safe spaces for your elderly loved ones. These facilities should provide care and assistance to seniors who can no longer fend for themselves because of age-related health issues or other medical conditions.
Unfortunately, it’s unthinkable that abuse can occur in our elderly loved ones’ second homes. You should schedule your first consultation with a nursing home lawyer when this happens. This meeting lets you learn about relevant proceedings, statutes, and case law and let your attorney assess if you have grounds for a claim.
If you want swift justice for your elderly relative and ensure a productive discussion, this article will list what to bring during your first consultation with your nursing home lawyer. We’ll also answer if your attorney can gather pieces of evidence on your behalf.
1. A Written Summary of the Case
You can remember the most crucial facts when you speak to an attorney about nursing home neglect by writing down all the details. When scheduling a consultation with your nursing home lawyer, you must determine when you first noticed signs of mistreatment, what you saw that made you suspicious, and what you did after discovering the abuse or neglect. You should also know if you have had any communication with the facility since that day.
2. Relevant Contact Information
When consulting a nursing home lawyer, you must provide all relevant contact information of everyone caring for your loved one. It will help them establish communication, verify identities, keep you updated, and gather evidence to support your case.
They’ll also need this information because they may need to talk to everyone involved, such as the caregivers in the facility, family members who observed signs of abuse or neglect, and your loved one’s healthcare providers.
3. Your Family Member’s Medical Records
Your nursing home lawyer will review your relative’s medical records to understand their illnesses or injuries from the mistreatment. Besides helping them identify responsible parties, they can also use these documents to prove the damages claimed resulted from neglect or abuse rather than a prior issue. That way, they can support your case in court and ensure your loved one receives the proper medical care and well-deserved justice.
4. Documents from the Nursing Home
When scheduling your first consultation with a nursing home lawyer, you must bring the documents you’ve received from the facility. This essential paperwork will help them identify the responsible parties, support your case in court, and hold the nursing home accountable for its actions.
These documents include your agreement with them and everything you’ve received in writing.
5. Photos and Videos
Sometimes, allegations are insufficient to say that your elderly loved one suffers from nursing home abuse. You can prove that the facility is guilty of mistreatment by giving your nursing home lawyer pictures and videos of the incidents, especially in today’s digital age. They’ll look at the visual evidence of injuries, your relative’s room, or the nursing home building to see if they can help support your family’s case for nursing home mistreatment.
Can Your Lawyer Gather Other Evidence for You?
While you can usually use the mentioned pieces of evidence in nursing home abuse and neglect cases, other forms of proof are more challenging to acquire. For instance, the facility will not likely provide concerned family members with surveillance footage, keycard data, staff schedules, and operating procedures unless you have a court order.
Fortunately, your nursing home abuse lawyer can use a subpoena to access this evidence and strive to make a strong case.
Seeking Justice for Your Elderly Loved One
Nobody deserves to be mistreated or neglected in a nursing home because it’s supposed to be a safe space for vulnerable people. You can get well-deserved justice for your elderly loved one by consulting a reputable nursing home lawyer and providing all the necessary evidence.
If you need a nursing home lawyer to handle your abuse or neglect case in Memphis, Tennessee, contact Jehl Law Group! Our attorneys are committed to holding perpetrators accountable and making nursing home facilities safer for seniors. Call (901) 306-6508 for a free consultation!