As the old adage goes, if you want to catch a bigger mouse, you need to build a bigger mouse trap. This, it seems, applies just as equally to the law as any other context — and nursing home-related lawsuits are a prime example.
Suing a nursing home is a complicated ordeal, no matter how readily apparent the injury or incident in question might seem. This is why, depending on the nature of the incident, medical expert testimony is often crucial to making your case — or, in the event that a patient unfortunately dies as a result of a nursing home’s conduct, Illinois statute (735 ILCS 5/2-622) actually requires a medical expert’s report that a case has merit before it can even be brought.
Another burgeoning area that many enterprising attorneys are beginning to take advantage of is the concept of a nursing home organization expert. To the untrained eye, this may seem like an unnecessary expense. To seasoned plaintiff’s attorneys, however, it is a novel concept that just may put them a step ahead of one of the major hurdles in these sorts of cases.
Naming the “right” parties is one of the most difficult parts of filing a case against a nursing home, as it is often the case that the brick and mortar facility, the staff, the medical equipment, and even the furniture (sometimes) are all owned by different companies — even if the names of these companies are virtually the same.
If one of these parties is omitted from a complaint, then you run the risk of having your entire case thrown out when the “wrong” companies all turn around and point the finger at someone else that you didn’t even know existed. Even worse, sometimes naming the various companies isn’t enough, as a lapse in insurance coverage can leave you with a strong case against little more than a piece of property — this is why a good attorney will also name the owners/operators/directors of the nursing home in question, where necessary.
While this may cover your bases, so to speak, it doesn’t always tell the whole story. This is why attorneys are beginning to disclose experts that specifically focus on the individual companies — for example, how to tie a management company into the facility’s day-to-day operations. Simply put, there’s no such thing as being “too cautions” when it comes to recovering for the harm that your loved ones suffer as a result of negligent or abusive care in a nursing home. And the more that these facilities “evolve” in trying to set up complicated structural schemes to insulate themselves from liability, the more that expert testimony may become necessary to cut through the facade and make these offenders “face the music.”
You can contact us here 24/7/365 (and we really mean that as we will answer our phone) if you have anyquestions and to learn how we may be able to help you or your loved one who has been a victim of nursing home abuse or neglect – in particular, you will find that we listen, take your phone calls and e-mails (and even text messages!). We would be honored to help you with your matters – large or small.
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