I delivered a load of hay and a couple of bales got pushed down on top of me. They were very patient with me, worked with me, they filled me in on details, they stayed in communication, and they let me know what was going on. The atmosphere of the people was very friendly, very likeable, VERY LIKEABLE, and no pressure. Mike was exquisitely very, very nice, very friendly. They looked out for my interests.
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H. Lindquist
Workplace Accident Case
Elderly Abuse Leading to Fatality
If your Mother, Father, or Spouse Has Died as a Result of Elderly Abuse, Grossman Law Offices May be Able to Help You Find Justice
In the modern world, people rely upon nursing homes to take care of their indigent elderly relatives. Sadly, as this tendency has increased, so has the amount of elderly abuse reported in nursing homes. With many senior citizens being frail and weak, elderly abuse can quickly become fatal, but proving the abuse isn’t easy since old people so often die of natural causes. The notion of someone intentionally or accidentally hurting the old, who should be honored and revered, enrages our elderly abuse attorneys at Grossman Law Offices, and we want to help you punish those who would be so boldly ruthless as to do so.
For 20 years, we’ve been helping folks in Texas and Arkansas pursue wrongful death lawsuits in a wide variety of medical malpractice cases, including elderly abuse in nursing homes. The issues involved with a case like this are highly technical in nature due to the medical complexity of the abuse, and you will not likely succeed with obtaining maximum compensation without the help of a wizened attorney.
Different Ways that Elderly Abuse Happens in Nursing Homes
In order to establish a fatality as being a wrongful death, you must be able to prove that the negligent party owed your loved one a duty and breached that duty causing the fatality. In instances of elderly abuse at a nursing, home, the duty is understood when you enrolled your senior loved one in the facility. The nursing home and its employees were expected to provide adequate care and comfort for the elderly patient. A breach of this duty occurs when the patient suffers harm due to intentional acts or mere neglect, allowing the victim or his or her family to pursue restitution. In some cases, the state may seek criminal charges against the offender when the fatality was a result of an attack like assault or starvation. When someone is hired to assist the elderly and intentionally harm the instead, they should be punished to the full extent of the law. Whether or not criminal charges are being pursued, the loved one of the deceased may file a civil wrongful death lawsuit.
On the other hand, when no criminal act has been committed, your family can still file a wrongful death claim against the nursing home for a wide variety of elderly abuses, including:
- Failure to diagnose and treat harmful conditions or illnesses in a timely fashion.
- Failure to provide the correct medication and dosage.
- Neglect.
- Lack of assistance using the restroom.
- Ignoring requests for help.
Pursuable Compensation in a Case of Fatal Elderly Abuse
When subjected to both intentional and accidental abuse, senior citizens often succumb, as their advanced age leaves them weakened and unable to survive much pressure from illness or infirmity. Only in instances in which negligent care has caused the death of your loved one may you seek compensation through a comprehensive wrongful death lawsuit. Your family has the right to pursue both wrongful death damages and survival damages. In Arkansas, the family is also required to declare a personal representative of the estate to function as executor before a lawsuit can be filed, but Texas makes no such requirements.
When someone in your family has just perished in an untimely fashion, we know that you’re not thinking about money. You’re rightfully consumed with your sorrow and sense of loss. However, we also realize your family has been subjected to tremendous financial and emotional stresses for which you deserve to be compensated. Furthermore, you have a duty to bring the negligent party to justice – not just to honor your loved one’s memory, but also to make sure the negligent party changes his or her behavior, preventing the elderly relatives of other families from being hurt or killed. Wrongful death damages can be sought by the victim’s spouse and children, as a way of compensating these people for the deaths of their family members. In other wrongful death cases, parents may also seek wrongful death damages, but that’s not often likely in cases of elderly abuse. Wrongful death damages may include compensation for:
- Funeral and burial costs.
- Loss of the unique consortium and familial love provided by the victim.
- Mental and emotional distress.
- Loss of financial support can also be pursued in most wrongful death cases but this presumably does not apply since the deceased was in a nursing home and likely not generating income.
Unlike wrongful death damages, survival damages may only be sought by the deceased’s closest living relative, starting with the spouse, followed by the children, parents, and then siblings. These damages were instituted to allow the closet living relative to seek the compensation the victim deserved for the suffering he or she was forced to endure. Compensation for survival damages may include:
- Medical bills charged as a result of treating the elderly abuse.
- Pain and suffering experienced by the victim.
- Emotional and mental anguish felt by the victim.
Some of these damages, like medical bills, are easily proven in court by merely producing bills and receipts. However, in order to convince a court of the validity of damages claims for pain and suffering and mental trauma, you need the help of a lawyer who has dealt with many other wrongful death cases and knows the accurate value of such subjective concepts.
What Makes Fatal Nursing Home Abuse Cases so Challenging
For someone without plenty of medical malpractice experience, fatal elderly abuse cases are extremely technically intricate and virtually impossible to comprehend and successfully handle – and much more so than just estimating subjective, non-economic damages. Producing reliable evidence creates a much more substantial obstacle, since the victim has passed on and is obviously unable to provide testimony. Even if another one of the patients saw something damning, his or her eye witness account may be able to be discredited due to poor eyesight, senility, or some other infirmity related to the patient’s age. In order to build a strong case, you’re not only going to need a skilled elderly abuse attorney who knows how to locate the necessary evidence, but you will also need an attorney who has access to medical experts who can translate the physical evidence into a context that the jury will accept as fact.
As if an elderly abuse case isn’t hard enough already to provide satisfaction to the deceased’s loved ones, recent reforms to medical malpractice laws in Texas lowered the recoverable minimum insurance rates for medical malpractice insurance and raised the already high standards of proof in these cases. These changes were made because strong lobbying form the medical and insurance industries convinced the Texas State Legislature that too many frivolous lawsuits were driving up medical and insurance costs. While that might have been true, the effect is that legitimate lawsuits are now much harder to win, and insurance companies have not passed on their savings to medical professionals, so no change has occurred in the cost of insurance or medical treatment. The only real change affected is that many law firms now choose to reject medical malpractice cases, including elderly abuse, seeing them as not being cost effective.
At Grossman Law Offices, we’re more concerned with punishing those who’ve abused the elderly than what is cost effective. We will do whatever we can to bring justice to those whose negligence killed your parent or spouse and compensation to your grieving family. After two decades handling elderly abuse cases and other wrongful death and personal injury lawsuits involving medical malpractice, we not only have the knowledge and skills you need to find the evidence that proves your case but also a long list of medical experts from which to choose in order to support the evidence we find. In the past 20 years, we’ve faced off against every major insurance company in the nation and delivered many millions of dollars in damages to hundreds of families. This usually encourages our opponents to settle fairly, but if they won’t negotiate, then we will fight for what your family’s suffering merits. To learn about what we can do for you, call us now for at 1-855-589-5645 (toll free) for a free consultation. We will give you the opportunity to explain your story and answer your questions before proving you with answers and our suggestions as to how you can pursue legal action.
(policy limits) Recovery of a disputed life insurance policy for the family of a contractor who died on the job.
$150,000.00
$50,000.00
$341.00
(policy limits) Our attorneys secured a recovery against a major trucking company for the daughter of a man who was killed after his vehicle collided into an 18-wheeler which was blocking the roadway. Litigation is ongoing against additional defendants.
Confidential
Confidential
Confidential
(policy limits) A young mother was killed in an accident involving two commercial vehicles, one an 18-wheeler. The accident occurred as the young woman was a passenger in a vehicle that was traveling down a highway in the early morning hours. Without warning, the vehicle in which she was a passenger collided with a stalled 18-wheeler that parked in the right of way, resulting in catastrophic injuries that claimed the young woman's life soon thereafter.
The authorities initially faulted the driver of the vehicle in which the victim was a passenger, stating that he was using an electronic device rather than paying full attention to the roadway. However, the 18-wheeler was indeed blocking the roadway and plaintiff alleged that the vehicle did not follow the requirements of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act in regard to providing adequate reflective or laminated warning at specific intervals. Further, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendant failed to remove his vehicle from the roadway when he first noticed signs of mechanical failure.
Had he simply moved to the shoulder of the road, plaintiffs argued, his lack of adequate warning signs would have been inconsequential. An initial settlement has been obtained in this case, yet litigation has commenced in full against the remaining defendant, and is currently ongoing.
$250,000.00
$78,000.00
$370.00
(policy limits) Our firm was hired by the wife and children of a retired Army Colonel who was killed in an underide 18-wheeler accident. In addition to being a decorated veteran, the decedent worked both professionally and on a voluntary basis to establish numerous learning institutions and vocational programs for at risk youths. The accident occurred as the decedent was traveling on a rural highway when an 18-wheeler failed to yield the right of way and made a rolling stop through a stop sign.
This placed the trailer of the 18-wheeler in a position whereby it blocked the entire roadway and shoulder, leaving the decedent no option but to collide with the trailer. Witnesses on the scene attempted to revive him but to no avail. Furthermore, while two female eye witnesses struggled to pry open the decedent's door to provide emergency care, the truck driver stayed in his truck and offered no assistance. Despite what appeared to be an incredibly apparent case of negligence on behalf of the defendant, defense counsel refused to accept liability resulting in rather lengthy litigation.
The defendants initially denied the claim based on the allegation that the decedent was speeding and the truck driver therefore could not adequately gauge the amount of time he had to pause at the stop sign. The physical evidence contradicted this notion entirely, notwithstanding the fact that even if the decedent had been contributorily negligent, that would not have outweighed the severe degree of negligence on the part of the defendant. Nevertheless, our attorneys were able to conclusively refute this argument based on eye-witness testimony and the testimony from police investigators who calculated the decedent's speed to be precisely at the posted speed limit. In a desperate and largely unprecedented move, the defendants then designated the state as a responsible third party.
Generally speaking, a defendant will often threaten to designate a third party in order to leverage their position but it is rare that such an arbitrary and arguably frivolous designation is actually carried out. However, that is precisely what occurred and the state was thusly incorporated into the lawsuit by the defendants. The basis of the defendant's argument was that the state erected a large street sign that obstructed the truck driver's view of approaching traffic.
Several months of intense litigation were required to before the defendant finally acquiesced in regard to this argument. The argument was finally abandoned by the defendants when in the first mediation our attorneys presented video footage shot (in a controlled setting) from the perspective of an 18-wheeler driver which showed that the sign simply did not obstruct enough of the roadway in order to be a hazard. The case was ultimately resolved through litigation.
Confidential
Confidential
Confidential
(policy limits) An incredibly intoxicated driver drove head-on into a vehicle, killing several of the vehicle's occupants. The defendants had limited assets, yet an alternative policy was uncovered, which the defendants argued was non applicable. Under threat of litigation, our attorneys negotiated a settlement for the policy limits.
$300,000.00
$132,000.00
$0.00
Our attorneys sued an apartment complex in relation to a brain injury sustained by a toddler when he fell through a balcony railing. The apartment complex denied liability, asserted that their railings were in spec at the time of the building's construction (some 20 years prior), and they claimed that the child's mother was contributorily negligent in that she did not notice that her child was playing near the railing.
Through litigation, our attorneys countered the defendant's arguments by showing that the case law does not support the notion of any safety related concerns in the building code being "grandfathered" in. On the contrary, a property owner has an obligation to keep safety features such as balcony railings within the specs at all times. The railings in this complex were spaced at 7 inch intervals, which was at odds with the now-standard 4 inch interval.
Additionally, our attorneys countered the claims of contributory negligence as a practical matter in that the mother was indeed monitoring the child's activity and the child literally ran up to the railing and immediately fell through the rails. Alternatively, we argued that the doctrine of parental immunity applied and that the contributory negligence, if any such negligence ever even occurred, of the mother would not be admissible. The case was satisfactorily resolved through litigation.
$350,000.00
$115,500.00
$5,000.00
Major freight train company sued as the result of an incident which claimed the life of an employee. Our attorneys settled the case outside of court for a confidential amount.
Confidential
Confidential
Confidential
Recovery for the victim of a slip and fall premises liability accident.
$50,000.00
$20,000.00
$485.00
Facility sued for negligent contribution to the death of an innocent bystander. A fatal shooting occurred on the property after the facility failed to appropriately respond to outbursts of violence & gang activity. Following the young man's death, his parents hired our firm to pursue the facility for their negligent actions including failure to provide adequate security. The case was successfully resolved through litigation.
Confidential
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The family of a deceased woman hired our firm following a fatal 18-wheeler accident. The fatal accident occurred as the driver of an 18-wheeler lost control of his vehicle and veered out of his lane, resulting in a massive collision. The decedent, a passenger in a vehicle, died on the scene.
Her adult children consulted our firm to initially investigate the accident and make sense of the facts and circumstances since the family felt that the police report did not make it clear enough precisely what occurred. We launched a full investigation an immediately deposed the investigating officers.
Upon the completion of our investigation, it was apparent that the trucking company was indeed negligent and a lawsuit was soon filed. The defendant's launched an aggressive defense whereby they initially claimed that the truck driver was overcome by his passenger who allegedly grabbed the steering wheel and deliberately drove the truck off the road, despite the truck driver's best efforts.
We refuted this claim by illustrating that the tire marks that were present clearly show the truck gradually moving across the road and eventually onto the grass, which is entirely inconsistent with an abrupt lane change caused by someone taking control of the wheel. It was quite an unusual defense strategy that we were frankly surprised to even find ourselves having to refute.
The defendants then argued that a tire blowout may have contributed to the accident, which is significant because it would enable the defendant to offset some portion of their liability to a tire manufacturer or installer. Through deposition testimony of the investigating officer we established that there was absolutely no indication at the scene of the accident that a tire had blown out.
Finally, the defendants argued that the company which loaded the trailer may have improperly loaded the cargo. This argument was most plausible considering that the precise cause of the decedent's death was that she was essentially pummeled by cargo that broke through trailer and struck her person.
Our firm consulted several experts in the fields of heavy cargo transportation and physics. Our experts felt that the cargo was secured in a manner that is perfectly consistent with industry standards and that due to the forces involved, the cargo would not have behaved any differently irrespective of how it was secured. In short, the collision caused the cargo to break free and the negligence lay squarely on the trucking company and not any other entity. The case was successfully resolved through litigation.
$2,000,000.00
$775,000.00
$25,000.00