Clearwater Nursing Home Abuse Settlement Considerations
Once someone files a nursing home abuse claim, they are obligated to mediate that claim before they have the right to file a lawsuit. Presumption is important because an individual can potentially mitigate the cost associated with litigating a claim. There are other options. Many nursing homes and assisted living facilities in Florida elected to include arbitration provisions inside of their contracts. That means if a person complains of abuse and neglect, they may not be able to go to court. They may have to go through the arbitration process.
Arbitrators are statistically less likely to give large verdicts based on emotion because they are professional arbiters. An individual is bound by their decision. There can be a single-party arbiter or a panel of three. In some places, a person can file a lawsuit and may have to do that to settle or to get a verdict. In order to best understand the important settlement considerations process in a nursing home abuse case in Clearwater, a skilled injury attorney needs to be contacted as soon as possible.
Initial Consultation
When someone is going to their initial consultation with a Tampa lawyer, they should bring with them all the information as they have about the facility as well as the facility’s contract with whoever is allegedly abused or neglected.
If there are any visible injuries, photographs, and medical records and if this person was injured to the point where they needed medical assistance outside of the facility, they should bring this type of documentation with them to the initial visit with the attorney. For example, emergency room records or other facility records. When someone goes to see their lawyer, they need to bring as much information as possible.
The client and their lawyer will discuss whether to take their settlement or go to trial. The client always makes the decision about whether they want to go forward or settle a claim, with the advice of a skilled lawyer.
Conditions to Settle a Case
People involved in nursing home and assisted living facility abuse and neglect cases sometimes need to understand that emotionally they may want a settlement that is far beyond the financial and pain and suffering judgments. Anyone involved in these types of cases must determine whether or not they are in a better position financially to take a settlement versus the offset costs of litigation. The cost to try a case is always a question. When someone receives an offer, they must consider the cost of experts, depositions, filing fees, and the costs associated with preparation for trial. They must make sure that they are able to at least recover those costs to justify the cost of litigation.
The best indicator determining whether someone should accept their settlement in a nursing home abuse case rather than go to trial is the experience of the person’s lawyer who should understand the value of a particular claim. However, the person must understand the costs associated with litigating a particular case. They need to recognize that those costs are going to be deducted from the total settlement. They must make sure that their overall value is beyond the threshold of those costs. Also, they have to determine whether the facility being sued is collectible beyond those numbers.
Role of a Lawyer
Settlement value for a nursing home abuse case has some very simple numbers such as medical bills, economic loss, and things that are tangible. The hardest part of determination is to calculate is the pain and suffering. This includes the past pain and suffering, future pain and suffering, and the loss of potential consortium of a particular individual. Those numbers vary based on the case. An experienced lawyer should be able to research that and give someone an indicator based on what juries are awarding given the similar facts a person might have in the case.
A lawyer should be able to research the individual client’s injuries and the effect on their life. Those effects have financial value based on previous litigations. A good lawyer should be able to give someone those numbers. A person should take into consideration whether they are acting in their best interest or if they are better served by having a jury determine the value of a particular case, taking into consideration the cost of litigation.
A lawyer will be efficient in doing the research necessary for their client’s case and is able to give them a reasonable expectation of the range of what the case is worth. Recognizing that there are no guarantees with juries, a good lawyer should be able to give their client an expert opinion based on the value of that claim, the settlement process, the cost associated with litigating the case, and what the better financial outcome is going to be for the person who is injured.