Lakeland Nursing Home Abuse Attorneys
In Lakeland, residents in almost 20 facilities rely on nursing homes to care for them. Unfortunately, cases of abuse are too common and occur under many preventable circumstances. The spotlight COVID-19 put on nursing homes demonstrated that nursing home conditions lend themselves to neglect and abuse.
Nursing home abuse leads to significant losses for victims and their families. If you or someone you love has experienced abuse at a nursing home, a Lakeland nursing home abuse attorney from Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys is ready to listen and potentially help you get compensation for the losses you have incurred.
Why Choose a Lakeland Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer From Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys?
Frank and Jennifer Fernandez have a successful track record that includes recovering over $100 million for clients who have suffered an injury at the hands of others.
Like our former clients, you can rely on our Lakeland nursing home abuse attorneys to fight for the maximum compensation payout owed to you and your loved one. It costs you nothing ahead of time to have our knowledgeable Lakeland personal injury attorneys represent you.
If We Do Not Win, You Do Not Pay
Call our office to explore your options for seeking compensation for losses you or a loved one has suffered due to nursing home abuse.
More than Twenty-Five Years of Helping Injured Clients
Experience counts the most when choosing a Lakeland nursing home abuse attorney to handle your nursing home abuse case. Attorneys with a history of representing nursing home residents know what steps to take to get their clients the justice they deserve.
Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys partners Frank and Jennifer Fernandez have spent over two decades working diligently for clients who have suffered losses due to abuse at a nursing home. You can expect the same vigorous representation when our firm takes your case.
Justice for Thousands of Clients
The measure of our success is the numerous reviews from clients who have trusted our firm to get them relief and justice. Please take the time to read through our Google Reviews and watch client video testimonials to see what our clients have to say.
Award-Winning Trial Lawyers with National Recognition
Of all the many law firms that handle personal injury cases throughout Florida, few have recovered millions of dollars at trial as consistently as we have.
Frank and Jennifer Fernandez doggedly pursue full compensation for our clients, which means never accepting lowball compensation offers, even if it means going to trial.
Their determination has earned our firm a reputation for success. We have also gained recognition and awards from national business and legal industry groups, such as SuperLawyers and Who’s Who. From 2017-2019, the firm was recognized as having the top personal injury lawyers in Tampa.
We Are the Perfect Size to Provide Personalized Representation
Bigger is not always better when it comes to nursing home abuse law firms. The bigger the law firm, the less likely your case may be to receive the utmost attention from firm leaders. In some cases, you may not even meet the lawyer representing you. Our firm is different.
Our leadership of skilled, caring attorneys directly addresses each case. We ensure that each client receives the personal attention they deserve from a seasoned Lakeland nursing home abuse lawyer.
We Will Go All the Way to Trial for Our Clients if Necessary
When it comes time to seek compensation for your injuries, Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys will focus on getting you the maximum payout available. Sometimes, recovering the appropriate compensation a client deserves requires threatening to file or filing a lawsuit to get an insurance company to budge.
Unfortunately, many law firms shy away from trials and push their clients to settle for a mere portion of what they deserve. However, Frank and Jennifer Fernandez do not follow this practice and have built a reputation in the nursing home abuse and injury community as fierce trial lawyers who get multi-million dollar verdicts.
Compensation Results at Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys
As mentioned, every Lakeland nursing home abuse lawyer at Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys fights hard to make insurance companies and defendants pay for their abuse.
Some of the results we have achieved for our clients include:
- $2.67 million for a wrongful death (which involved a coverup) of a mother who was preparing to return home after a stay at a nursing home
- $2.3 million for a family whose 92-year-old loved one was killed after a nursing aide dumped her from a wheelchair
- $1.9 million for a client who developed bedsores that became infected
- $1,250,000 for a client who experienced multiple falls and suffered from pressure sores and contractures due to negligence and abuse at a nursing home
- $250,000 for a client whose heels developed pressure sores at a certain Winter Haven Rehabilitation facility
Each case that our firm takes is different and has its own unique compensation total. In no case will a Lakeland nursing home abuse lawyer from our firm guarantee a result or even promise success. However, a firm’s track record is a great predictor of its ability to successfully get valuable compensation into the hands of its clients.
Common Types of Nursing Home Abuse
Abuse takes many forms in nursing homes. Below are some of its most common manifestations. In many cases, the abuse found in nursing homes rises to criminality. But the abuse need not be a crime for victims to seek justice.
Physical and Sexual Abuse
Physical abuse refers to abuse that is done knowingly or intentionally. It may involve striking, kicking, pushing, or restraining and can be devastating for elderly residents. Sadly, sexual abuse also occurs in nursing homes. It encompasses not only intercourse but any type of nonconsensual sexual actions as well.
Some of the common physical injuries our Lakeland nursing home abuse attorneys see include:
- Broken bones
- Bruises
- Limping
- Cuts and abrasions
- Traumatic brain injury
- Burns
- Wrongful death
These injuries are often accompanied by corresponding emotional and psychological harms, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety.
Neglect
One of the most common types of abuse that authorities can find in nursing homes is neglect. In this context, neglect refers to the intentional or unintentional failure to provide for a nursing home resident’s basic needs. Essential provisions include food, water, adequate accommodations and facilities, and medical treatment when needed.
Common injuries from neglect include:
- Extreme dehydration
- Infections
- Bedsores
- Significant weight loss and malnutrition
Dangerous reductions in hygiene standards may also be present after periods of neglect.
Emotional and Psychological Abuse
The signs of emotional and psychological abuse may not be as readily visible as those of physical abuse. However, abuse in these categories can cause damage that is just as serious as physical and sexual abuse.
Financial Abuse and Exploitation
Nursing home residents are particularly vulnerable to experiencing financial exploitation at the hands of their caretakers. Unscrupulous staff may rely on a resident’s lack of understanding of billing and overcharge them or charge them for unrequested services or goods.
Direct theft of money or property may also occur. In some cases, staff may even compel or trick a resident into making or altering important estate decisions to the staff member’s benefit.
Visitors can often spot the symptoms of nursing abuse by observing their loved one’s behaviors and surroundings.
If you notice the following changes, it could be that your loved one is experiencing abuse:
- Personality changes
- Mysterious weight loss
- Newly developed depression or anxiety
- Unexplained marks or injuries
- Compromised hygiene
If you do suspect abuse, call us. We can notify the nursing home, contact the Florida Department of Health, and start representing you and your loved one.
Liability for Nursing Home Abuse
If your loved one has been abused, we want to know about it and find out who is liable. Depending on the circumstances of the abuse, many parties may be held responsible for the losses you and your loved one have suffered. Once a Lakeland nursing home abuse lawyer from our firm reviews your case, the facts will demonstrate who should pay.
Staff Members
As the frontline of care for residents, nursing home staff are typically responsible for many of the abuses residents experience. Staff may include direct caregivers, supervisory and administrative staff, medical staff, and auxiliary staff.
The Nursing Home
Florida law gives abuse victims the right to seek damages against certain operators of nursing homes for abuse. The liability is vicarious, meaning these certain operators, who are generally licensees and their consulting companies, can be held liable for their staff’s abusive acts.
Other Residents
Abuse in nursing homes can also come from other residents. When one resident injures another, the victim may have the right to seek compensation for their damages. If the nursing home allows the injury to occur or continue, staff or the nursing home might also be liable.
Other Third Parties
Various people frequent nursing homes, including transportation personnel, social workers, volunteers, and residents’ visitors. They, too, can be the source of a nursing home resident’s abuse and might be held to pay for their actions.
Regardless of the source of the abuse, nursing home residents have the right to live free from fear of harm. At Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys, we help put a stop to abuse and fight to get financial compensation into the hands of our clients. Money can not erase the past, but it can help provide some relief in a difficult situation.
Justice Through Compensation for Nursing Home Abuse
Victims of nursing home abuse are entitled to seek compensatory damages that stem from nursing home abuse. In Florida, two principal types of compensatory damages are available: economic and non-economic damages. Another type of damages, known as punitive damages, may also be available in certain cases.
Economic Damages
As the name implies, economic damages are losses of an economic nature. They are expenditures and financial consequences that a victim endures due to an injury or death, and they are compensable.
For nursing home victims, financial losses may come from the medical costs associated with their abuse, including treatment, transportation, and medication costs. In some cases, it might also include loss of income if the resident was employed previously but is unable to work due to the abuse.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages are the intangible losses that affect victims of abuse, such as pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and emotional distress.
Due to the nature of the suffering, nursing home abuse victims can often command high compensation awards for non-economic damages. Insurance companies are aware of this fact and often try to avoid trials in these cases and push for a settlement. Frank and Jennifer Fernandez always make sure every settlement offer is worthy of each of our client’s injuries and losses.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages punish a defendant. They can increase a total compensation award significantly when available. Generally speaking, a nursing home abuse victim can seek punitive damages for gross negligence or intentional harm. Simple negligence is not enough.
Start Your Claim Today
We make Lakeland nursing home abuse lawyers at Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys available around the clock to help victims and their families hold abusers accountable.
Frank and Jennifer Fernandez have fought for Lakeland nursing home abuse victims for 25 years and continue to work diligently to recover substantial monetary sums for their clients and their families.
If a Lakeland nursing home abused you or someone you love, you may receive compensation for the losses they have caused. Contact Fernandez Firm Accident Injury Attorneys at (863) 230-8361 for a free consultation to discuss your case and explore your options for justice.
The Fernandez Firm – Lakeland
100 S Kentucky Ave #285
Lakeland, Florida, 33801
(863) 230-8489