How to Find the Right Ohio Lawyer for Your Case Involving Nursing Home Abuse or Neglect
We get a large number of calls in January from people in Ohio who have gone to visit their loved one in a nursing home during the holidays. Why are they calling? They have been troubled by the condition of their loved one. Often, they're quite shocked about the level of care their loved one is receiving - and sometimes they're may have discovered signs of neglect and abuse.
Many people need to hire an attorney to find out what happened to their loved one. They need someone who handles nursing home abuse and neglect cases. In many cases it is the first time they have had to hire an attorney who handles nursing home neglect and abuse cases.
Often they do not where to turn.
Every day I turn on the television and I see multiple ads from attorneys advertising for people to hire them to do nursing home cases. Many of these attorneys do not handle nursing home cases. Many of these attorneys have never tried a nursing home case. Some of these lawyers have never tried any type of case. Some attorneys sign these cases up just to refer them to another attorney. Some attorneys sign these cases up and handle them, even though they have no experience handling nursing home cases. I also see many ads online for attorneys and law firms seeking nursing home cases. Many of these lawyers do not have any experience handling nursing home cases. Some of these firms sign these cases up knowing they have no intention of trying these cases to a jury if necessary.
Sadly, we also get calls from many individuals who have hired an attorney who did not have experience handling nursing home neglect and abuse cases. And that attorney has mishandled their case. In some cases, the inexperienced attorney has permanently damaged that family's ability to make a recovery against the owners and the operators of the nursing home who hurt their loved one. In addition to the many nursing home cases we handle, we also handle numerous cases involving legal malpractice against attorneys who have mishandled nursing home cases.
I have represented thousands of individuals and families in cases against nursing homes over the last twenty five (25) years.
The Ohio Supreme Court has only heard two cases involving the rights of nursing home residents. I was involved in both of those cases. One of those cases was my case, and it went to the Supreme Court, and I argued that case to the Ohio Supreme Court. The other case was a case being handled by another attorney. The Ohio Association for Justice, which is the statewide organization of attorneys like me who represent individuals and their families, asked me to become involved in that case, given my experience with nursing home cases. I worked with the attorney who was handling that case, and I wrote what is known as an amicus curiae brief, or friend of the court brief, arguing the issues in that case. The decision in that case was a very important decision for the rights of nursing home residents, and their families.
I have been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, and in Crain’s Cleveland Business.
The American Association for Justice is the national organization of attorneys like me who represent individuals and their families in cases against corporations and insurance companies, nursing homes, hospitals, doctors, corporations that make defective products or bad drugs.
Within that group there is a Nursing Home Litigation Group made up of lawyers who represent nursing home residents throughout the country. I was the Chairman of the Educational Committee for the Nursing Home Litigation Group for years. I planned all of the educational programs for our lawyers across the country. I have also taught groups of nursing home lawyers nationwide for years.
I have worked tirelessly against nursing homes who try and force cases to binding arbitration, because I know that when a nursing home case is forced to binding arbitration, it benefits the nursing home. It does not benefit the nursing home resident or their family. Many of the court of appeals decisions on binding arbitration as it applies to a case against the owners, and the operators of a nursing home, are decisions from one of my cases that I argued to fruition.
Nursing home cases are very complex.
They involve specific documents. They involve specific information. In order to properly handle a nursing home case, you need to know how to unravel the labyrinth created by the owners and operators of the nursing homes to find out who actually owned the nursing home, who managed the nursing home. You have to be able to get to the ultimate owners. Many nursing home owners create a series of interlocking companies to conceal their involvement with the nursing home. Sometimes, the company that holds the license to the nursing home is a company that has no assets. So if you sue that company, and get a judgment against that company, you may not be able to collect against that company. Nursing home records are very specific. If you're not familiar with the records, you may not know that you do not have the resident's entire chart. Nursing home records are maintained electronically, and the electronic data contains essential information. Nursing homes are highly regulated, and CMS keeps very important data about nursing homes. I work with experts around the country on my various nursing home cases. The owners and the operators of the nursing homes in Ohio know who I am.
The defense attorneys know who I am. And they also know that I have tried more nursing home cases on behalf of the Plaintiff than any lawyer in the State of Ohio.
If someone you love has been neglected or abused in a nursing home, please call us at The Dickson Firm at 1-800-OHIO LAW. We would be happy to talk with you, and help you in any way that we can. And I would be more than happy to see you benefit from my decades of experience handling thousands of nursing home cases, to hold the nursing home accountable for what happened to the person that you love.