FAQ Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers in Orange County, California

Under California law, any act or omission on the part of a nursing home or assisted living caregiver that causes harm could be abuse or neglect. “Physical abuse," is defined as a battery or harmful touching of any kind upon someone over 64 years of age (or a dependent adult between 18 and 64). Physical abuse is easy to identify.

What constitutes “neglect” of an elder is a little less obvious. In California, neglect is defined as the failure of caregivers to exercise a degree of care that a person in a like position would provide and doing so without regard to the health or safety of the resident or patient. Or, worse, doing so with an intent to cause harm. Any elder that is injured or killed because of this failure is the victim of actionable elder abuse and neglect.

In the 24-hour care environment, a resident-patient can be subject to neglect in many ways. Most cases at Southern California Nursing Home Law Group involve falls with injuries, Stage III or IV bed sores or pressure ulcers, and negligent treatment that causes death.

Every case is different, of course, and every potential case requires a thorough investigation and analysis by qualified Orange County nursing home lawyers. If you have watched a loved one be the victim of poor care, reach out to our Orange County nursing home attorneys today.

As you can appreciate, whether there is a viable legal case depends on the facts. If there is a legitimate harm and evidence of actual abuse or neglect, there may very well be a case worthy of a complaint for damages. As we say here at the Southern California Nursing Home Law Group, any unintended injury, illness, or death – whether committed intentionally, or based on the negligent acts of caregivers – may be a case for elder abuse or neglect.

If a person dies as a result of intentional abuse or neglect, or negligent care, then yes, the legal heirs of the decedent likely have a case of wrongful death against the nursing facility.

In addition to the death case for the surviving heirs, a person who died might be able to bring their own separate case for their poor treatment, as though they were still alive, and recover “pre-death” pain-and-suffering damages. Whether this is available to the decedent depends on the egregiousness of the conduct on the part of the caregivers or the nursing facility.

Most likely. Our lawyers at Southern California Nursing Home Law Group have handled hundreds of nursing home bed sore/pressure ulcer cases. Large sores, most often found on the coccyx, sacrum, and heels, should not occur in a nursing home or assisted living facility ever. These painful wounds are frequently the result of the failure of caregivers to move the patient, instead of leaving them for long periods stationary in a bed or wheelchair. This is negligence at best, actionable neglect at worse, and definitely something that should be discussed with a nursing home neglect attorney.

It depends on what caused the fall, and the injury that result from the fall, if any. Here at Southern California Nursing Home Law Group, we have represented many families in cases involving injuries from falls, whether it is from transferring in or out of bed, a failure to assist with ambulation, or leaving the resident unattended. Too often these falls result in head injuries and fractured hips/femurs/pelvis resulting from falls, and often represents the “beginning of the end” of life for the resident.

Any fall that occurs because the facility failed to adequately protect a resident who is a known risk for falls has committed negligence and will be exposed to legal liability.

Before knowing what statute of limitations applies, we need to know what kind of facility was responsible for the negligent or abusive care. In a case alleging negligence against a facility licensed as a “skilled nursing facility” (aka “nursing home”), the statutory filing period is one year from the date of any injury-producing event or the date of death. If the conduct is so egregious that it could be considered “neglect” or “abuse,” then the time period for the filing of a lawsuit could be two years from the date of the neglect.

In a case is against a facility that is licensed as a “residential care facility for the elderly” (aka “assisted living”), then the statute of limitations would be two years from the date of the negligence, abuse, or wrongful death.

At Southern California Nursing Home Law Group we always advise clients that believe there is a case of elder abuse or neglect to contact a lawyer within one year from the date of the i

Southern California Nursing Home Law Group is one of a handful of Orange County nursing home lawyers and law firms that dedicated most of their law practice to cases arising from poor nursing home care. They have represented hundreds of families all over Southern California, including Orange County, and know how to win these cases. Randy Walton and Lukas Pick have decades of experience in this area of law and are happy to advise individual and families about the legal issues that arise from substandard nursing home care. Plus, there is never a fee to discuss a case.

The value of any case, of course, depends on the egregiousness of the facts, and the chances of success before a jury. The more serious the harm, the more valuable the case. Southern California Nursing Home Law Group cases have resulted in damages awards exceeding $1 million, and case that resolve for much less. The average settlement in a legal case against a nursing home in one of the many Orange County cities is $327.000.00.