Protecting Your Loved Ones: How a St. Petersburg Attorney Can Help with Elderly Abuse and Neglect Cases
If you or your loved one is an elder and not being treated properly, a St. Petersburg elderly abuse and neglect attorney may be able to help you. In nursing home cases, one common theme the plaintiff’s attorney may use is the defendant’s corporate greed evidenced by under-staffing to maximize profits. In most cases, the plaintiff’s attorney will choose to focus on the nursing home’s managing agents instead of the nurses and other employees.
Who Is Responsible
These managing agents can often be held responsible for causing the plaintiff’s damages. The nurses involved in the care of the plaintiff are often viewed as being victims of corporate greed themselves. The plaintiff is often believed to have been injured or neglected as the result of the poor policies and practices of corporate management. For example, even if a nurse forges medical records, the plaintiff’s attorney will tell the jurors if it was the nursing home’s policy to allow or encourage this type of behavior. The St. Petersburg elderly abuse and neglect attorney will most likely make the point that the management was aware of it or should have known that nurses engaged in this behavior.
Discussing the Profit Motive and Humanizing the Elder
During the opening statement, your attorney or the plaintiff’s attorney may discuss the corporation’s profit motive and point out that the corporation sacrificed patient safety and care for financial gain. The opening statement should put a strong emphasis on the defendant’s inability or failure to create and enforce policies that would protect the elderly. It is also important for the abused elder to be humanized. The elder may be deceased when it comes time to have the trial. Videos, photographs, and testimony from family members may help the jurors understand the gravity of the situation.
Contact a St. Petersburg Elderly Abuse and Neglect Attorney
For more information on how a St. Petersburg elderly abuse and neglect attorney can help you, contact Giroux & Associates Inc at (727) 895-5399.