What to Know About Expert Witnesses in Nursing Home Abuse Claims

If your loved one was abused or neglected in their nursing home, there’s a good chance the nursing home administrator or owner will deny liability or wrongdoing. For every point you make concerning how their negligence harmed your loved one, they may have several rebuttals that place the blame elsewhere.

Denying responsibility is a common tactic of at-fault parties when they might be on the hook for big settlements. Thankfully, residents of abusive and negligent nursing homes and their loved ones have two powerful options for turning the tables in their favor: getting legal representation and relying on the assistance of expert witnesses.

In this blog, we define expert witnesses, explain the role they can play in nursing home abuse claims, and explore how and why law firms use them to help get victims compensation.

What Are Expert Witnesses?

Expert witnesses are specialists with advanced knowledge or experience in a particular field who help explain complex issues in legal cases.

In nursing home abuse claims, they can help explain specific issues related to abuse, neglect, or injuries suffered by residents. They play an important role in providing clear and reliable information to help judges, juries, or insurance companies understand what happened and how it has impacted the affected residents.

How Do Expert Witnesses Help With Nursing Home Abuse Claims?

Expert witnesses provide insights that help everyone involved in a nursing home abuse case understand the harm done to the resident and the responsibility of the nursing home. They can:

• Explain Evidence of Abuse or Neglect: Experts like doctors or elder care specialists can interpret medical records, physical injuries, or signs of neglect. They help make complex information easier to understand. For instance, a doctor might explain how certain injuries are consistent with neglect or abuse rather than natural aging.
  
• Give Professional Opinions on Standards of Care: Experts can determine if the nursing home met the expected standards of care for the affected resident. For example, an elder care expert might testify that the nursing home failed to provide adequate supervision, leading to a resident’s injury.
  
• Add Credibility: Because of their specialized knowledge, expert witnesses lend authority to the case, strengthening the claim of abuse or neglect. Nursing home owners and administrators are often more willing to negotiate with victims’ loved ones and their legal representation when expert witnesses have pointed out their negligence.

Why Do We Use Expert Witnesses to Help Us Build Nursing Home Abuse Claims?

We’ve built and won countless nursing home abuse claims for people throughout Ohio over the decades. During that time, we’ve built strong relationships with some of the most trusted and knowledgeable expert witnesses in all fields, including nursing homes and healthcare.

When we tap into these resources for our clients, we do so because:

They Help Us Establish Our Clients’ Damages:

 Establishing fair compensation for nursing home abuse clients requires determining the impact of the abuse or neglect.

Expert witnesses assist by providing detailed assessments of medical expenses, future care needs, and the emotional toll on the resident and their family. Their evaluations lend authority to our claim for damages, making it harder for opposing parties to downplay the seriousness of the injuries.

They Provide Insight into the Long-Term Impact of Abuse:

Expert witnesses can assess and explain the long-term physical, emotional, and psychological effects of abuse or neglect on nursing home residents.

For instance, they might address how injuries can worsen over time or how trauma from abuse can lead to lasting mental health challenges. This helps us highlight the immediate harm and long-term impact on our clients’ quality of life, strengthening our case for comprehensive compensation.

They Create Pre-Trial Leverage in Settlement Negotiations:

A qualified expert witness can add significant weight to our clients’ claims even before trial, and it can even prompt at-fault parties to consider settlement to avoid going to court.

When we bring in experts early in the process, they provide clear, well-documented evidence that can make it harder for nursing homes and insurers to argue against our claims. This can lead to quicker, more favorable settlements for our clients, allowing them to avoid the additional time and stress of a trial.

They Deliver Persuasive Testimony for the Jury:

Sometimes, nursing homes or their insurers refuse to pay fair settlements regardless of how much evidence is stacked against them. When this happens, we have no choice but to take our clients’ cases to trial—and expert witnesses play an important role in this stage as well.

Their ability to explain injuries, the nursing home’s duty of care (and how they failed to meet it), and the impact of neglect or abuse in clear, relatable terms adds credibility to our case, helping the jury see the full extent of harm done to our client and making it more likely for them to side in favor of just compensation.

Contact Our Ohio Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers for a Free Consultation

It’s devastating to learn that your loved one was mistreated in their nursing home. Both abuse and neglect can have serious consequences for nursing home residents, and in some cases, the complications of this mistreatment can be life-threatening.

At Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy, we take nursing home abuse claims seriously, and we do everything in our power to help our clients and their loved ones get maximum compensation. Our Ohio nursing home abuse attorneys use every resource at our disposal to help us win claims and at trial, and that often includes calling upon some of our most trusted expert witnesses.

If your loved one was abused in their nursing home, we want to put our experience and resources to work for your family. Contact us today to get a free consultation and to learn how we can help.

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