Orange County Assisted Living Abuse Lawyer

Orange County Assisted Living Abuse Attorney

When there are accusations of abuse or neglect in an assisted living facility, it is crucial to enlist the help of an Orange County assisted living abuse lawyer who can guide matters to a positive outcome.

At Hunter Law of Irvine, CA, we are prepared to stand by your side as you pursue justice and fair treatment in cases involving abuse, neglect, or mistreatment in an assisted living or nursing home setting. Whether you’re seeking to hold a facility accountable for the wrongful death of a loved one or are a dedicated assisted living employee accused of abuse, we can use our deep understanding of California law to help you resolve the situation swiftly and effectively.

Elder abuse and assisted living can make for complex legal topics, but with Hunter Law on your side, you can navigate the California legal system with the utmost clarity and confidence. We will take the time to hear your side of the story and understand your goals as a client. We then use this understanding to build the strongest possible litigation, defense, or negotiation strategy to meet your exact needs.

Assisted Living Abuse and Elder Neglect in Orange County, CA

Assisted living abuse can sometimes be difficult to identify. In part, this is because it can take so many different forms. What all of these forms have in common is that they can cause significant and long-lasting impacts on the victim’s physical, emotional, or financial well-being. These different types of assisted living abuse can include:

• Physical Abuse – Hitting, shoving, or slapping are obvious forms of physical abuse, but more subtle forms are also common.
• Emotional Abuse – Verbal threats, humiliation, or isolating a resident from their friends and advocates should be taken very seriously, as these abuses can result in serious distress and long-term mental and emotional health problems for the victim.
• Neglect – Abuse can also come in more passive forms, such as failing to provide an assisted living resident with food, medicine, hygiene equipment, and other basic necessities.
• Financial Exploitation – Many high-profile assisted living abuse cases in recent years have involved the unauthorized use of a resident’s bank accounts, financial instruments, or private property. Access to an elderly person’s finances may be gained through a variety of bad-faith methods, such as coercion, threat, or deception.
• Medical Malpractice – Since assisted living facilities exist at the unique legal intersection of healthcare and housing, they may also be subject to medical malpractice laws, depending on the type and extent of onsite care offered to residents.

Identifying and proving elder abuse is not always easy. When trying to demonstrate that legally actionable abuse occurred in an assisted living setting, there are many potential obstacles to overcome. Some of these challenges (all of which Hunter Law is adept at either overcoming or leveraging, depending on your needs) may include:

• Limited Evidence – Management at assisted living facilities may be uninclined to properly document abuse and neglect, even on the rare occasion that it gets reported in-house. This means that it may be left to the victims to record and provide their own evidence of abuse claims–a challenging task for elderly or unwell people in particular. Some victims may also struggle to verbally express their experiences, making good evidence all the more crucial.
• Fear of Retaliation – Victims, other residents, and less senior staff members may all be hesitant to speak up about assisted living abuse out of fear that voicing their concerns will only result in even more mistreatment.
• Complex Medical Records – Illnesses, injuries, and long-term health conditions are commonplace in an assisted living facility that caters to elderly residents. This means that the effects of abuse can sometimes be obscured as natural results of the aging process, making abuse challenging to prove without careful investigation and cooperation from keen-eyed medical practitioners.

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Hunter Law – Your Trusted Team for Assisted Living Abuse Cases

If you or a loved one is experiencing abuse in an assisted living facility or if you have otherwise been implicated in a legal action involving assisted living or nursing home abuse, Hunter Law is ready to help you through this challenging time. We can use skilled legal strategies to ensure your side of the story is heard and that justice is upheld.

To learn more about how we can help, please reach out to schedule a confidential, no-pressure consultation.