Nursing Home Litigation and Elder Care Noon-Time CLE Series

Join Sean Doolan for an overview of the assisted living industry and the regulatory scheme for the industry. Finish with discussing different types of assisted living cases you may encounter and some practical tips on how to identify a good case.

State and federal nursing home regulations can be regarded as quintessential guidelines for attorneys involved in nursing home litigation when it comes to establishing the standard of care. The goal is to have regulations relevant to your case admitted into evidence as the accepted standard of care for the jury to apply to the facts. Achieving success in having the regulations admitted into evidence is not a simple task, but Mr. Taylor will describe some methods that have proven successful.

Jurors bring their life experiences to the courtroom. These attitudes and beliefs can form the basis for how they view the evidence in the trial of a nursing home case. Only by understanding their attitudes and beliefs can we develop a trial story that will take these attitudes and beliefs into account.

Jury selection has become the most important part of any trial. Nursing home cases are no exception. Jury selection is no longer about persuasion. Instead, it is about gathering information about life experiences and deciding who to deselect from the panel.

In 1987 the U.S. Congress enacted a comprehensive set of reforms to nursing home regulations called the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA ). The stated goal of OBRA-87 is that each resident receive care that will enable that resident “to attain or maintain the highest practicable physical, mental and psychosocial well-being.” Mr. Smith will describe the top regulations and their application in cases of nursing home negligence.