I need to tell you something personal.
When I was nine, my father got severely hurt at work. He was a truck driver. A Teamster. Still young. That injury destroyed him. His neck, back, spine—everything was permanently damaged. He was never the same person after that.
After he got hurt, he hired the wrong law firm. They were rude. Didn't explain a damn thing. His case went on for 17 years. Seventeen years. At the end, his own lawyer sued him for more fees.
We grew up poor once my dad couldn't work.
That's why I do what I do. And it's why nursing home abuse cases hit different for me than they probably do for other lawyers.
Last year, Maria called me. Her mother was in a nursing home on the Southwest Side, Bridgeport area. Maria went to visit on a Tuesday afternoon. Found her mom in bed, soiled, dehydrated. Bedsores on her back and legs. Nobody had checked on her in hours. When Maria asked staff about it, they acted like everything was fine.
She moved her mom out that same day. But the damage was done. Months of wound care after that. The bedsores got infected. Her mother never fully came back from it.
Maria's situation? It's not unusual. Happens all the time. Lincoln Park, Hyde Park, Rogers Park, South Side, doesn't matter. Understaffing. Workers who don't know what they're doing. Facilities that care more about the bottom line than the people living there.
If your loved one's been abused or neglected in a nursing home, listen—you don't have to just accept it. And don't trust the facility to handle things. They won’t.
My promise: No money out of pocket. No fee until we win. Free consultation 24/7/365. You can call me at (312) 500-4500 any time. I mean any time.
Whether you got hurt in a car crash, truck accident or it involved a bicycle, bus, train or even Uber or Lyft, we work hard to get you a top settlement fast!
Workers Comp and Third Party Work Injuries are handled with the best speed and professionalism to get you a fast and full recovery for work injuries.
Fell at a business or got bit by a dog or hurt by someone who was intoxicated? We make sure all the boxes are checked in premises liability cases to get it all for our clients.
Medical errors are the third highest cause of death in the United States, and we take an aggessive, meticulous approach to these most challenging cases to win for our clients.
Nursing home cases can involve falls, mistreatment, or bad medical care, buy they always involve a betrayal of trust, and that's why we pull out all the stops to maximize results for our clients.
Elgin's on major truck routes—I've beaten big trucking companies in cases just like yours. Call us before they hide the black box data.
Let me be straight with you.
Not every bad thing that happens in a nursing home is abuse or neglect. Sometimes people fall even when staff does everything right. Sometimes health gets worse naturally. That's not necessarily anyone's fault.
But when a nursing home or the people working there fail to give proper care, and that failure hurts someone—that's different. That's when you might have a case.
Two questions matter: Did the facility or staff mess up on their duty of care? And did that screw-up cause the injury?
Both yes? You probably have something.
I've handled these cases all over Chicago and the suburbs. I know what actual abuse and neglect look like. I know the warning signs. And I know how facilities try to sweep things under the rug.
Nursing home abuse shows up in different ways. Here's what I deal with most:
Staff physically hurting residents. Hitting them. Pushing. Rough handling when they're moving people or doing care. Using restraints when they shouldn’t.
Usually leaves marks—bruises, cuts, welts, burns. Not always though. Sometimes it's behavioral. Your loved one gets quiet, scared around certain staff.
This is the big one. Most common thing I see. Happens when facilities just don't give basic care.
Leaving residents in dirty clothes or soiled beds for hours. Not helping them get to the bathroom. Skipping meals or not helping them eat. Dehydration. No hygiene. Bedsores because nobody's turning them.
A lot of times neglect comes down to not having enough staff. Facilities cut staff to save money. Residents pay the price.
Bedsores—pressure ulcers, pressure sores, whatever you want to call them—are almost always preventable. They happen when someone's not getting repositioned enough.
Early ones can heal if you catch them and treat them right. Advanced bedsores though? Those are serious. Painful. Get infected. Can kill someone.
Your loved one develops bedsores at a facility? Red flag. Usually means there's bigger problems with how they're running the place.
Nursing homes handle residents' meds. When they screw it up, bad things happen.
Wrong medication. Wrong dose. Skipping doses. Dangerous combinations that should've been caught.
Medication mistakes cause falls, organ problems, overdoses. Sometimes death.
Yeah, falls happen in nursing homes. But a lot of them shouldn't. Facilities are supposed to look at who's at risk for falling and do something about it.
When they don't—wet floors nobody cleaned up, bad lighting, leaving high-risk people alone—and someone gets hurt, that's on them.
I've had cases where someone with a documented history of falls gets left by themselves and ends up with a broken hip, head injury, worse.
Yelling. Threatening. Isolating people. Humiliating them. Emotional abuse does just as much damage as physical stuff sometimes.
You'll see depression, withdrawal, anxiety, behavior changes, being scared of certain workers.
More common than people want to believe. Any unwanted sexual contact or behavior.
Devastating for families. Needs sensitive handling but also aggressive legal action.
Staff or others taking advantage financially. Stealing money, belongings. Getting residents to sign things. Using their credit cards or bank accounts without permission.
Often happens alongside other abuse.
How do you know something's wrong?
Injuries you can't explain—bruises, cuts, burns, broken bones. Bad hygiene—dirty clothes, smell, messy appearance. Losing weight, dehydrated. Bedsores. Mood changes—pulling away, depressed, anxious, scared. Won't talk openly, especially if staff's around. Things missing or weird financial stuff happening.
See these signs? Trust your gut. Show up at random times. Ask questions. Write everything down. Get a lawyer involved.
Illinois lets you recover different kinds of money when a nursing home's abused or neglected your family member.
Medical bills for treating whatever the abuse caused. Past stuff, future stuff. Pain and suffering—money for the physical and emotional hell they went through. Emotional distress for family who saw it or dealt with the aftermath.
If your loved one died from the abuse or neglect, you can file wrongful death. That covers losing them, funeral costs, everything the family goes through.
Really bad cases—facility knew about problems and didn't do anything, or intentional abuse—Illinois allows punitive damages. That's money meant to punish them
Nursing home cases aren't simple. These places have lawyers, insurance companies protecting them. They fight hard.
You've got to prove the facility or workers didn't do their job right. Need medical experts, nursing experts, people who can explain what proper care looks like.
Also got to prove it caused the actual injuries. Can't just say something bad happened.
Nursing homes will say injuries were already there. They'll say the person fell on their own even though they did everything right. They'll blame you for not saying something sooner.
I've spent years getting to know experts who review these cases. I know how to get past their defenses and show what really went down.
Went to Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College—one of the best trial programs out there. Did "The Edge" program. Spent over $100,000 on training. Because I want to be as good as I can be for clients.
Gone up against every major nursing home company in Illinois. Their resources don't scare me.
Find Out What YOUR Case Might Be Worth...for free.
Illinois has laws protecting nursing home residents. The Nursing Home Care Act lays out what residents' rights are and what facilities have to do.
Right to be free from abuse and neglect. Right to proper care, food, help with daily stuff, dignity.
Facilities break these rules? They can get held accountable under Illinois law.
Generally got two years from when you found out about the abuse to file. But don't wait around. Evidence disappears. Staff quit or get fired. Records go missing. Sooner you move, better off you are.
After what happened with my father, I decided: what happened to my family isn't happening to yours.
I only represent injured people. Never nursing homes. Never insurance companies. Never the other side. Your fight is my fight.
Some lawyers only want slam dunks. Case looks tough? They pass.
Not me. I take difficult cases. Every victim of nursing home abuse deserves someone fighting for them.
Biggest complaint I hear about lawyers: "Never heard from them. Couldn't get them on the phone.”
Won't happen with me. My office keeps you in the loop. You call, someone picks up. Questions? We answer them.
We talk like friends. That's how I treat people—like family.
Consultations are relaxed. Zero pressure. I don't chase people. Don't use pushy sales garbage.
Hiring a lawyer's your choice. Work with someone you actually like and trust. Someone pressuring you? That's not your lawyer.
Either way, we end up as friends.
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