San Jose Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Do you need to hold a nursing home accountable for your or your loved one’s abuse? Lanzone Morgan, LLP, is ready to join your team and advocate for you and your family. Contact our San Jose nursing home abuse attorneys at 888-887-9777 now.
We have extensive experience suing the following facilities: Nursing Homes, Assisted Living Facilities, Memory Care Facilities, Adult Day Care Centers, and more.
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Table of Contents:
- Compassionate Advocacy with Results You Can Count On
- What Our Clients Say About Our Hard Work and Results
- Common Types of Nursing Home Abuse Claims We Handle in San Jose
- Who Can Be Held Liable for Nursing Home Abuse?
- San Jose Nursing Home Abuse in the Headlines
- Abused San Jose Nursing Home Residents and Grieving Families Are Entitled to Substantial Compensation
- How Much Time Do I Have To File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?
- We Are Your Trusted Nursing Home Abuse Advocates in All of San Jose and the Surrounding Areas
- Let Our San Jose Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Fight for the Justice Your Loved One Deserves
- Your Nursing Home Abuse Questions Answered
- Meet Our Attorneys
Nursing home abuse is a national epidemic that causes significant harm to vulnerable residents and their families. San Jose nursing homes are no exception. Local headlines have reported numerous instances of physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, and preventable deaths in Silicon Valley nursing homes.
Your loved one may be suffering nursing home abuse if you have noticed sudden, unexplained changes in their behavior, mood, cognition, or health. If the nursing home is ignoring your calls about your loved one’s health, you are right to be concerned. We are one of the nation’s leading elder and nursing home abuse law firms. We know how to spot nursing home abuse, and we have a proven track record of holding nursing homes accountable. Contact us online today or call (888) 887-9777 to talk to our experienced San Jose elder abuse lawyers.
Compassionate Advocacy with Results You Can Count On
Our California nursing home abuse law firm has been advocating for vulnerable adults statewide since 2008. Our San Jose attorneys represent clients throughout the Santa Clara Valley from Sunnyvale to Gilroy. We are familiar with the judges, lawyers, and nursing home owners throughout the Southern Bay. Since nursing home and elder abuse are all we do, we handle every case with precision and efficiency.
Passion and perseverance are the two factors that separate the mediocre from the successful, and our dedicated attorneys bring both to every case. When you choose Lanzone Morgan, LLP, everyone in our office will treat your loved one and your family with empathy and compassion, as if you were our family. You will never feel like you are fighting alone.
Our founding partners, Anthony C. Lanzone and James M. Morgan, are trailblazers dedicated to changing the legal landscape of California through litigation. For example, they recently won a landmark ruling prohibiting a power of attorney from signing nursing home arbitration agreements to protect residents’ rights to take nursing homes to court. Many of our attorneys, such as Reza Sobati, have dedicated their entire careers to protecting the welfare and dignity of vulnerable adults.
What Our Clients Say About Our Hard Work and Results
Advocating for elderly and dependent adults is more than a job for us—it is a calling. We are honored to receive glowing client testimonials regularly, such as the following:
Moriah Z.
Maricela G.
Moriah Z.
Maricela G.
Get started on your path to justice with Lanzone Morgan, LLP. With 75+ years of experience, we have a proven track record of holding nursing homes accountable.
Common Types of Nursing Home Abuse Claims We Handle in San Jose
We have handled nearly every type of nursing home abuse case, including those involving the following:
- Falls and fractures
- Subdural hematomas
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Infections
- Bedsores
- Sexual abuse
- Physical abuse
- Resident-on-resident assault
- Malnutrition
- Dehydration
- Lack of hygiene care
- Illegal chemical restraints
- Medication errors
- Wandering and elopement
- Theft of resident’s property
- Burns
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Verbal abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Wrongful death
Your loved one may be experiencing abuse if you notice concerning changes or if they are admitted to the hospital with a serious injury. Your loved one may not tell you about abuse, so listen to your instincts. Has the nursing home transferred your loved one without telling you? Have you observed new bedsores? Do you notice strong odors when you visit your loved one? These are just a few signs that point to neglect or abuse. If you suspect nursing home abuse, contact us immediately to explore your legal options.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Nursing Home Abuse?
The following parties may be liable if your loved one has experienced nursing home abuse or neglect:
- The nursing home
- Nurses
- Certified nursing assistants
- Doctors
- Pharmacists
- Radiologists
- Nursing home administrators
When you work with Lanzone Morgan, LLP, we will investigate the medical records and circumstances surrounding the abuse to identify every party who caused or contributed to it. Identifying all responsible parties helps us maximize your compensation and ensures each responsible party faces accountability. We use accountability through civil lawsuits to motivate nursing homes and their staff with the hope of one day ending the nursing home abuse crisis.
Nursing Homes and the Duty of Care
Title 22 of the California Code of Regulations and Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations require nursing homes to provide every resident with a high standard of care that enhances their well-being and quality of life. Nursing home care must promote independence, protect resident dignity, and encourage self-determination. Nursing homes must avoid using medically unnecessary physical restraints or drugs to restrict residents’ movements.
Meeting these standards requires adequate staffing to meet resident needs and ensure every resident receives prompt care. California requires nursing homes to employ enough staff to provide every resident with a minimum of 3.5 hours of direct care services per day. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has set a federal minimum of 3.48 total nurse staffing hours per day.
Most nursing homes fall short of minimum staffing standards, particularly in San Jose and the rest of the Bay Area. Understaffing is one of the most important underlying causes of nursing home abuse, which is clear from recent headlines.
San Jose Nursing Home Abuse in the Headlines
Mariner Health Care owns 19 nursing homes in California, including 10 in the Bay Area and two in San Jose. In 2021, California’s Division of MediCal Fraud and Elder Abuse and three Bay Area district attorneys sued Mariner Health Care for understaffing and falsely reporting staff levels to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid.
According to the lawsuit, understaffing led to substantial resident harm, including the following:
- Unnecessary amputations
- Communicable diseases and pests, including head lice
- Multiple unreported sexual assaults
- Unsafe discharges
A jury awarded $10 million in punitive damages to residents and the family members of deceased residents. Meanwhile, Mariner Health also agreed to a settlement with the California Attorney General that requires at least three years of independent monitoring. The company will also implement reforms and pay at least $2.25 million in costs and up to $15.5 million in civil penalties for violations.
Mariner Health abuse cases are far from isolated in the San Jose area. In December of 2023, KTVU reported that a resident at the Mission Skilled Nursing and Subacute Center in Santa Clara beat a 98-year-old resident to death with her cane. The nursing home had assigned the resident as a roommate to the victim, although the resident had previously attempted to strangle a 103-year-old resident.
“Our firm only represents residents of nursing homes, former residents, and their families. We are dedicated to representing the consumers and the victims of elder abuse, and we are dedicated to holding nursing homes accountable and making sure that they provide quality care to their residents.”
James Morgan, Founding Partner
Abused San Jose Nursing Home Residents and Grieving Families Are Entitled to Substantial Compensation
Your loved one may be entitled to significant damages for elder abuse in a San Jose, CA nursing home. Compensation may include economic, non-economic, and punitive damages. Economic damages are compensation for the financial costs of the injuries, such as stolen property, medical expenses, and a family member’s lost wages. Non-economic damages compensate victims for subjective losses, such as pain and suffering, loss of bodily functions, and emotional distress.
If your loved one has died from nursing home abuse, you may be entitled to wrongful death damages, including funeral costs, loss of companionship, punitive damages, and your loved one’s medical expenses.
We have recovered over $200 million in settlements and verdicts, including the following individual case results:
- $3 million settlement for a nursing home resident who developed an infected coccyx bedsore
- $2.3 million verdict for an 84-year-old resident who developed permanent injuries from multiple falls
- $1.2 million settlement for the family of a man who starved to death due to neglect
- $1 million settlement for an elderly resident who set his shirt on fire while smoking due to a lack of supervision
- $800,000 settlement for an elderly woman who fell and broke her hip due to overmedication
How Much Time Do I Have To File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit?
Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 340.5 , you generally must file a medical malpractice claim within three years of the incident or one year from the date you discovered or should have discovered the injury, whichever is earlier. This deadline includes fatal nursing home abuse cases. You may be able to extend the deadline if the nursing home intentionally concealed the abuse or committed fraud.
Not all nursing home abuse falls under the medical malpractice statutes. In some cases, the general personal injury statute of limitations provided by California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1 applies. In this case, you generally have up to two years from the date of the incident or death to file a lawsuit. Our attorneys can determine which deadline applies.
Due to the complex nature of nursing home abuse claims, it is important to involve an attorney as soon as possible. Your attorney will need strong evidence to prove your case, and the most important proof may only be available briefly. Our dedicated attorneys put substantial work into every case and need as much time as possible to maximize your loved one’s compensation.
Don’t Let the Fear of Retaliation Stop You from Contacting Lanzone Morgan, LLP, Today
We understand the fear that reporting abuse and involving an attorney might provoke nursing home staff to retaliate against your loved one. However, your loved one’s risk of abuse increases the longer it goes unreported. As long as the nursing home gets away with abuse, there is no incentive to stop. We have decades of experience handling nursing home abuse cases, and we have never seen a nursing home retaliate against a client.
Nursing home operators are driven to protect their bottom lines. When an attorney is involved, they go into defense mode and attempt to disprove your claim. They know a lawyer is watching. Providing poor care will hurt their case and ultimately cost them money. Therefore, the nursing home is more likely to provide a higher quality of care in response to an abuse claim with lawyer involvement.
We Are Your Trusted Nursing Home Abuse Advocates in All of San Jose and the Surrounding Areas
We represent vulnerable adult victims of abuse and their families throughout the San Jose area and the entire Silicon Valley, including the following:
- Alum Rock
- Campbell
- Cupertino
- Los Altos
- Los Gatos
- Milpitas
- Mountain View
- Palo Alto
- Santa Clara
- Santa Cruz
- Saratoga
- Sunnyvale
- West San Jose
Let Our San Jose Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Fight for the Justice Your Loved One Deserves
Advocating for elder rights with passion and precision is all we do, and we have a proven track record of holding nursing homes accountable. If you suspect your loved one has suffered abuse or neglect in a nursing home in San Jose or the surrounding areas, we can help you stop the abuse and get justice. Call our experienced San Jose nursing home abuse lawyers today at 1(888) 887-9777 or complete our contact form to schedule a free consultation.
Your Nursing Home Abuse Questions Answered
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney?
There is no upfront cost to hire our experienced San Jose nursing home abuse attorneys. We work on a contingency fee arrangement, which means you pay nothing upfront. We cover the costs of filing your case, such as expert witness fees, transportation expenses, and filing fees. We collect a percentage of your compensation as our fee and our costs after we collect your compensation. You pay nothing unless we win.
Should I Move My Loved One Out of a Nursing Home if I Suspect Abuse?
Nursing home abuse is always inexcusable. Moving your loved one to a different facility may be advisable, depending on the circumstances, and it can provide peace of mind. However, it is not always possible. If you cannot transfer your loved one, you can still protect them by reporting the abuse and working with our compassionate nursing home abuse lawyers.
How To File a Nursing Home Abuse Lawsuit
The first step in filing a nursing home abuse lawsuit is to contact a knowledgeable nursing home abuse law firm in San Jose, CA, such as Lanzone Morgan, LLP. We start every case with a free consultation.
Once we accept your case, we will retrieve your loved one’s medical records, consult with medical experts, interview witnesses, calculate your case value, and send a written demand to the responsible parties. If they fail to pay full compensation, we will initiate a lawsuit at the Santa Clara County Superior Court and negotiate a settlement. If the insurance company refuses to settle for fair compensation, we will fight for your loved one in court.
Written and edited by our team of expert legal content writers and reviewed and approved by attorney Anthony C. Lanzone.
Meet Our Attorneys
FOUNDING PARTNER
FOUNDING PARTNER
PARTNER
PARTNER
ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY
ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY
ASSOCIATE ATTORNEY
- Nursing Homes
- Assisted Living Facilities
- Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly, or RCFE
- Memory Care Facilities
- Skilled Nursing Facilities
- Adult Day Care Centers
- Continuing Care Retirement Communities
- Non-Emergency Transport Providers
- Acute Care Hospitals
- Nursing Home Infections
- Falls & Fractures
- Unexplained Broken Bones
- Bedsores/Pressure Sores
- Sepsis
- Medication Errors/Overmedication
- Unauthorized Use of Restraints
- Wheelchair Transfer Injuries
- Elderly Wandering & Elopement
- Elderly Sexual Assault & Abuse
- Dehydration & Malnutrition
- Poor Hygiene
- Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
- Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
- Amputation
- Choking Deaths
- Wrongful Death
- Financial Elder Abuse