Nursing Home Fall Lawyer

At Kelner & Kelner, we understand the devastating impact a fall can have on nursing home residents and their families. Our dedicated team of nursing home fall lawyers has successfully represented countless individuals throughout New York City who have suffered injuries due to negligent care in long-term care facilities. Contact our nursing home fall lawyers today for a free, confidential consultation.

Nursing Home Falls: A Serious Problem

Falls in nursing homes are alarmingly common yet frequently preventable events. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 1,800 older adults living in nursing homes die each year from fall-related injuries. Many more suffer serious injuries that permanently diminish their quality of life.

Financial Compensation You May Be Entitled To After a Nursing Home Fall Injury

When a nursing home fall lawyer from Kelner & Kelner represents your loved one after a preventable fall, we pursue various types of compensation to address both immediate and long-term consequences of the injury.

• Medical Expenses: Compensation can cover all treatment costs directly related to the fall, including emergency room visits, hospitalization, surgeries, medications, and follow-up appointments with medical providers.
• Rehabilitation Costs: Many nursing home fall victims require extensive physical therapy, occupational therapy, or other rehabilitation services to regain function and independence after their injury.
• Assistive Devices: Your settlement may include funds for walkers, wheelchairs, hospital beds, or other assistive equipment needed as a result of injuries sustained in the nursing home fall.
• Pain and Suffering: A nursing home fall lawyer can help secure compensation for the physical pain and emotional distress experienced by your loved one due to the facility's negligence.
• Diminished Quality of Life: Falls often result in permanent limitations that affect a resident's ability to engage in previously enjoyed activities, warranting additional compensation.
• Relocation Expenses: If your loved one must be transferred to a different facility or higher level of care following a fall, these transition costs may be included in your claim.
• Future Medical Needs: A nursing home fall can create ongoing health complications requiring long-term care, and your settlement should account for these anticipated future expenses.
• Wrongful Death Damages: In cases where a nursing home fall results in fatal injuries, the family may pursue compensation for funeral expenses, loss of companionship, and other damages through a wrongful death claim.
• Punitive Damages: In situations involving extreme negligence or willful disregard for resident safety, a nursing home abuse lawyer might pursue punitive damages to hold the facility accountable.
• Loss of Enjoyment: Compensation may address how the fall has limited your loved one's ability to participate in social activities, family gatherings, or other meaningful life experiences.

At Kelner & Kelner, our nursing home fall lawyers work diligently to calculate the full value of your claim, ensuring no aspect of your loved one's suffering goes unaddressed. We invite you to contact our office today for a confidential consultation about your potential case against a negligent nursing facility.

How a Nursing Home Fall Lawyer Can Maximize Your Compensation and Seek Justice

At Kelner & Kelner, our nursing home fall lawyers employ proven strategies to secure the full compensation your loved one deserves while holding negligent facilities accountable for their actions.

• Thorough Investigation: Our nursing home fall lawyer team meticulously examines all aspects of the fall incident, including facility records, staffing levels, maintenance logs, and previous safety violations to establish a clear pattern of negligence.
• Expert Witness Testimony: Our nursing home fall lawyers collaborate with medical professionals, elder care specialists, and safety consultants who can provide compelling testimony about the standard of care and how the nursing home failed to meet those obligations.
• Comprehensive Damage Assessment: A nursing home fall lawyer from our firm carefully calculates all economic and non-economic damages, including future medical needs, to ensure nothing is overlooked in your compensation claim.
• Regulatory Violation Documentation: Our nursing home fall lawyers identify all federal and state nursing home regulations that were violated, strengthening your case by demonstrating the facility's failure to comply with established safety standards.
• Strategic Negotiation: Our attorneys use proven negotiation techniques backed by thorough case preparation to counter lowball settlement offers from nursing home insurance companies.
• Trial Preparation: Even while pursuing settlement, our nursing home fall lawyers build each case as if it will go to trial, creating leverage that often results in more favorable settlement offers from opposing parties.
• Multiple Liability Exploration: Our nursing home fall lawyers investigate whether multiple parties may share liability, including the facility owner, management company, staffing agencies, or equipment manufacturers.
• Detailed Documentation: Our nursing home abuse lawyers maintain meticulous records of all injuries, treatments, setbacks, and your loved one's ongoing physical and emotional challenges to demonstrate the full impact of the fall.
• Timeline Preservation: Our nursing home fall lawyers work within all legal deadlines while still conducting a thorough investigation, ensuring your claim is filed properly and promptly.
• Family Support: Throughout the legal process, we provide compassionate guidance to help family members understand their rights and make informed decisions about their loved one's case.
• Corporate Research: For chain-operated facilities, we investigate the parent company's history of violations across all locations, potentially revealing systemic negligence that strengthens your claim.
• Mediation Expertise: When appropriate, our nursing home fall lawyers utilize professional mediation services to reach favorable settlements while avoiding the stress and uncertainty of a trial.

Contact Kelner & Kelner today to learn how our dedicated nursing home fall lawyers can help your family navigate this difficult time while pursuing the justice and compensation your loved one deserves.

Nursing Home Fall Cases We Take

As dedicated nursing home fall lawyers, Kelner & Kelner represents families in a wide range of cases where negligence has contributed to preventable injuries to nursing home residents.

• Inadequate Supervision Falls: Our nursing home abuse attorneys pursue cases where falls occurred because staff failed to provide proper monitoring for residents with known mobility issues or cognitive impairments.
• Environmental Hazard Falls: Our nursing home fall lawyers handle claims involving wet floors, poor lighting, cluttered hallways, or other dangerous conditions that should have been addressed by facility management.
• Bed Rail and Restraint Issues: Our nursing home abuse attorneys represent residents injured during falls from beds that lacked proper safety rails or those who fell while attempting to circumvent inappropriate restraints.
• Transfer-Related Injuries: Falls that occur during improper transfers between beds, wheelchairs, toilets, or showers often indicate staff negligence or inadequate training.
• Medication-Related Falls: Our nursing home fall lawyers take cases where improper medication management, including over-sedation or failure to account for fall-risk medications, has contributed to serious injuries.
• Equipment Failure: Our team pursues claims involving broken walkers, wheelchairs, lift equipment, or call buttons that prevented residents from receiving timely assistance.
• Fall Prevention Plan Failures: Our nursing home fall lawyers represent families when facilities create inadequate fall prevention plans or fail to implement and follow established plans for at-risk residents.
• Understaffing Incidents: Our nursing home fall lawyers handle cases where insufficient staffing levels directly contributed to falls that could have been prevented with proper care.
• Multiple Fall Patterns: Our nursing home fall lawyers take particularly seriously those cases where a resident has experienced repeated falls, indicating systematic failures in the facility's approach to resident safety.
• Post-Fall Treatment Delays: Our nursing home fall lawyers  represent residents who suffered additional harm because nursing home staff failed to promptly assess or treat injuries following a fall incident.
• Fall-Related Wrongful Death: In tragic cases where a nursing home fall results in fatal injuries, our nursing home abuse lawyers help families pursue justice through wrongful death claims.
• Wandering and Elopement Falls: Our nursing home fall lawyers handle cases involving residents who fell after being allowed to wander unsupervised due to inadequate security measures or monitoring.

Contact Kelner & Kelner today to discuss your loved one's nursing home fall case and learn how our experienced legal team can help your family pursue the accountability and compensation you deserve.

Common Injuries Associated with a Fall in a Nursing Home

As nursing home fall lawyers at Kelner & Kelner, we regularly represent elderly residents who have suffered serious, life-altering injuries from preventable falls that occur due to facility negligence.

• Hip Fractures: These devastating injuries often require surgery and extensive rehabilitation, with many elderly residents never fully regaining their previous mobility or independence.
• Traumatic Brain Injuries: Falls frequently cause head trauma ranging from mild concussions to severe brain injuries that can result in cognitive impairment, memory loss, and personality changes.
• Spinal Cord Damage: Falls can cause vertebral fractures or spinal cord injuries that may lead to partial or complete paralysis, chronic pain, and significant long-term care requirements.
• Broken Wrists and Arms: When residents instinctively attempt to break their fall, they often suffer fractures to their wrists, arms, and shoulders that limit their ability to perform daily activities.
• Shoulder Injuries: Dislocations, fractures, and rotator cuff tears are common fall-related injuries that can cause chronic pain and severely restrict upper body movement.
• Facial and Dental Trauma: Forward falls frequently result in facial lacerations, broken teeth, jaw fractures, and other injuries that cause both physical pain and emotional distress.
• Soft Tissue Injuries: Sprains, strains, and tears to muscles, tendons, and ligaments can cause significant pain and mobility limitations, particularly when they go undiagnosed in nursing home settings.
• Psychological Trauma: Beyond physical injuries, many fall victims develop anxiety, depression, and fear of falling again (post-fall syndrome) that significantly diminishes their quality of life.
• Pressure Ulcers: Extended bed rest during recovery from fall injuries often leads to the development of painful and dangerous pressure sores, especially when nursing home care is inadequate.
• Internal Bleeding: Falls can cause internal organ damage and bleeding that may not be immediately apparent but can become life-threatening without prompt medical intervention.
• Pelvic Fractures: These serious injuries typically require extended hospitalization, are extremely painful, and often lead to significant complications for elderly nursing home residents.
• Death: In the most tragic cases that our nursing home abuse lawyers handle, falls result in fatal injuries either immediately or due to complications that develop during recovery.

If your loved one has suffered any of these injuries in a nursing home fall, contact Kelner & Kelner immediately to discuss your legal options and how our nursing home fall lawyers can help your family pursue justice and compensation.

Common Causes of Nursing Home Falls

At Kelner & Kelner, our nursing home fall lawyers have identified numerous recurring factors that contribute to preventable falls in long-term care facilities throughout New York.

• Inadequate Staffing: Many facilities operate with too few caregivers, leaving residents without the supervision and assistance they need, especially during high-risk activities like toileting or bathing.
• Environmental Hazards: Wet floors, poor lighting, uneven surfaces, cluttered hallways, and improper bed heights create dangerous conditions that significantly increase fall risks for vulnerable residents.
• Improper Transfer Techniques: Falls frequently occur when staff members use incorrect methods to move residents between beds, wheelchairs, toilets, or shower facilities.
• Medication Errors: Overprescription, incorrect dosing, or failure to monitor side effects of medications that cause dizziness, confusion, or impaired balance can lead to preventable falls.
• Lack of Proper Assistive Devices: Many falls happen when residents don't have access to appropriate mobility aids like walkers, canes, wheelchairs, or when these devices are in poor repair.
• Insufficient Fall Risk Assessment: Facilities often fail to properly evaluate each resident's fall risk factors or update assessments when medical conditions or medications change.
• Improper Bed Rail Use: Both the absence of necessary bed rails and the improper installation or maintenance of existing rails can contribute to serious bed-related falls.
• Inadequate Training: Staff members without proper training may fail to recognize fall risk factors, implement prevention strategies, or respond appropriately when assistance is needed.
• Poor Communication: Breakdowns in communication between shifts, departments, or healthcare providers often result in critical fall prevention information being overlooked.
• Failure to Respond to Call Lights: When facilities are understaffed or poorly managed, residents may attempt to move without assistance after waiting too long for help, resulting in falls.
• Ineffective Fall Prevention Programs: Many nursing homes lack comprehensive, individualized fall prevention protocols or fail to consistently implement existing safety measures.
• Physical Restraint Issues: Both the inappropriate use of restraints and the improper removal of necessary restraints can increase fall risks for certain residents.
• Neglected Maintenance: Broken floor tiles, loose handrails, wobbly furniture, and malfunctioning equipment represent maintenance failures that our nursing home abuse lawyers frequently identify in fall cases.

If your loved one has experienced a fall in a nursing home setting, contact Kelner & Kelner today to discuss how our experienced nursing home fall lawyers can investigate the true causes and help your family pursue the compensation you deserve.

Who May Be Liable for Your Nursing Home Fall Injuries

As experienced nursing home fall lawyers at Kelner & Kelner, we investigate all potentially responsible parties when building your case to ensure maximum compensation for preventable fall injuries.

• Nursing Home Facility: The facility itself often bears primary liability for falls resulting from inadequate policies, understaffing, poor maintenance, or failure to implement proper fall prevention protocols.
• Parent Companies: Large corporate entities that own multiple nursing homes may be liable when systemic problems like profit-driven understaffing or budget cuts to safety measures contribute to resident falls.
• Administrators and Management: Individual administrators may share liability when they fail to enforce safety policies, ignore reported hazards, or knowingly operate with insufficient staff to properly care for residents.
• Direct Caregivers: Nurses, nurse aides, and other staff members can be held responsible when their negligent actions or failure to follow established protocols directly contributes to a resident's fall.
• Physicians: Doctors who prescribe inappropriate medications, fail to consider fall risks when ordering treatments, or neglect to communicate important information about a resident's condition may share liability.
• Physical Plant Maintenance Companies: Third-party contractors responsible for facility maintenance can be liable when their negligence creates or fails to address environmental hazards that lead to falls.
• Equipment Manufacturers: Companies that produce defective walkers, wheelchairs, bed rails, or other mobility devices may be liable when these products malfunction and cause falls.
• Staffing Agencies: When temporary staff provided by outside agencies lack proper training or qualifications to safely care for residents, both the agency and the facility may share liability for resulting falls.
• Consulting Pharmacists: Pharmacists who fail to identify dangerous medication combinations or dosing issues that increase fall risks may be partially responsible for medication-related falls.
• Government Entities: In some cases involving veterans' homes or government-run facilities, various government agencies may bear responsibility for falls resulting from inadequate care or oversight.
• Property Owners: When nursing homes lease their buildings, property owners who neglect structural maintenance obligations may share liability for falls caused by building defects.
• Architects or Designers: Those who design nursing home facilities without appropriate safety features or in violation of accessibility codes may face liability in certain fall cases.

What To Do If You or a Loved One Suffered an Injury From a Nursing Home Fall

At Kelner & Kelner, our nursing home fall lawyers recommend taking these important steps immediately following a fall injury to protect both your loved one's health and legal rights.

• Seek Immediate Medical Attention: Insist that the nursing home provide prompt medical care and, if necessary, transfer to an emergency room to properly diagnose and document all injuries related to the fall.
• Document Everything: Take photographs of the injury, the location where the fall occurred, and any contributing hazards such as wet floors, poor lighting, or obstacles that should have been removed.
• Request an Incident Report: Ask for a copy of the facility's internal incident report documenting the fall and make sure your description of the events is accurately recorded.
• Gather Witness Information: Collect names and contact details of any residents, visitors, or staff who witnessed the fall or conditions that led to it.
• Obtain Medical Records: Request complete copies of all medical records related to the fall, including emergency room reports, x-rays, treatment plans, and medication changes.
• Preserve Evidence: Save any clothing or personal items damaged during the fall, as these may serve as important evidence of the impact's severity.
• Report to Regulatory Authorities: File a complaint with your state's nursing home regulatory agency, as this creates an official record and may trigger an investigation into the facility's practices.
• Maintain a Detailed Journal: Keep a daily log documenting your loved one's pain levels, emotional state, recovery progress, and any statements made by staff about the incident.
• Avoid Signing Documents: Do not sign any paperwork from the facility or their insurance company without first consulting with a nursing home fall lawyer, as these often contain liability waivers.
• Review Prior Care Plans: Obtain copies of your loved one's fall risk assessments and care plans from before the incident to determine if the facility was following proper protocols.
• Contact a Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer: Consult with an attorney experienced in nursing home negligence cases as soon as possible to preserve crucial evidence and protect your legal rights.
• Monitor for Delayed Symptoms: Be vigilant for symptoms that may develop days or weeks after the fall, such as cognitive changes, increasing pain, or mobility issues that weren't immediately apparent.
• Review Insurance Coverage: Gather information about all applicable insurance policies, including the facility's liability coverage, Medicare, Medicaid, and any private insurance.

Why Choose Kelner & Kelner?

When seeking a nursing home fall lawyer to represent your loved one after a preventable injury, Kelner & Kelner offers distinct advantages that set our firm apart in handling these complex cases.

• Dedicated Experience: Our nursing home fall attorneys have successfully represented numerous nursing home residents throughout New York City who have suffered serious injuries from preventable falls, giving us intimate knowledge of facility operations, regulations, and common defense tactics.
• Comprehensive Resources: Our nursing home fall lawyers maintain relationships with leading medical professionals, elder care specialists, and industry investigators who strengthen your case by providing authoritative testimony about facility negligence and the full extent of your loved one's injuries.
• Contingency Fee Basis: Our nursing home fall lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you pay nothing unless we successfully recover compensation for your loved one's injuries, eliminating financial risk during this already difficult time.
• Personalized Attention: Unlike high-volume firms where cases are handed off to paralegals, our nursing home abuse lawyers provide direct, one-on-one communication throughout your case, ensuring your family's specific needs and concerns are always addressed.

Get Help Now

If your loved one has suffered injuries from a fall in a nursing home, don't wait to seek justice. Contact our nursing home fall lawyers today for a free, confidential consultation. At Kelner & Kelner, we're ready to fight for the compensation your family deserves.

Nursing Home Fall FAQs

Are Nursing Homes Legally Liable for Allowing a Resident to Fall?

Yes, nursing homes can be held legally liable when falls occur due to negligence, such as inadequate supervision, failure to implement appropriate fall prevention protocols, understaffing, or environmental hazards. Our nursing home fall lawyers can help determine if the facility breached its duty of care to your loved one.

Why do Elderly Nursing Home Patients Suffer Falls?

Elderly nursing home residents suffer falls due to a combination of age-related factors and facility negligence. Age-related factors include muscle weakness, balance problems, vision impairments, and cognitive decline, while facility negligence may involve understaffing, lack of proper supervision, environmental hazards, and medication errors.

Can I Bring a Lawsuit Against a Nursing Home for a Loved One Who Fell and Died?

Yes, if your loved one died as a result of injuries sustained in a nursing home fall, our nursing home abuse lawyers can help you pursue a wrongful death claim. These cases can provide compensation for medical expenses, funeral costs, pain and suffering experienced before death, and the family's loss of companionship.

Are Nursing Home Falls and Hospital Falls Preventable?

Most nursing home and hospital falls are preventable with proper assessment, care planning, and safety measures. Healthcare facilities have established protocols to identify at-risk patients and implement interventions such as bed alarms, frequent monitoring, proper lighting, and assistive devices to prevent falls.

Was my Mom's or Dad's Nursing Home Fall Preventable?

Each case requires individual assessment, but many nursing home falls occur because facilities fail to follow established safety protocols. Our nursing home fall lawyers can investigate medical records, facility policies, staffing levels, and other factors to determine if your parent's fall resulted from preventable negligence.

How are Falls Prevented in Nursing Homes and Hospitals?

Falls should be prevented through comprehensive risk assessments, individualized care plans, adequate staffing, regular monitoring, proper assistance with mobility, environmental modifications, appropriate use of assistive devices, medication management, and staff training on fall prevention techniques.

Is my Parent to Blame for Getting Up Without Assistance and Falling in the Nursing Home?

No, nursing homes are responsible for assessing fall risks and implementing appropriate supervision and safety measures, especially for residents with cognitive impairments or known tendencies to self-transfer. Facilities must anticipate these behaviors and take preventive action rather than blaming residents.

How long do I have to file a nursing home fall lawsuit in New York?

In New York, the statute of limitations for nursing home negligence cases is generally 2.5 years from the date of injury. However, certain circumstances may extend or shorten this timeframe, making it crucial to consult with a nursing home fall lawyer as soon as possible after the incident occurs.

Will filing a lawsuit mean my loved one will have to leave the nursing home?

Filing a lawsuit does not automatically require your loved one to leave the facility. However, many families choose to relocate their relative to ensure they receive proper care. Our nursing home fall lawyers can discuss transfer options and help protect your loved one from potential retaliation during the legal process.

What if my loved one signed an arbitration agreement with the nursing home?

Many nursing home admission contracts contain arbitration clauses designed to prevent residents from filing lawsuits. However, these agreements can often be challenged based on the circumstances under which they were signed or their compliance with state law. Our nursing home abuse lawyers have successfully invalidated many such agreements.

How much is my nursing home fall case worth?

Each case value depends on multiple factors including injury severity, required medical treatment, long-term prognosis, facility history of violations, and available insurance coverage. While our nursing home fall lawyer cannot guarantee specific outcomes, our nursing home fall lawyers thoroughly evaluate every aspect of your case to pursue maximum compensation.

What if my loved one was already at high risk for falls before entering the nursing home?

Nursing homes are required to conduct thorough fall risk assessments and implement appropriate prevention measures for all residents, especially those with known fall risks. A facility's knowledge of your loved one's vulnerability actually increases their legal responsibility to provide adequate safeguards and supervision.

Can I file a lawsuit if my loved one has dementia and cannot recall details of the fall?

Yes. Many nursing home fall cases involve residents with cognitive impairments. Our attorneys can build compelling cases using medical records, witness statements, facility documentation, and expert testimony even when the injured resident cannot provide a detailed account of the incident.

Do most nursing home fall cases settle out of court?

While many cases do resolve through settlement negotiations, we prepare every case as if it will proceed to trial. This thorough approach often results in more favorable settlement offers from nursing homes and their insurance carriers who wish to avoid courtroom exposure.

What if the nursing home claims my loved one's fall was unavoidable?

Facilities often claim falls were "unavoidable accidents," but our nursing home fall lawyers conduct detailed investigations that frequently reveal preventable causes such as understaffing, inadequate supervision, environmental hazards, or failure to follow established care plans. We work with industry experts to challenge these defense tactics.