FAQs for Tampa Bay Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
Hancock & Hancock, P.A.
Michael and Claire Hancock
- Are punitive damages available in a nursing home abuse case? How can I prevent this from happening to someone else?
- What is the Statute of Limitations for a nursing home abuse case? What is the time limit to bring a case?
- Who can pursue a claim in Florida or nursing home abuse or neglect?
- How much does a lawyer cost?
Are punitive damages available in a nursing home abuse case? How can I prevent this from happening to someone else?
Yes. Section 400.0237, Florida Statutes, provides for punitive damages in a nursing home abuse case with evidence of intentional misconduct or gross negligence. There is a limit on the amount of punitive damages allowed to be awarded. Punitive damages are intended to punish and prevent further harm to others
What is the Statute of Limitations for a nursing home abuse case? What is the time limit to bring a case?
Generally, Section 400.0236, Florida Statutes provides that nursing home abuse cases must be filed within 2 years or 4 years from the time of the incident of negligence or within 2 years from the time you knew or should have known of the negligence. This is a difficult area of the law, so please consult with a experienced attorney with the specifics of your case.
Who can pursue a claim in Florida or nursing home abuse or neglect?
In Florida, the state legislature has decided that enforcement of a resident's rights should be placed in the hands of the resident and the resident's family members. Florida's civil enforcement statute allows a resident or family member, on the resident's behalf, to sue the facility for neglect and abuse, and any other violation of the resident's rights. In the case of a deceased person, this requires the appointment of a personal representative of the estate of that deceased person by the appropriate probate court. In the case of an incompetent senior citizen, this requires the appointment of a legal guardian by a court with proper jurisdiction.
The accident attorneys at Hancock & Hancock take cases on a contingency fee contract approved by The Florida Supreme Court. This means that our clients do not pay at the beginning of the case - payment to us is contingent on us recovering money for you. At the end of the case, either when your case is settled prior to trial or after a jury verdict, you pay a percentage of the money you receive, in addition to court costs advanced my us. If there is no money recovered for you, you do not pay attorney’s fees or costs.
The percentage of attorney’s fees depends on at what point your recovery occurs. Our contingency fee contract provides for 33 1/3% of the recovery prior to the filing of the lawsuit, what is referred to as “pre-suit” or “pre-litigation,” up through the time that an answer to the lawsuit is filed by the defendant, in addition to the recovery of court costs advanced by the firm. If the case has not settled prior to this point, then the percentage increases to 40% of the recovery, through the end of trial, in addition to the recovery of court costs advanced.
Examples of court costs which our firm advances on your behalf include the following: court filing fees (filing fees are required by a court before it will accept legal papers); expert fees (experts and consultants charge for their time in evaluating cases and testifying in court and depositions, sometimes thousands of dollars); fees to obtain medical records; postage; deposition costs (certified court reporters charge for taking down testimony at depositions and providing written transcripts of testimony), etc. We are proud of our firm philosophy to keep your advanced costs down to a minimum, so as to maximize your recovery. We will not “nickel-and-dime” you with such charges as long-distance telephone costs, costs for sending a fax or a “file set-up fee,” for which some firm charge hundreds of dollars
