Many different issues factor into how much compensation may realistically be obtained for a given case. Some of these issues are beyond our control, and others may never be known for sure unless the case is taken through trial. Understanding the issues that we do know and can control, however, may help you determine what reasonable compensation might look like for your claim.

How severe the victim’s injuries were and how bad the wrongdoing was that caused them are obviously important. Every injury caused by wrongdoing is an injustice, but comparing the facts of your case to others may show it is not as strong as you thought. How much evidence of wrongdoing we can find, and whether the victim’s injuries could have been caused by some other factor (for example a pre-existing condition), will affect the strength of a care home’s defenses and thus the value of your claim.

The only way to obtain the true, full value of your case is to take it through trial and win. Elder abuse cases can be very valuable if successfully tried, but that process is very expensive and filled with risks for both sides. For these reasons, many such cases settle before trial. Sometimes you and the care home have very different ideas about your odds of winning at trial and therefore the settlement value of your claim. One useful tool for educating both sides and bridging that gap is mediation, where a neutral third-party helps broker a settlement.