When our loved ones are abused by the people and institutions we trusted to care for them, legal recourse becomes available. However, Chattanooga nursing home abuse litigation is often lengthy and exhausting. Because of this, it may be best to have a skilled attorney review your case and then represent your interests in court.
Influences on Length of Chattanooga Nursing Home Abuse Trials
Nursing home abuse trials usually last one to two weeks in Chattanooga, but there is no specific limit on how long they could potentially last.
The factors that influence how long a trial lasts include the number of witnesses and the complexity of the issues–and medical cases such as nursing homes are often exceptionally complex. Thus, there may be several different injuries and causes for one injury, and there may be a multitude of experts. If potential clients present a fairly straight-forward injury with a fairly straight-forward cause, the trial would likely be shorter. However, if victims have many injuries or if there were many failures on the part of the nursing home that caused the injuries, the trial would be more complex and therefore longer and with more witnesses.
How Multiple Claim Holder or Multiple Negligent Parties Change Trials
Trials change when there are many plaintiffs or defendants. In many cases involving multiple defendants, there are often many failures for each wrongdoer that would need to be substantiated. That includes what each defendant should have done, what each did, and how each action caused the injury. Similarly, if a case involves many plaintiffs, nursing home attorneys in Chattanooga have to prove the specific injury and damages for each.
As a nature of litigation, it is likely that each plaintiff or each defendant would be represented by different attorneys. That means a trial could likely involve all attorneys examining each witness which extends the amount of time needed for the trial.
Nursing Home Abuse Trial Process
For a Chattanooga nursing home abuse trial, a great deal of work occurs before trial. Once the case finally gets there, though, it proceeds much like any other case. It starts out with jury selection in which each lawyer for each party gets to ask the jury questions and eliminate potential jurors until they reach a limit and start selecting them.
Once the jury is empaneled, attorneys give opening statements and then move on to presenting evidence, witnesses, documents, and whatever needs to be produced. The judge then presents the jury instructions about the law that applies in the case, each lawyer gives arguments, and the jury deliberates and reaches a unanimous verdict, or tells the judge it cannot.
It is important for all clients to remember that almost all nursing home abuse trials are jury trials. The parties could elect to waive their right to a jury trial or if the nursing home is owned by a governmental entity in Tennessee, it would not be a jury trial. As an alternative, they would only be entitled to a bench trial in front of the judge.
Important Elements in Trials Qualified Attorneys Look For
Good litigators at trials spend a lot of time preparing beforehand to make sure they know exactly what kind of jurors they want and what kind of people might be particularly predisposed to finding for the defendant or against them. Attorneys often have a special approach to how they present their opening statements, and vetting a jury for those more receptive to a certain style is often critical. They spend a lot of time figuring out what order in which to present their witnesses to help the jury understand the case in as easy a way to absorb as possible. At the same time, the good litigator makes sure they communicate properly with the judge and present the evidence according to legal standards to avoid losing on a technicality or getting disadvantaged.
Connect with an Attorney as soon as Possible
Because the nature of Chattanooga nursing home abuse litigation is often lengthy, its best to reach out to an experienced attorney as soon as you can. Once an attorney has evaluated your case, he or she could begin gathering evidence and prepping for trial. Call today for a confidential consultation.
