If your loved one suffered abuse or neglect in an assisted living facility in South Carolina, Hughey Law Firm wants to get justice for them. Our team has extensive experience representing victims of elder abuse and neglect throughout South Carolina.

The Hughey Law Firm team can identify those responsible for your loved one’s mistreatment, gather all relevant evidence, and guide you through the entire legal process with your best interests in mind.

Why Choose Hughey Law Firm to Represent Your Loved One Against a Negligent Facility in South Carolina?

The attorneys at Hughey Law Firm do not stand for elder abuse or mistreatment. We have made assisted living facility cases a key practice area because we feel strongly that victims like your loved one deserve justice.

As a client of Hughey Law Firm, your loved one will receive:

  • A legal team familiar with assisted living cases: Experience is an important factor when hiring a lawyer. Hughey Law Firm has recovered more than $205 million in verdicts and settlements, with many victories coming in elder mistreatment cases.
  • Our firm’s financial support: Our firm covers all case-related costs, and you won’t pay us anything to accept your case. If we get a financial recovery for you, we will receive back our costs and a percentage of it. If you win, we win.
  • Excellent client service: We go the extra mile to inspire confidence in our clients. Through our compassionate approach and sheer will to win, you’ll know that Hughey Law Firm has an important stake in your case. You can review our firm’s client testimonials to hear how we’ve served former clients.

We have worked hard to earn our reputation for quality service and legal effectiveness. Our firm will continue working hard on your loved one’s behalf.

Case Results in Elder Abuse and Mistreatment Cases in South Carolina

We have obtained several case results that are relevant to your loved one’s case, including financial recoveries of:

  • $3.375 million for the loved ones of an individual who passed away due to the neglect of a facility they were living in
  • $1.375 million for the family of a victim who escaped their facility and died in a traffic accident
  • $875,000 for a client who suffered serious fractures due to a wheelchair accident
  • $350,000 for a client who developed bedsores due to the neglect of caregivers

These case details may not match your loved one’s, and that is OK. We have secured these and other financial recoveries for clients who suffered drastically different circumstances—but who all suffered harm because of an assisted living facility’s negligence.

How Hughey Law Firm Will Seek Justice for Your Loved One

Hughey Law Firm offers you experienced personal injury attorneys with a fondness for helping the elderly residents of our South Carolina community. These individuals too often suffer assisted living abuse and neglect without the resources to defend themselves.

Hughey Law Firm has the resources that elderly South Carolinians need to hold liable assisted living facilities accountable for negligence. Our firm will lead every step in your loved one’s case, including:

Identifying All Mistreatment Your Loved One Has Experienced

We will work with experts who understand the signs and intricacies of elder mistreatment. Our team of attorneys and medical experts will review, identify and document any mistreatment your loved one has experienced.

We may prove your loved one’s abuse or neglect with:

  • Photographs of injuries
  • Medical records and bills
  • Medical images of injuries
  • Testimony from psychologists and other mental health professionals
  • Testimony from doctors
  • Testimony from other qualified experts
  • Your loved one’s account of events

Hughey Law Firm uses all available evidence to build the strongest cases we possibly can.

Calculating Your Loved One’s Damages

Every case of elder abuse, neglect, or exploitation has a cost. Our attorneys serving South Carolina understand how to calculate the cost of cases like your loved one’s.

Our team will identify and summarize the cost of your loved one’s current damages. Using medical experts, we’ll also project the likely cost of any future damages your loved one will experience.

Determining Liability

Your loved one’s case may have multiple layers of liability, as liable parties may include:

  1. Anyone who directly engaged in the neglect or abuse of your loved one
  2. Any parties who had a duty to prevent the neglect or abuse of your loved one (including the assisted living facility where mistreatment occurred)

Your lawyer from Hughey Law Firm will identify every party with liability for your loved one’s damages.

Gathering Evidence of an Assisted Living Facility’s Negligence

If your loved one suffered mistreatment at an assisted living facility, it is oftentimes the case of negligence. A negligent party does not take reasonable steps to protect others—in this case, the nursing home abuse did not do what was necessary to protect your loved one.

An assisted living facility may be negligent if any employee or resident engaged in the abuse or neglect of your loved one.

More specific examples of negligence include:

  • Failing to monitor residents and employees to ensure safety
  • Hiring unqualified, dangerous or not enough employees
  • Failing to terminate employees who engage in neglectful or abusive behaviors
  • Failing to promote a culture of accountability and resident safety
  • Any other failure that put your loved one at risk of abuse or neglect

Each elder mistreatment case in South Carolina involves unique circumstances. We’ll gather video footage, expert testimony, witness accounts, and any other evidence that proves the liable facility’s negligence.

Seeking a Fair Settlement

Hughey Law Firm seeks home abuse settlements that cover all of our client’s damages. We’ll negotiate with attorneys and insurance companies for the assisted living facility and any other liable parties. Your Hughey Law Firm lawyer will present evidence of negligence, proof of your loved one’s damages, and our calculation of those damages.

We will not advise you or your loved one to settle for any amount less than the sum they deserve.

Going to Trial, if Necessary

Hughey Law Firm’s attorneys do not stop fighting for our clients until they have gotten the compensation they deserve or until we’ve exhausted every potential path to fair compensation.

If settlement negotiations do not produce the financial recovery your loved one deserves, we may urge you to proceed to trial. If going to court is the appropriate decision in your loved one’s case, Hughey Law Firm will lead court proceedings for you.

Damages Resulting From Elder Mistreatment in South Carolina

​South Carolina Assisted Living Facility LawyerElder abuse and neglect take a different toll on each victim, resulting in various physical and mental injuries. It will be Hughey Law Firm’s job to determine exactly what harm your loved one has suffered because of their mistreatment.

With help from our experts, we may find that your loved one has suffered:

Medical Expenses

Abuse and neglect often lead to medical expenses. Because these expenses are the direct result of the facility’s abuse or neglect, the facility should cover them.

Expenses may stem from:

  • Emergency treatment of broken bones, bedsores, or other injuries
  • Hospitalization
  • Surgery
  • Medications
  • Other medical services

We will work with your loved one’s doctors to document and calculate the cost of your loved one’s medical costs.

Contact

Pain and Suffering

Pain and suffering can occur even if your loved one did not suffer emotional or psychological abuse.

Pain and suffering may include:

  • Physical pain
  • Emotional distress
  • Psychological trauma
  • Personality changes
  • Withdrawal
  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Lost quality of life

We will hire mental health professionals to speak with your loved one. They can provide formal diagnoses of your loved one’s pain and suffering. Such diagnoses may allow us to get your loved one a treatment plan and hopefully allow them to heal from their pain and suffering.

Moving Expenses

If your loved one left or plans to leave the facility where the mistreatment happened, we’ll seek compensation for relocation costs.

The Hughey Law Firm team will complete a detailed accounting of your loved one’s damages. We’ll ensure that we account for all damages before entering settlement negotiations.

Types of Elder Mistreatment in South Carolina That May Lead You to Take Legal Action

Having represented elderly abuse and neglect victims for years, our firm has witnessed the many kinds of mistreatment assisted living facility residents face. Each of these cases is heartbreaking, and general categories of mistreatment include:

Neglect

Neglect means failing to meet an elderly person’s basic needs.

Neglect can include failure to:

  • Wash the elderly individual regularly
  • Administer medications in a safe, consistent manner
  • Help the elderly individual use the restroom
  • Rotate the elderly individual in their bed to avoid the development of bedsores
  • Help the elderly individual move from place to face
  • Help the elderly individual with eating and drinking

Assisted living facilities must hire a sufficient number of and train staffers on proper care techniques. Those staffers should avoid any behavior that qualifies as neglect—and this is the bare minimum. Generally, assisted living facilities should strive to provide quality care and may be liable when they fail to do so.

Physical Abuse

Physical abuse is the intentional infliction of bodily harm, including:

  • Shoving
  • Slapping
  • Punching
  • Burning
  • Kicking
  • Pinching
  • Cutting
  • Restraining

Confining an elderly individual in a space without their consent or in a way that aims to cause harm also qualifies as physical abuse.

Psychological and Emotional Abuse

Psychological and emotional abuse each involve the intentional infliction of distress on a victim, including:

  • Shouting
  • Name-calling
  • Threatening
  • Taunting
  • Playing mental games
  • Intentionally ignoring the victim
  • Engaging in any other behavior that causes emotional or psychological distress

Preventing an elderly person from seeing loved ones may qualify as emotional or psychological abuse. If your loved one requested to see you, but their caregivers ignored or denied the request, those caregivers may be guilty of abuse.

Financial Exploitation

There are several ways to take financial advantage of an elderly person, especially if they have any control over their finances.

Financial exploitation may include:

  • Stealing property from your loved one
  • Stealing funds from your loved one’s accounts without authorization
  • Coercing or tricking your loved one into forfeiting funds
  • Overbilling you or your loved one
  • Engaging in any other form of financial exploitation

Tragically, some view the elderly as targets to be taken advantage of. If you have any questions about financial impropriety or any other form of mistreatment, Hughey Law Firm will work with experts to investigate your case.

If your loved one has experienced any type of mistreatment in South Carolina, we will work hard to hold liable parties accountable for their unacceptable conduct.

Possible Symptoms of Elder Mistreatment in South Carolina

It is not always obvious that an elderly loved one has suffered mistreatment. Our lawyers have handled a great number of elder mistreatment cases, and we frequently rely on professionals who can spot the symptoms of abuse and neglect.

Common signs of elder mistreatment include:

  • Observable injuries
  • Unexplained injuries
  • Broken personal property
  • Medication-related abnormalities, including overdosing or underdosing
  • Unexplained changes in personality or emotional state
  • Signs of fear in your loved one

You may also observe caregivers when you visit your loved one. If you witness any behavior that causes you concern, this can be an indication that mistreatment is taking place when you are not there.

When Should I Seek a Lawyer’s Help for an Elder Mistreatment Case in South Carolina?

You do not have to be certain of abuse or neglect to ask for an attorney’s help. It is better to speak up than to assume your loved one is safe when they are not. If you have any concerns about potential elder mistreatment, speak with our firm today. We can let you know if we believe there’s been mistreatment, abuse or negligence, and would be happy to discuss next potential steps for you or your loved one.

Call Hughey Law Firm Today for Your Free ConsultationAttorney Nathan Hughey

Our Personal injury attorney in South Carolina counsel those who have concerns about their loved one’s safety. We encourage you to call as soon as possible, as your loved one might be at risk. Even if your loved one is safe, we may face a deadline for filing their legal case.

Contact Hughey Law Firm today at (843) 203 6689 for your free consultation. We’ll explain further how a South Carolina assisted living facility lawyer from our team can help your loved one. We can help you navigate this confusing and concerning time and seek justice for your family.

Schedule A Free Consultation Today!


Hughey Law Firm – Charleston Office

171 Church Street Suite 330
Charleston, SC 29401
Phone: (843) 203 6689 

Client Testimonial

“Thank you Hughey Law Firm! It was a pleasure to work with you on my case! From the beginning, every contact I had with your firm was professional, kind, helpful, and painless! I always felt kept in the loop, and important to you as a client. If you are looking for a personal injury attorney with integrity, I would highly recommend Hughey Law Firm!”

Rating: 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Karen C.