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Every medical record is mired in thousands of tedious bits of information. As the medical insider on your litigation team, a Legal Nurse Consultant delivers cost-effective medical expertise to uncover the crucial facts from medical records that can be the difference between winning and losing your cases.
If your caseload includes:
You need us on your litigation team!
Don’t waste your firm’s time or money with more expensive options. Let Yvonne Hanson and Associates uncover the hidden facts – and dollars – in your next medical related case.
We provide litigation support across the spectrum of medical and nursing malpractice cases in Los Angeles, California and throughout the United States including:
Whether you’re in a large firm or a solo practice, Yvonne Hanson and Associates is here to help support you as you build and prove your case. We give you the information you need to thoroughly understand the medical-legal issues in your case and the tools you need to put forward a compelling case to the judge, jury, mediator, or insurance company. We can help with any personal injury matter including:
Defective products can fail in dramatic ways and cause catastrophic injuries, including limb amputations, severe burns, electrocution, and death. Data from the Insurance Information Institute show that median and average personal injury awards in product liability matters far outstrip all other categories, including medical malpractice, vehicular liability, premises liability, personal negligence, and business negligence.
Product manufacturers, and in some cases distributors or retailers, can be held strictly liable for products that were defectively designed or defectively manufactured, or which did not contain adequate warnings or instructions for their safe use. Plaintiffs must prove the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s (or other defendant’s) control and that the defect was the cause of the injury. Plaintiffs’ lawyers must also be ready to prove the extent of money damages they are looking for, often with the help of medical experts and Certified Legal Nurse Consultants.
Yvonne Hanson and Associates help plaintiffs’ attorneys in product liability matters in a myriad number of ways. We can locate the right medical expert for your case, someone who has been screened and vetted as qualified to testify about the injury involved and what the lifetime medical costs are likely to be. Our Certified Legal Nurse Consultants can retrieve and organize the medical records you need for your case so you can understand the medical issues involved and be prepared to consult with your expert, depose the expert for the opposing party, and get the facts in front of the jury that will prove your case. Our team develops trial graphics and provides other necessary litigation support to get you there.
Premises liability cases are some of the most common types of personal injury cases. They involve legal liability for unsafe conditions on someone else’s property that causes a person lawfully on the site to suffer an injury. In tort law (the civil law category under which premises liability falls), “invitees” are owed the highest duty of care. Invitees are those invited to the property as a member of the public or one who has business dealings with the landowner. These claims can occur on both residential and commercial properties. In all states, owners that occupy property must make a reasonable effort to maintain a safe environment for visitors. The statute of limitations for each state is important to know since failing to file a lawsuit within that time frame could mean sacrificing the right to recover damages.
There are numerous types of premises liability that can involve business patrons (restaurants/bars, hotels, amusement parks), apartment complex residents or guests, concert attendees, and those present in public rest areas and swimming pools. Some include the following:
Slip and Fall Accidents
These accidents are common and can be caused by many different hazardous conditions, such as wet floors, safety issues and flooring defects. They can include balconies and porches that are poorly constructed or in disrepair, broken or absent handrails, uneven flooring or steps, loose carpet or tiles, poor lighting, and improper property maintenance for building hallways, ice/snow removal, and holes in parking lots and sidewalks. Negligence can be considered if the property owners knew or should have known about the danger and failed to take action or warn invitees about the risk. Establishing proof of liability can be complicated. Generally, proof of the following needs to be done:
The property owner’s failure to correct the unsafe condition or warning the plaintiff directly resulted in the injury.
Every year in the United States, thousands of people die, and many others are harmed due to defective consumer products and toxic pharmaceuticals. Tort refers to an injury claim. A mass tort is a civil action involving numerous plaintiffs who file lawsuits for identical damages caused by the same product against one or a few defendants in state or federal court. The lawsuits arise out of the defendants causing numerous injuries through the same or similar act of harm. Each plaintiff maintains a separate lawsuit, and all the members from the same groups are treated as individual plaintiffs seeking compensation individually. Law firms sometimes use mass media to reach potential plaintiffs.
The alleged injury or harm may be due to failed medical devices, defective products, dangerous drugs, and toxic substance exposure. Tort claims can arise because of negligence or unintentional actions that resulted in injury. The main categories of mass torts include medical device injuries, motor vehicle defects, prescription drug injuries, product liability injuries, and toxic contamination. Examples of mass tort cases include asbestos, baby formula, defective drugs, inferior vena cava (IVC) filters, proton inhibitor pumps, surgical staplers, talcum powder, and exposure to toxic substances like Ethylene oxide or contaminated drinking water. Other examples of mass torts are plane crashes, train accidents, construction disasters, and pollution. The plaintiff must prove the device, product, or drug was defective and/or one of these or the toxic substance or accident was the cause of the injury.
A mass tort lawsuit differs from a class action lawsuit. Mass tort cases are individual lawsuits with different damages to each plaintiff, whereas a class action is a single lawsuit involving multiple plaintiffs with all claims combined into one large suit with the same damages to all plaintiffs. Mass tort lawsuits are filed in multiple courts across the country, and are often consolidated into multidistrict litigation, while a class action lawsuit is tried in a single court presided over by a single judge. Regarding compensation awards, mass tort awards differ based on the specific injuries, while class action members often receive the same payout.
Nursing homes, assisted nursing facilities, home care agencies, board and care facilities, hospice, private caregiving and hospitals are all charged with caring for our most vulnerable population, older adults, as well as chronically ill adults. Sadly, issues such as overcrowding and understaffing, lack of training and supervision, along with poor working conditions can lead to patient injuries and suffering due to neglect or abuse. Research clearly indicated that higher nurse staffing ratios improve quality of care and health related outcomes.
Poor outcomes in these types of cases include pressure ulcers, falls, use of chemical and physical restraints, infections, pain, loss of independence, weight loss, dehydration, overuse of medications (like antipsychotics) and even death. We can help you prove essential aspects of your case.
Defense strategies often used in these cases include “preexisting conditions,” “just being old” with comorbidities or “non-compliance.” Yvonne Hanson knows better. With over 25 years in these various specialties of elder care, you can’t find someone more vehement about justice and more knowledgeable about this very vulnerable population.
As a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney, you know the elements you need to establish and prove your case to a judge or jury or to negotiate a full and fair settlement with the insurance company. Because older adults in general are often frail, sometimes unable to speak for themselves and/or are prone to certain age-related diseases, facilities and their insurers have their built-in defenses to argue that “no neglect or abuse occurred” despite the patient/residents deplorable injuries. Having a registered nurse on your side who has cared day in and day out for these individuals and in the multiple settings mentioned, we know just what to look for and where it should be located or documented if proper standards of care were met. You don’t want a consultant who considers these waters uncharted but someone who knows just how to swim with the sharks. Look no further, this is our personal area of passionate expertise!
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