Bakersfield Elder Abuse Lawyers
At Chain | Cohn | Clark, we fight to protect the vulnerable. If your loved one was injured or neglected in a nursing home in Bakersfield or Kern County, call us at 661-616-9829 to schedule a free case review.
It’s never an easy decision.
An elderly parent needed more care—or more skilled care—than you were able to provide. So you placed mom or dad in an assisted care facility. The brochures made the place sound idyllic, and everything seemed fine on your tour. You trusted them.
But now, the worst has happened. You’re seeing unexplained injuries—bruises, cuts, bedsores. Your loved one is withdrawn, depressed, or anxious. You fear they’re being abused or neglected.
There are local resources to help you:
- You can reach out to the Kern County Long-Term Care Ombudsman, who investigates allegations of abuse in nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
- For a loved one who receives at-home care, you can contact Adult Protective Services.
- And, of course, you should contact the police if you suspect someone’s committed a crime.
But what about the extra expenses to treat your loved one’s injuries? What about their suffering—the anguish they’re enduring day in and day out? What about sending a message to the facility you trusted that it’s not okay to abuse the elderly?
The elder abuse attorneys at Chain | Cohn | Clark are known and respected in Bakersfield, Kern County, and beyond for their work in protecting the rights and dignity of older adults. We know how to investigate and prove elder abuse claims to hold abusers accountable and get your loved one the compensation they deserve.
Do You Suspect Elder Abuse?
Get a Free Consultation
To pursue an elder abuse claim, you typically need a lawyer, a thorough investigation, and expert witnesses. Sounds expensive, right?
Fortunately, California law allows plaintiffs to recover attorney fees in elder abuse claims. In addition, Chain | Cohn | Clark offers free, no-obligation consultations. The sooner we examine the details of your case, the better your chances of recovering damages.
Contact us today for a free review of your elder abuse case.
Client Stories
Chain | Cohn | Clark’s 90-year history of helping those in need in Bakersfield and throughout the Central Valley is a strong endorsement of our services. But we believe the most convincing endorsements come from our clients’ stories, including:
Shannon, whose father died after falling several times because of a lack of care in a rehab hospital. “Going through a time of sadness and loss, we were blessed to find our team at Chain | Cohn | Clark. They were compassionate, let us tell our story, listened to us, and offered sound advice,” Shannon says. “We could tell they truly cared and that meant the world to us.”
John, whose elderly father died due to neglect in a skilled nursing facility. Initially, John wasn’t sure we’d be interested in the case—but that feeling changed after his first meeting at Chain | Cohn | Clark. “There was actually, I believe, two attorneys present, and they spent about an hour with me,” he says. “I felt, ‘Hey, for the first time someone’s listening. They sat an entire hour with me. They’re listening, they’re taking notes, they’re interested.’ . . . I finally felt like I had somebody on my side, somebody that could take on a system that I was very unfamiliar with.”
Case Results
We’ve produced more million-dollar case results for our clients than any other law firm in the county. And we’ve brought in nearly a billion dollars in compensation for people who have been harmed by others’ negligence—just like you.
$2.75
million
Civil rights case: Our client, an unarmed 19-year-old man sleeping in his car, was shot and paralyzed from the waist down by Bakersfield police officers.
$2
million
Sexual misconduct: We resolved four cases on behalf of North High School students who were victimized by a school employee.
$1
million
Wrongful death: A man in a residential care facility got into a struggle with staff members and suffocated to death when they restrained him.
$1
million
Negligence: Confidential plaintiff suffered severe burn injuries at a residential care facility due to the negligence of an employee.
What Counts as Elder Abuse?
Like child abuse, elder abuse can occur anywhere—not just in skilled nursing facilities and other types of long-term care. The primary types of elder abuse are:
- Physical abuse is any action that causes physical injury (e.g., hitting, kicking). It also includes unnecessary physical or chemical (i.e., using drugs) restraint.
- Sexual abuse is any unwanted sexual contact or activity.
- Emotional abuse is any action that causes psychological injury. This includes verbal abuse or deliberately humiliating or embarrassing someone.
- Financial abuse is taking or misusing an older adult’s money or property without their permission and/or knowledge.
- Neglect is failing to provide necessary care, including food and water, shelter, and assistance with personal hygiene. Neglect can lead to bedsores in bedridden people.
Local Elder Abuse Attorneys
Not every law firm that advertises in Bakersfield is local—and that can make a big difference in your elder abuse case.
Many big-city firms say they’re local, but they’re not. With those firms, there’s a good chance you’ll never even meet your lawyer face to face.
Chain | Cohn | Clark is a truly local law firm:
- Our law offices are at 1731 Chester Avenue in downtown Bakersfield.
- Our firm has been active in Kern County since 1934.
- Six of our nine attorneys grew up in Bakersfield, and a seventh lawyer is from Arvin.
What happens in Bakersfield and Kern County matters to us because it’s our home. We’re here to fight for the rights and dignity of each person in our community—especially those who are most vulnerable, like the elderly.
When you work with Chain | Cohn | Clark, you’ll meet the lawyer who will handle your case on day one. And you have access to your lawyer throughout the process—through in-person meetings, phone calls, emails, and texts. We’ll keep you in the loop so you can make informed decisions about your case—because it’s your case.
Contact us today for a free, no-strings-attached review of your case.
$22.1
million
Pedestrian Accident
$11
million
Auto Accident
$10
million
Oilfield Accident
$10
million
Motorcycle Accident
$9
million
Industrial Accident
$8.8
million
Police Misconduct
$8
million
Pedestrian Accident
$7.5
million
Pedestrian Accident
Frequently Asked Questions
You can file an elder abuse lawsuit if you are:
- An older adult who suffered abuse
- A family member who witnessed elder abuse
- The conservator or guardian of an incompetent older adult
- The estate of an elderly person who has passed away
Yes.
Some cases of elder abuse involve criminal actions for which the abuser can be arrested, tried, fined, or jailed. The abuser’s criminal case is separate from a civil lawsuit for elder abuse.
For example, suppose a nursing home employee hits a resident and breaks her arm. The assailant can be arrested for assault and battery—a criminal matter. But the resident can also sue the assailant and the nursing home for elder abuse.
Compensation in elder abuse cases may include:
- Economic damages, including past and future medical expenses, increased care expenses, and lost wages (if relevant).
- Noneconomic damages, which seek to address a victim’s pain and suffering. If an older adult dies while a claim is in progress, their family can seek damages for the loss of the company of their loved one.
- Punitive damages, which are sometimes awarded when a perpetrator’s actions are deliberate or particularly negligent.
- Attorneys fees, which can be recovered if an elder abuse plaintiff wins their case in court.
Contact Us Today
for your free case evaluation
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