The short version
- Not legal advice. Everything here is general information for the public, not advice about your specific situation.
- Not a law firm. Nursing Home Abuse Help does not practice law and does not represent clients.
- No attorney-client relationship. Using this site or submitting a form does not make us, or any attorney, your lawyer.
- We match families with attorneys. We may be compensated when a connection leads to a case. In some states this page is considered attorney advertising.
- No guaranteed outcomes. No result is promised, and prior results never guarantee a similar outcome.
- The law is state-specific and time-sensitive. Deadlines vary by state and can be short. Speak with a licensed attorney about your facts.
01 This site is not legal advice
Nursing Home Abuse Help publishes general, educational information about nursing home abuse and neglect. Nothing on this site is legal advice, which is guidance from a licensed attorney applied to the specific facts of your situation. General information cannot account for your state, your facts, the people involved, or the deadlines that apply to you.
You should not act, or decline to act, based only on what you read here. For advice about your circumstances, consult a licensed attorney in your state. If you are not sure where to start, our free case review can connect you with an attorney who can evaluate your facts.
02 We are not a law firm
Nursing Home Abuse Help is an independent editorial resource and an attorney-matching service. We are not a law firm. We do not practice law, file lawsuits, give legal opinions, or represent clients. The site is edited by Michael Mangione, a legal research editor and the founder of The Mangione Group, who is not a practicing attorney. You can read more about his background and our process on the about page and our how we vet attorneys page.
Reading this site, contacting us, or submitting an intake form does not create an attorney-client relationship with Nursing Home Abuse Help or with any attorney. That relationship begins only when you and an attorney both agree, in writing, that the attorney will represent you. Until that happens, you should not send confidential information expecting it to be protected as a privileged communication.
Under the legal profession's ethics rules, even a person who only consults a lawyer about possible representation is owed certain duties. The American Bar Association's Model Rule 1.18 describes duties to a prospective client. Those duties attach to the attorney you ultimately speak with, not to this website.
03 How attorney matching works, and our compensation
A lawyer matching service connects people who may have a claim with attorneys who handle that type of case. When you submit a request, we may share your information with one or more independent law firms so they can decide whether to offer you a consultation. Those firms, not Nursing Home Abuse Help, decide whether to take a case, and they alone would represent you.
We may receive compensation when a connection we make leads to a consultation or a case. That is a material connection, the kind of business relationship the Federal Trade Commission expects to be disclosed, and we disclose it here plainly. Compensation never changes the editorial information on this site, and it does not mean a paying firm is the right firm for you. You are always free to choose your own attorney.
Because we communicate about legal services, some states treat pages like this one as attorney advertising. Lawyer advertising and referral arrangements are governed by each state's rules of professional conduct, which follow the framework of the ABA Model Rules on communications about a lawyer's services, including Model Rules 7.1 through 7.3. To the extent any content here is considered advertising in your state, treat it as such.
Nursing Home Abuse Help does not charge families to use this site or to be matched with an attorney. Most nursing home attorneys work on a contingency fee, but fees and costs vary by firm and by state. Confirm them directly with any attorney before you sign anything. Our guide to lawyer fees and contingency agreements explains what to look for.
04 No guarantee of any outcome
Nothing on this site is a promise about how a claim will turn out. We do not guarantee that you have a case, that an attorney will accept your matter, that a claim will settle, or that any particular amount will be recovered. Every case depends on its own facts, the applicable law, and the evidence.
Any description of past cases, settlements, or verdicts, whether on this site or from an attorney, reflects results in those specific matters. Prior results do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in your case. Be cautious of anyone who promises a specific result before reviewing your facts. Our pages on settlements and compensation and attorney red flags explain why.
05 Accuracy and the limits of general law
We work hard to keep this site accurate and current, and we cite primary sources so you can verify what we say. Even so, the law changes, sources can contain errors, and general summaries cannot capture every exception. We do not warrant that all information is complete, current, or error-free, and we are not responsible for decisions made in reliance on it.
Nursing home care is governed by a layer of federal law and a separate layer of state law. At the federal level, the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987 sets baseline standards and a residents' bill of rights for facilities that accept Medicare or Medicaid funding. See 42 U.S.C. § 1395i-3 and 42 U.S.C. § 1396r, with the implementing rules at 42 C.F.R. Part 483. The law in this area continues to develop. In Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion County v. Talevski, 599 U.S. 166 (2023), the U.S. Supreme Court held that certain resident rights under that Act, including the right to be free from unnecessary chemical restraints, can be enforced through a private lawsuit.
State law then fills in much of what matters to an individual claim, including who may sue, what must be proven, and how long you have to file. Those filing deadlines, called a statute of limitations, vary widely from state to state and can be short. For that reason, this site cannot tell you your deadline. See our statute of limitations by state and claim timelines and deadlines guides for background, then confirm your specific deadline with a licensed attorney. Related background lives on our resident rights and federal regulations pages.
06 Not medical advice
Some content on this site discusses injuries, conditions, and care that affect nursing home residents, such as bedsores, falls, malnutrition, and infections. That content is for general understanding only. It is not medical advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan, and it is not a substitute for care from a qualified clinician.
If a resident has a health concern, talk to a licensed healthcare professional. If the concern is urgent, seek medical care right away.
07 Third-party links and resources
This site links to government agencies, courts, statutes, and other outside resources so you can read primary sources for yourself. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their content, accuracy, availability, or privacy practices. A link is provided for convenience and does not mean we endorse everything on the linked page.
The same is true of any attorney or law firm you may be connected with. Those firms are independent. They set their own fees, make their own decisions, and are responsible for their own conduct and advice.
08 Testimonials and endorsements
We do not publish fabricated reviews or invented testimonials. Where any testimonial, comment, or endorsement appears, it reflects one person's experience and is not a prediction or guarantee of what will happen in your situation. Individual results vary.
When we have a paid or business relationship behind a recommendation, we disclose it, consistent with the Federal Trade Commission's Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising at 16 C.F.R. Part 255. Our editorial standards explain how we keep recommendations honest.
09 Emergencies and reporting abuse
This site is not an emergency service, and we cannot intervene in an unsafe situation. Submitting a form here does not alert police, a facility, or any agency.
Call 911 first. Your safety and the resident's safety come before anything else.
To report suspected abuse or neglect, you can also contact Adult Protective Services, your state's Long-Term Care Ombudsman, or the federal Eldercare Locator at 1-800-677-1116. To research a facility's inspection record, use Medicare Care Compare. Our guide on how to report nursing home abuse walks through each step.
10 No warranties and limits on liability
This site and its content are provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, to the fullest extent allowed by law. We do not warrant that the site will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that the information is fit for any particular purpose.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Nursing Home Abuse Help and The Mangione Group are not liable for any loss or damage arising from your use of, or reliance on, this site or any resource it links to, including decisions about whether or when to pursue a claim. Because some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations, parts of this section may not apply to you.
11 Governing terms, changes, and contact
This disclaimer is part of, and should be read together with, our terms of service and privacy policy. If any conflict exists, the terms of service control. We may update this disclaimer from time to time. When we do, we will change the "last updated" date at the top of this page, and the current version governs your use of the site.
Questions about this disclaimer are welcome. You can reach the editorial team through our contact page. For a review of your specific situation, the right next step is to speak with a licensed attorney, which our free case review is built to help you do.
