Resources for attorneys and paralegals
Practical guides to the records, regulations and expert decisions in long-term care litigation. Written by people who have run facilities and testified about them. Educational information, not legal advice.
Nursing home F-tags: a litigation guide to the fourteen that matter most
F-tags are the shorthand surveyors use for federal nursing home requirements. Knowing which tag governs your facts tells you what the facility was required to do, what records exist, and which expert to retain.
Read the guide ›Paralegal resourcesNursing home records checklist for attorneys and paralegals
The chart is only part of the record. This is the full list, organized by where it lives, with notes on what usually goes missing.
Read the guide ›StaffingHow to analyze PBJ staffing data, the facility assessment and Form 2567
Staffing is the rare long-term care theory where much of the evidence is reported to the federal government, published, and outside the facility's control.
Read the guide ›Case evaluationAffidavits and certificates of merit: what the expert needs to sign
Merit requirements vary widely by state. What does not vary is the package an expert needs before signing anything.
Read the guide ›Expert selectionHow to choose between an RN, DON, administrator and physician expert
The most common expert mistake in long-term care is retaining a clinician to answer an operational question, or an administrator to answer a causation question.
Read the guide ›FallsNursing home fall investigation checklist: unwitnessed falls
Most nursing home falls are unwitnessed, which means the record after the fall carries as much weight as the record before it.
Read the guide ›Pressure injuriesPressure injury litigation: avoidable or unavoidable, records and expert selection
The federal standard does not ask whether a wound developed. It asks whether the facility did everything the resident's condition required.
Read the guide ›Depositions and trialPreparing a nursing home expert for deposition
The deposition of a long-term care expert follows predictable lines. Most of the damage happens in the file, not in the testimony.
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