Unmasking Corporate Neglect: Elder Abuse & Neglect Litigation

by David Dufour

Meeting the Growing Call for Justice

A demographic tidal wave is no longer a distant warning. By 2030, the number of seniors will have doubled in a single generation, surging to 70 million. As this aging population is exploding, the infrastructure meant to protect them is fracturing. With healthcare spending projected to skyrocket to $270 billion, nearly double from $195 billion in 2020, we aren't just looking at a shift in data; we are witnessing a collision between a massive aging population and a system ill-equipped to keep them safe.

A rapidly aging population will skyrocket the demand for senior health services. As care needs change, more families will be forced to entrust the well-being of their loved ones to corporations plagued by issues with staffing, training, and funding. These factors, in tandem, cement elder abuse & neglect litigation as a growing practice area for the next quarter-century.

While the call for justice for our elderly is louder than ever, these cases can be more complex and expensive than general personal injury claims. The time, money, and institutional knowledge necessary to appropriately litigate elder abuse and neglect cases can prove to be beyond reach for many personal injury firms. Fortunately, at Morgan & Morgan, we have made a substantial commitment to this practice area across the US.

Unraveling Corporate Webs of Negligence

Pursuing an elder abuse case requires specialization beyond training in medical negligence: a true niche within a niche. Attorneys need a mastery of the medical malpractice aspects of these cases, and the complex corporate structures that hide key decisions made about staffing, nursing protocols, and facilities management.

The medicine may tell you that a resident suffered a deadly fall or developed a life-threatening pressure ulcer because of the misfeasance of a nurse or nursing aide, but knowledge of operating agreements, budget reports, and corporate structure could reveal that the facility lacked the proper staff or equipment because money was being siphoned to its owners through related entities.

Unlike a medical malpractice case, in which an injury often stems from a provider making a proactive mistake, elder abuse & neglect injuries are typically caused by an absence of action. The root cause of this neglect is almost always some form of corporate malfeasance.

Care services chains often intentionally under-resource facilities and hire cheaper, less-experienced staff, leaving aides in impossible situations. There is a growing gap between the demand for long-term care workers and the number of filled roles, driven by low wages, poor job quality, and limited career advancement opportunities. According to Harvard Public Health, there will be 4.6 million unfilled care roles by 2032. These rolls will be unfilled, not because we do not have the people, but because corporations don’t want to pay living wages.

An Accountability Infrastructure

Successfully holding these corporations accountable requires extensive resources, a specialized focus, and a sheer volume of experience. It is not unusual for firms to only have 5-10 elder abuse and neglect cases in their inventory. Morgan & Morgan will handle over 3000 nursing home and elder abuse cases in 2026.

1. A Network of Cross-State Intelligence: Elder care chains often span across multiple states; for example, Genesis Healthcare, until recently, operated approximately 450 facilities in 30 states. Understaffing and under-resourcing practices are systemic; they don't just occur in one state or at one facility.

Morgan & Morgan has a nationwide presence to meet these corporate defendants wherever they are. Our experience litigating against a corporate chain in Illinois, Kentucky, or Tennessee provides us with critical inside knowledge to substantially negotiate and litigate cases against that same chain in Missouri, California, or Florida. We can identify and attack these industry-wide trends because we’ve seen the patterns across thousands of cases.

2. Experienced, Dedicated Litigators: While many attorneys dabble in elder abuse and neglect litigation alongside general medical malpractice, our dedicated attorneys are highly experienced in this niche. This sole-focus approach means our team has spent years building up an institutional quiver of top-tier experts across the country. By seeing and litigating more cases than nearly anyone else, our attorneys have developed specialized experience.

3. Uncovering Fraud: Our investigations into these corporate structures sometimes reveal that a facility is defrauding government agencies. When we uncover this, our internal qui tam (whistleblower) department works to pursue fraud claims, maximizing the angles from which we can hold these corporations accountable.

Efficiency for Our Referral Partners

One of the biggest concerns for referral and co-counsel attorneys is that these complex cases can linger for over a year while being investigated, leaving both the client and the firm’s reputation at risk.

At Morgan & Morgan, we have spent the last year supercharging our intake and investigation process. Our dedicated team can quickly determine if your client has a viable case.

On the Lookout for Elder Abuse & Neglect

When clients call with concerns about a loved one in a care facility, the signs of actionable corporate neglect can sometimes be hidden. Below are key red flags worth your firm's attention: