If you are searching for the best nursing home abuse lawyer in Atlanta, you will find several attorneys and law firms with significant experience representing nursing home residents and their families. William “Bill” Holbert of Holbert Law, Rob Schenk of Schenk Nursing Home Abuse Law, Gretchen Wagner of Wagner Hughes, Senior Justice Law Firm, and Johnson Greer Law Group are among the Atlanta-area attorneys and firms with practices involving nursing home abuse and neglect claims.
There is no single attorney who is the best choice for every case. The right nursing home abuse lawyer for your family may depend on the type of injury involved, the complexity of the medical evidence, the attorney’s litigation background, the level of nursing-home-specific experience you want, and how the firm approaches client communication and case preparation.
Below, we compare several Atlanta nursing home abuse attorneys and law firms based on publicly available information about their backgrounds, practices, and areas of focus.
Editor’s Note: This article is published by Holbert Law. The attorneys and law firms discussed below were selected based on publicly available information about their experience representing nursing home residents and families in Atlanta and throughout Georgia. This is not a numerical ranking, and inclusion should not be interpreted as an endorsement of one attorney or law firm over another.
Compare Atlanta Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
Each of these Atlanta-area attorneys and law firms brings a different background to nursing home abuse and neglect litigation. Below is a closer look at their experience, areas of focus, and the types of cases or clients their backgrounds may be particularly suited to.
| Attorney or Firm | Primary Distinguishing Factor | May Be a Good Fit When… |
|---|---|---|
| William “Bill” Holbert / Holbert Law | Former defense experience involving nursing homes and healthcare providers | The case may benefit from insight into defense strategies, healthcare litigation, and insurance claim evaluation |
| Rob Schenk / Schenk Nursing Home Abuse Law | Practice concentrated on nursing home abuse and neglect | You want a highly specialized, single-niche nursing home practice |
| Gretchen Wagner / Wagner Hughes | Extensive previous defense experience | You value an attorney with both plaintiff and defense perspectives in long-term care litigation |
| Senior Justice Law Firm | Nursing-home-focused practice operating across multiple states | You prefer a broader practice focused on elder abuse and nursing home cases across several jurisdictions |
| Johnson Greer Law Group | Nursing home litigation combined with medical malpractice experience | The case involves complicated medical negligence issues alongside nursing home care |
These distinctions do not mean that one firm is better than another. They can, however, help families identify which attorneys they may want to speak with based on the circumstances of their case.
Atlanta Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers to Consider
Families looking for an Atlanta nursing home abuse attorney have several established firms to consider. While their practices overlap, each brings a somewhat different background and approach to nursing home litigation.
William “Bill” Holbert — Holbert Law
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Firm: Holbert Law
- Experience: Practicing in Georgia since 1996
- Primary Focus: Nursing home abuse and neglect litigation
- Notable Background: Former defense attorney for nursing homes and healthcare providers
William “Bill” Holbert is the founder and managing attorney of Holbert Law. He represents nursing home residents and families in cases involving abuse, neglect, serious injuries, and wrongful death.
Before representing injured residents and their families, Holbert worked as a defense attorney at one of Atlanta’s largest law firms. His defense work included representing nursing homes, hospitals, physicians, medical providers, and healthcare organizations.
That background gives Holbert experience with both sides of healthcare litigation. In nursing home cases, it can provide insight into how facilities, insurers, and defense attorneys evaluate claims, investigate allegations, analyze medical evidence, and develop defenses.
Holbert has practiced law in Georgia since 1996. He earned his J.D. from Emory University School of Law and is a member of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association.
Holbert also hosts a podcast focused on nursing home abuse and neglect, where he discusses issues affecting nursing home residents and their families, including neglect, injuries, resident safety, and nursing home litigation. Families can explore episodes on the Holbert Law podcast page.
May be a good fit for: Families whose cases may benefit from an attorney with experience understanding nursing home defense strategies, healthcare litigation, and the way insurers and defendants evaluate nursing home claims.
Learn more about William “Bill” Holbert and Holbert Law’s Atlanta nursing home abuse lawyers.
Rob Schenk — Schenk Nursing Home Abuse Law
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Firm: Schenk Nursing Home Abuse Law
- Experience: Georgia nursing home litigation practice
- Primary Focus: Nursing home abuse and neglect
- Notable Background: Practice concentrated on nursing home cases
Rob Schenk founded Schenk Nursing Home Abuse Law in Atlanta. Unlike broad personal injury firms that handle nursing home cases alongside many other types of claims, Schenk’s firm concentrates its practice on nursing home abuse and neglect.
The firm represents residents and families in cases involving injuries and deaths at nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other long-term care facilities throughout Georgia.
Schenk’s approach emphasizes investigating causation through evidence such as medical records, facility records, witness testimony, government documents, depositions, and medical expertise.
He also hosts the Nursing Home Abuse Podcast, which provides educational information about nursing home abuse, neglect, injuries, and litigation.
May be a good fit for: Families specifically seeking a highly specialized practice concentrated on nursing home abuse and neglect and a firm that produces extensive educational content about these cases.
Gretchen Wagner — Wagner Hughes
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia
- Firm: Wagner Hughes
- Experience: Extensive plaintiff and defense litigation experience
- Primary Focus: Nursing home and long-term care litigation
- Notable Background: Former defense attorney
Gretchen Wagner represents people injured as a result of negligence, abuse, and medical malpractice in nursing homes and other care facilities.
Before co-founding Wagner Hughes, Wagner spent more than a decade defending complex personal injury matters. Her defense work included representing physicians, nurses, medical practices, hospitals, retailers, and insurance companies.
Her current practice includes cases involving nursing homes, assisted living facilities, personal care homes, medical negligence, falls, and other serious injuries.
Like attorneys who have worked on both sides of litigation, Wagner brings familiarity with how defendants and insurers may evaluate and respond to negligence claims.
May be a good fit for: Families looking for an attorney with substantial defense-side experience combined with a current practice representing residents in nursing home, long-term care, and medical negligence cases.
Senior Justice Law Firm
- Location: Atlanta, Georgia, with representation in multiple states
- Firm: Senior Justice Law Firm
- Experience: Nursing home and elder abuse litigation
- Primary Focus: Nursing home abuse and elder neglect
- Notable Background: Multi-state nursing home abuse practice
Senior Justice Law Firm represents nursing home residents and families in Georgia and several other states.
The firm’s practice centers on elder abuse and nursing home neglect litigation, including cases involving bedsores, falls, medication errors, infections, unexplained weight loss, sexual abuse, and wrongful death.
Its Georgia practice serves families in Atlanta as well as Augusta, Savannah, Macon, and other communities.
Because the firm operates across multiple jurisdictions, it brings the resources and experience of a practice built around nursing home and elder abuse cases beyond a single local market.
May be a good fit for: Families looking for a nursing-home-focused firm with a broader, multi-state practice and experience handling a range of serious elder abuse and neglect claims.
Johnson Greer Law Group
- Location: Decatur/Atlanta area
- Firm: Johnson Greer Law Group
- Experience: Georgia serious injury and medical negligence litigation
- Primary Focus: Nursing home neglect, assisted living abuse, medical malpractice, and serious injury
- Notable Background: Experience across nursing home and medical malpractice matters
Johnson Greer Law Group represents nursing home and assisted living residents throughout greater Atlanta and Georgia.
The firm’s nursing home practice involves investigating allegations of neglect and determining whether failures by a facility contributed to a resident’s injuries.
Its attorneys describe using evidence such as medical records, facility documentation, and expert consultation to investigate nursing home negligence claims.
The firm also handles assisted living abuse and medical malpractice cases, areas that can overlap with nursing home claims when a resident’s injuries involve complicated medical treatment or failures in clinical care.
May be a good fit for: Families whose nursing home case involves significant medical malpractice questions or an overlap between facility negligence and medical care.
How Do You Choose the Best Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer for Your Family?
There is no single nursing home abuse attorney who will be the best choice for every family.
Instead of relying solely on advertisements, online rankings, or review scores, consider the attorney’s actual experience with nursing home cases and whether that experience aligns with the issues involved in your loved one’s case.
Look for Significant Nursing Home Abuse Experience
Nursing home cases can be considerably different from ordinary personal injury claims.
A lawyer may need to understand medical records, care plans, staffing records, medication administration records, electronic health records, federal regulations, Georgia regulations, and corporate policies.
Ask potential attorneys how frequently they handle nursing home abuse and neglect cases and what types of cases they have handled.
Ask About Trial and Litigation Experience
Many nursing home cases settle, but an attorney should still be prepared to litigate the case when necessary.
Nursing homes and their insurers may dispute whether the facility did anything wrong. They may also argue that an injury resulted from the resident’s age, underlying health conditions, or an unavoidable medical complication.
An attorney experienced in litigation can investigate those defenses and develop evidence addressing how the facility’s care may have contributed to the injury.
Consider Experience With Medical Evidence
Medical evidence can be central to a nursing home neglect case.
For example, investigating a serious pressure ulcer may require examining repositioning schedules, skin assessments, nutrition records, physician orders, wound-care documentation, and staffing information.
A case involving sepsis might require determining when symptoms first appeared, how staff responded, and whether earlier intervention could have changed the outcome.
For medically complicated cases, experience working with medical records and qualified experts can be particularly important.
Consider the Attorney’s Background
Different professional backgrounds can provide different perspectives.
An attorney who focuses almost exclusively on nursing home cases may bring extensive familiarity with recurring facility practices and long-term care records.
A former defense attorney may bring insight into how nursing homes, insurers, and their lawyers assess claims and construct defenses.
An attorney with medical malpractice experience may be particularly helpful when the allegations involve both facility operations and clinical decision-making.
The relevance of each background depends on the facts of the case.
Find Out Who Will Actually Handle Your Case
Families should also ask who will be responsible for their case after they hire the firm.
Some firms handle a high volume of cases involving numerous attorneys, paralegals, and support staff. Other firms use smaller legal teams with more direct attorney involvement.
Neither structure is automatically better. What matters is understanding who will handle the case, how communication works, and what level of involvement you can expect from the attorney.
Questions to Ask an Atlanta Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer
Before hiring an attorney, consider asking:
- How much of your practice involves nursing home abuse and neglect?
- How many nursing home cases have you handled?
- Have you handled cases involving an injury similar to my loved one’s?
- Who will personally work on my case?
- How do you investigate nursing home negligence?
- Do you work with medical experts?
- Have you taken nursing home cases to trial?
- How will I receive updates about my case?
- What expenses could be involved in investigating the claim?
- How are attorney fees and case expenses handled?
A consultation is also an opportunity to determine whether you feel comfortable communicating with the attorney and whether the firm’s approach fits what your family is looking for.
What Types of Cases Do Atlanta Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers Handle?
Nursing home negligence does not always involve intentional physical abuse. Many claims arise because residents do not receive the care, supervision, nutrition, medication, or medical attention they require.
Atlanta nursing home abuse lawyers may investigate cases involving:
Bedsores and Pressure Ulcers
Serious pressure wounds may develop when an immobile resident is not repositioned appropriately or when other risk factors are not properly addressed.
Advanced bedsores can lead to infections, sepsis, hospitalization, and other serious complications.
Falls and Fractures
Nursing homes should evaluate residents for fall risks and develop appropriate care plans. A fall may warrant further investigation when staff failed to follow established safety precautions or adequately supervise a resident.
Medication Errors
Residents may be harmed when they receive the wrong medication, an incorrect dosage, another resident’s medication, or fail to receive prescribed medication.
Malnutrition and Dehydration
Unexpected weight loss, dehydration, weakness, or declining health may indicate that a resident is not receiving adequate food, fluids, or assistance with meals.
Infections and Sepsis
Nursing home residents can be especially vulnerable to infections. Untreated wounds, urinary tract infections, respiratory infections, and other conditions can become life-threatening when warning signs are not recognized and addressed.
Wandering and Elopement
Residents with Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or other cognitive impairments may require additional supervision. Facilities should take appropriate precautions when a resident has been identified as an elopement risk.
Wrongful Death
When nursing home negligence contributes to a resident’s death, certain surviving family members or representatives may be able to pursue a wrongful death claim under Georgia law.
What Should You Do If You Suspect Nursing Home Abuse in Atlanta?
If you believe a loved one may be experiencing abuse or neglect, protecting the resident should come first.
Document concerning injuries and conditions when appropriate. Write down what you observed, when you noticed it, and what staff members told you. Keep copies of communications with the facility and relevant medical documents available to you.
Serious concerns may also need to be reported to the appropriate authorities.
Our guide on how to report nursing home abuse in Georgia explains the reporting process and agencies families can contact.
You can also review our nursing home abuse warning signs checklist if you are unsure whether changes in a resident’s condition warrant further investigation.
How Much Does an Atlanta Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Cost?
Many Atlanta nursing home abuse attorneys represent clients on a contingency-fee basis.
Under a contingency arrangement, attorney fees are typically paid from the recovery obtained for the client rather than through hourly legal bills.
Fee agreements and responsibility for case expenses can vary between firms. Before hiring an attorney, ask for an explanation of the fee agreement, including what happens to case expenses if there is no recovery.
Attorney fees are only one consideration when evaluating a potential claim. The value of a nursing home neglect case can depend on factors such as the severity of the injuries, medical expenses, evidence of negligence, and the impact on the resident and family. Learn more about how much a nursing home neglect case may be worth in Georgia.
Holbert Law offers free consultations and handles qualifying nursing home abuse and neglect cases on a contingency-fee basis. There is no attorney fee unless the firm obtains a recovery for the client.
When Should You Contact a Nursing Home Abuse Attorney?
You do not need to know exactly what happened before speaking with an attorney.
Families often contact lawyers because something does not make sense: an unexplained injury, a sudden hospitalization, a serious bedsore, conflicting explanations from staff, unexpected weight loss, or a significant decline in a resident’s condition.
An attorney can review the circumstances and determine whether additional investigation may be appropriate.
Waiting too long can make an investigation more difficult. Records, surveillance footage, witness recollections, and other evidence may become harder to obtain as time passes. Legal deadlines can also limit how long a family has to pursue a claim.
Read more about when to contact a nursing home abuse attorney in Georgia.
Frequently Asked Questions About Atlanta Nursing Home Abuse Lawyers
Who is the best nursing home abuse lawyer in Atlanta?
There is no single attorney who is objectively the best choice for every nursing home abuse case. Atlanta attorneys and firms with substantial nursing home litigation practices include William “Bill” Holbert of Holbert Law, Rob Schenk of Schenk Nursing Home Abuse Law, Gretchen Wagner of Wagner Hughes, Senior Justice Law Firm, and Johnson Greer Law Group.
The right choice may depend on whether your case would benefit most from nursing-home-specific specialization, previous defense experience, medical malpractice experience, a multi-state practice, or another particular type of background.
Which Atlanta nursing home abuse lawyer has experience defending nursing homes?
William “Bill” Holbert of Holbert Law previously represented nursing homes, hospitals, physicians, medical providers, and healthcare organizations before representing injured residents and families. Gretchen Wagner of Wagner Hughes also has significant previous defense experience involving healthcare providers, hospitals, and insurers.
For families, this type of background may be relevant when a case involves complicated defenses, insurance issues, or disputes about medical causation.
Which Atlanta law firms focus specifically on nursing home abuse?
Schenk Nursing Home Abuse Law and Senior Justice Law Firm both emphasize nursing home abuse and neglect as central areas of their practices. Holbert Law also has a significant nursing home abuse and neglect practice in Georgia.
Families should review each firm’s experience and speak directly with potential attorneys to determine whether their practice aligns with the particular case.
What should I look for in a nursing home abuse attorney?
Look for an attorney with meaningful experience investigating nursing home abuse and neglect cases. Ask about the lawyer’s experience with medical records, facility records, expert witnesses, Georgia nursing home regulations, negotiations, litigation, and trials.
You should also consider whether the attorney has handled cases involving injuries similar to those suffered by your loved one.
Do I need a lawyer who specifically handles nursing home cases?
You are not required to hire a lawyer who focuses exclusively on nursing home cases. However, these claims frequently involve medical issues, long-term care regulations, extensive facility records, corporate ownership structures, and complicated causation questions.
Experience handling nursing home cases can therefore be an important factor when choosing an attorney.
How much does a nursing home abuse attorney charge in Atlanta?
Many nursing home abuse firms use contingency fees, meaning attorney fees are collected from a successful settlement or verdict rather than charged hourly. The exact percentage and treatment of case expenses vary between firms, so review the written fee agreement carefully.
Can I speak with more than one nursing home abuse lawyer?
Yes. Families can consult with multiple attorneys before deciding which law firm they want to hire. Comparing experience, communication styles, approaches to case preparation, and fee agreements can help you make an informed decision.
What evidence can help prove nursing home neglect?
Evidence may include medical records, nursing notes, care plans, medication records, staffing information, photographs, videos, incident reports, inspection records, witness testimony, electronic health records, and facility policies.
The evidence needed will depend on the resident’s injury and the circumstances surrounding the suspected neglect.
Can I sue an Atlanta nursing home for neglect?
A resident or another legally authorized person may be able to pursue a claim when a nursing home’s negligence causes injury or death. Whether a viable claim exists depends on the specific facts, evidence, causation, and applicable Georgia law.
Learn more in our guide, Can You Sue a Nursing Home in Georgia for Neglect?
Talk With an Atlanta Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer at Holbert Law
Choosing an attorney after a loved one has been seriously injured in a nursing home is an important decision. Take the time to ask questions, compare relevant experience, and find an attorney whose background and approach fit the circumstances of your family’s case.
William “Bill” Holbert has practiced law in Georgia since 1996. Before representing nursing home residents and their families, he defended nursing homes, hospitals, physicians, medical providers, and healthcare organizations. Today, he uses that experience to investigate nursing home abuse and neglect claims throughout Georgia.
If you believe an Atlanta nursing home failed to provide appropriate care to someone you love, contact Holbert Law for a free, confidential consultation. The firm can review what happened, explain your legal options, and determine whether there may be grounds for a nursing home abuse or neglect claim.
Call (404) 850-4878 or contact Holbert Law online to discuss your case.