Trusted Advocates for Chicago Families When a Nursing Home Fails
When a parent or grandparent moves into a nursing home, a family is trusting strangers with the most vulnerable person they love. Stein & Shulman, LLC represents families across Chicago and its suburbs when that trust is broken by abuse, neglect, or chronic understaffing. We investigate what the chart does not say, read the facility’s inspection history, and hold the owner and the licensee accountable under the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act. Our partners bring over 60 years of combined experience to that fight. Our Chicago nursing home abuse lawyers handle these cases on a contingency fee, so you pay no attorney fee until we recover compensation for you.
Why Chicago Families Trust Stein & Shulman, LLC
When a parent or grandparent enters a nursing home, families place enormous trust in the facility and its staff. When abuse, neglect, or chronic understaffing causes harm, Stein & Shulman, LLC helps Chicago-area families seek answers. We review medical records, care plans, facility reports, and inspection histories to identify what happened and who may be responsible.
- Attorney-led representation: An attorney personally leads your case, with support from an experienced legal team.
- More than 60 years of combined legal experience: Our attorneys bring decades of experience representing injured people and families throughout Illinois. The firm has served Chicagoland since 2007.
- Millions of dollars recovered: We have won jury awards and settlements for injured clients and grieving families.
- Available 24/7: Nursing home concerns can arise at any hour. Our team is available around the clock to discuss your situation.
- Service in four languages: We assist clients in English, Spanish, Polish, and Russian.
- No attorney fee unless we win: Consultations are free, and we handle cases on a contingency-fee basis.
Suspected nursing home abuse or neglect deserves careful attention, not unanswered questions. Reviewing the circumstances promptly can help preserve records, clarify what occurred, and identify possible legal options. Our attorneys help Chicago-area families understand their rights after a nursing home injury and provide experienced, attorney-led guidance through each stage of the process.
The Harm We See Most Often in Chicagoland Facilities
Nursing home injuries rarely announce themselves, and the explanation a family receives is often thinner than the injury deserves. These patterns most often turn out to be neglect:
- Falls: A resident flagged as a fall risk is left to walk or bathe alone, and a fractured hip or traumatic brain injury follows.
- Pressure ulcers: Bedsores form when an immobile resident is not turned, and they can reach bone and cause sepsis.
- Dehydration and malnutrition: Residents who need help eating and drinking go without it on a short-staffed floor.
- Medication errors: Doses are missed, doubled, or given to the wrong resident, and sedating drugs replace attention.
- Unexplained injuries: Bruises, fractures, and burns arrive with vague explanations and no chart entry.
- Unsafe conditions: Wet floors, poor lighting, and broken equipment create premises liability hazards with no margin for error.
Nearly all of it traces back to one root cause, a facility running with fewer trained people than its residents need.
What Illinois Law Requires of a Nursing Home
The Illinois Nursing Home Care Act sets the ground rules for licensed nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Section 2-107 states that an owner, licensee, administrator, employee, or agent of a facility shall not abuse or neglect a resident. The Act defines abuse as any physical or mental injury or sexual assault inflicted on a resident in a facility other than by accidental means. It defines neglect to include a facility’s failure to provide, or willful withholding of, adequate medical care, personal care, or assistance with activities of daily living necessary to avoid physical harm or mental anguish.
Assisted living and supportive living residences sit outside the Nursing Home Care Act under Section 1-113, so ask us which law governs the building your family member lives in.
The Act also decides who pays. Under Section 3-601, the owner and the licensee are liable for any intentional or negligent act or omission of their agents or employees that injures a resident. A family does not have to prove that a corporate officer made a bad decision. Proving that an aide or a nurse caused the harm reaches the company running the building, which is why understaffing cases belong under this statute.
The Rights Families Do Not Realize They Still Have
Most families assume the admission paperwork settled everything. Illinois law says otherwise, and these protections often decide a case:
- The licensee can be made to pay your attorney’s fees: Section 3-602 makes the licensee pay actual damages, costs, and attorney’s fees when a resident’s rights under Part 1 of Article II are violated.
- A signed waiver is usually void: Section 3-606 strips any waiver of the right to sue under Sections 3-601 through 3-607 of legal force, whether spoken or written. One exception is worth knowing. If the admission packet included an arbitration agreement, a court may enforce it under federal law and send the dispute to arbitration instead of a jury, so bring the paperwork and let us read exactly what was signed.
- A jury is still available: Section 3-607 makes a jury-trial waiver signed before filing null and void.
- Retaliation is a separate claim: Since Jan. 1, 2026, Section 2-120 lets a resident sue a facility whose retaliation for a complaint interferes with daily life or cuts back services.
- You do not have to wait for the state: Section 3-604 makes these remedies cumulative with other legal remedies, and exhausting administrative remedies is not required before filing suit.
- The chart belongs to the resident: Section 2-104 lets a resident or a guardian inspect and copy the clinical records the facility keeps.
Those protections live in the statute, not in the admission packet. We put them to work early to protect your loved one’s physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
How to Report Abuse and Preserve the Evidence
If a resident is in danger right now, call 911. Short of an emergency, Illinois gives families several places to report suspected abuse or neglect in a long-term care facility, including the regional Long-Term Care Ombudsman and the Illinois Department of Public Health nursing home hotline at 800-252-4343. Section 3-610 separately requires facility staff who learn of abuse or neglect to report it immediately. Section 3-608 forbids retaliation against a resident, a resident’s representative, or an employee who reports abuse or neglect.
Evidence disappears quickly. Photograph the injuries, have the resident or guardian request the complete chart in writing, note who was on shift, and review the facility’s most recent health inspection results before your first meeting with a lawyer. Illinois generally gives an injured person two years to bring a personal injury claim under 735 ILCS 5/13-202, but other deadlines can apply. The earlier we begin, the more of the record survives. Families in Chicago, Glenview, and the north suburbs can reach us at any hour.
Talk With a Chicago Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Today
If something is wrong where your mother, father, or grandparent lives, you do not have to sort it out alone. Contact us for a free consultation with a Chicago nursing home abuse attorney. We are available 24 hours a day, and you owe no fee unless we recover compensation for your family.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a nursing home abuse claim in Illinois?
Illinois generally gives two years after the cause of action accrued to bring a personal injury claim under 735 ILCS 5/13-202. Other rules can change that window depending on the defendant, the type of claim, and when the harm came to light, so confirm the deadline with a lawyer early.
Did we give up the right to sue when we signed the admission papers?
A signature at admission usually does not end the matter. Section 3-606 of the Nursing Home Care Act makes any waiver of the right to commence an action under Sections 3-601 through 3-607 null and void, whether spoken or written, and Section 3-607 does the same for a jury-trial waiver signed before filing. There is one important exception. If the paperwork included an arbitration agreement, federal law can require that dispute to go to arbitration rather than court, even though the Act voids other waivers. Bring the admission packet to your consultation, so we can read what was signed and tell you where you stand.
What can a family recover in an Illinois nursing home case?
A resident whose rights under Part 1 of Article II are violated may recover actual damages, costs, and attorney’s fees under Section 3-602. Additionally, Section 3-603 allows other relief, including injunctive and declaratory relief. When neglect contributes to a death, the family may also have a claim.
