Despite the comprehensive laws and regulations that are supposed to protect residents of our nursing homes, too many times things go wrong. There is a financial incentive for nursing homes and the companies that run them to cut corners by hiring too few staff members and underpaying that staff members who do work there. For these and other reasons, the quality of care received by residents of nursing homes falls short of the standard. Although the injuries suffered by the victims of such abuses can take many forms, dehydration, pressure sores, infections, choking, elopement, and falls are some of the more preventable and serious injuries that we see. In particularly tragic cases, nursing home residents may not survive their injuries. To be clear, each and every nursing home has an obligation to provide quality care to every resident in the facility. It is not the fault of the resident or the resident's family when the nursing home falls short of these standards. However, there are some things that we can do to help make sure that nursing homes live up to their obligations. The federal government has published some useful information that may assist you in selecting or evaluating a nursing home. Those resources can be found here: http://www.medicare.gov/nursing/overview.asp . The most important part may be to trust your instincts and ask questions. I realize that depending on each individual circumstance, frequently visiting your relative in the nursing home may be difficult. However, the personal involvement of the family at the home can be very important.

Although the first day of spring was months ago, the Ohio Valley is just starting to enter the rainy season that traditionally marks the transition out of winter. Did you have property damaged in this week's hail and rain? Read on to see how attorney Michelle Marinacci has previously suggested you handle such a situation. As spring time approaches the Ohio Valley, so does the risk of severe storms damaging our homes and businesses. Being prepared in the event you sustain storm damage will make the claim process easier and, in the event your insurer does not handle your claim fairly and in compliance with its policy obligations, you will be prepared to take the appropriate legal action. Below are some helpful hints to assist you in dealing with the results of a damaging spring or summer storm:

It's graduation and road repair season! What does one have to do with the other? Career choices. We all expect high school graduates to attend college and become doctors, lawyers, software engineers and a lot of other high paying and high profile careers. But as I drive down the interstate to my not so high profile career, I see all of these men dressed in reflective clothing and know that it takes us all! Maybe the road workers, the trash collectors, the cashiers, the typists, etc. don't have high profile careers but where would this world be without them? We set out our trash can and know that what is inside it will disappear. We go to the store and because there is a cashier there, we can purchase food. We take for granted that the "insignificant" people are so necessary in our lives and in the lives of the entire world.

Everyone has seen a television show or movie where an incident happens, a lawsuit is filed, the claim goes to trial and the entire process is concluded within an hour or two. Unfortunately, these fictional depictions lead to the misperception that once a lawsuit is filed, a claim will be resolved almost instantaneously. In real life, the process is not that quick. There are actually multiple phases of the litigation process which must be completed before a claim is brought to trial. Understanding the process is necessary to avoid frustration caused by the length of time it sometimes takes claims to resolve.

At times this winter, the heat and warmth of the sun seemed a distant memory. But here we are again, enjoying a most-welcome spring with summer just around the corner. And while I imagine many of us will be looking to take full advantage of the sun's rays in a few short weeks, especially after being cooped up all winter, enjoying time outdoors is not without its challenges. Spending time in the sun requires a careful balancing act. After all, absorption of the sun's rays improves mood and triggers the production of Vitamin D, which is essential for a number of the body's internal processes and critical to our very survival. However, the UV light of the sun's rays also causes skin cancer and prematurely ages the skin. Compounding the issue is a growing body of research that strongly suggests that the conventional "protection" of sunscreen may be as, if not more, harmful than the sun itself.

You have signed your oil and gas lease, and maybe you are happy with the terms of your lease, but maybe you are not. Maybe you decided you could put up with a little noise or the extra traffic in your community while the drilling is going on. What you have been waiting for is for production to start and for the royalties to start pouring in. Just let the royalty payments start and it will all be worth it. Unfortunately, there are a myriad of ways the oil and gas company has misled you as to the amount of money you might ultimately receive from the production. Drawing inaccurate and improper unit production boundaries is one of them.

St. Clairsville, OH -- On May 9, 2014, a jury returned a verdict of $500,000 in the Courtroom of Belmont County Common Pleas Court Judge Frank Fregiato, in favor of Bordas & Bordas, PLLC client, Christine R. Alexander and against the Country Club Retirement Center. The case involved the disappearance of Alexander's 80-year-old mother, Luella Edge. Retirement home officials found that Edge was missing from the home in the early morning hours of April 30, 2010. Edge had resided in her Wheeling home for 58 years before moving to the retirement center, where she stayed for one day before she disappeared. A search for Edge was immediately organized by Belmont County Sheriff Fred Thompson, which included search dogs, family, and other civilians. The Country Club Retirement Center is located in a wooded area in Bellaire, Ohio. On November 20, 2010, Edge's remains were found approximately 790 feet from the retirement home. Bordas & Bordas partners Geoff Brown and Jamie Bordas represented the family at trial. Brown said it is regrettable that Edge's family will have to live with the unfortunate consequences surrounding her death. "It is even more unfortunate that the family had to go through such tremendous stress and anxietyassociated with the disappearance of Luella, especially when they trusted that she would be under constant care at the Country Club Retirement Center," Brown said. "We were proud to represent our clients in this case. Hopefully, this will help bring about some change in the way that our older citizens are treated in assisted living facilities," Jamie Bordas, managing partner of Bordas and Bordas

I am hoping to run my third Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon this May. The Half Marathon is a great community event and it allows you to see Wheeling in a way that will change the way you think about our city. I'll never view 29 th Street hill the same way again. It's great to see our community rally around an event like that and there are many ways to participate, from the half marathon itself to the 5k to events for the kids.

The West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act ensures that West Virginia workers receive all wages and fringe benefits due them for the hours they work. The Act aims to protect the rights and wages of workers, while providing a level playing field among the state businesses which must follow these rules. In brief, the Act provides: · Employees must be paid at least once every two weeks unless a special waiver is obtained by the Commissioner of Labor to pay less frequently; · Wages are paid in cash, check, money order or direct deposit;

In what is believed to be the first, but likely not the last, verdict of its kind, a jury has found a natural gas company responsible for $2.9 million in personal injury and property damages it caused by exposing a Texas family to harmful emissions of volatile organic compounds, toxic air pollutants and diesel exhaust from its fracking operations. The factual scenario underpinning this verdict is likely familiar to many of us here in the Ohio Valley who have had a front row seat for the ever-expansive natural gas drilling effort that has been going on in our back yard over the past several years. In late 2008, Robert, Lisa and 11-year old Emily Parr started experiencing serious health problems. Lisa Parr told CNN . "My central nervous system was messed up. I couldn't hear, and my vision was messed up. My entire body would shake inside. I was vomiting white foam in the mornings." In 2009, Lisa's husband, Robert, and their daughter, Emma, also became ill, suffering a multitude of mysterious symptoms, including nosebleeds, vision problems, nausea, rashes and blood pressure issues. At the time the Parrs had little appreciation for the size and scope of drilling operations near their property. Lisa Parr dismissed her migraine headaches, nausea and dizziness as the flu. "Being that the wells were not on our property, we had no idea that what they were doing on the property around us was affecting us," Mrs. Parr said. Unfortunately, her symptoms persistently worsened, and she came to recognize that something more serious was involved. The Parrs soon learned that Aruba Petroleum placed 22 natural gas wells within a 2-mile radius of their property in Decatur, Texas, just about an hour northwest of Dallas. The closest well to the Parr's property was only 791 feet away.