The following is an article written by Tim Morrissey of the Public News Service - WI on March 13, 2012. Click here to read the story.

Admitting a loved one to a nursing home can be a traumatic experience, and too often people sign away their rights when they sign the admission papers. Milwaukee attorney Jeff Pitman says too many people don't know what they're signing.

"People are not told that they're signing arbitration agreements that waive constitutional rights and waive their right to sue the nursing home. They are not told that, 'If we drop your loved one and they break a hip and they die, that you can't sue us.'"

Pitman says people seldom have time to research, pick, and choose a nursing home.

"A lot of times when somebody's being admitted to a nursing home, it's not a nursing home of their choice, it's not like they were given, 'Here you go, you got five different places to go to.' It's, 'You're going to get discharged from the hospital tomorrow and you can't go home, and we're going to try to find a bed for you at a nursing home.' And a lot of times, where they go is the only place where there's a bed available."

Pitman says you do not have to sign an arbitration agreement, and the nursing home can't refuse to admit your loved one if you don't sign such an agreement.

Pitman says you're giving up your rights if you sign the arbitration agreement.

"Oh, absolutely. I mean the biggest one is that you're giving up your right, your constitutional right to a jury trial, and you're giving up all of the rights that you would have under Wisconsin's Civil Procedure law."

Pitman says it can be confusing, because the admission experience can be intimidating.

"You're given these documents and it's like, 'Sign here, sign here, sign here,' and everybody's afraid, like what if they couldn't get admitted here, where are they going to go? What am I going to do? And so they really feel as if they have no power."

Pitman says that each year approximately 35,000 nursing-home residents nationwide suffer unnecessary and avoidable pain because of negligence.

He says you need to know your rights before you are faced with the situation of putting a loved one into a nursing home.

Attorney Jeffrey Pitman was honored at the annual Leaders in the Law event presented by The Wisconsin Law Journal last Thursday at the Milwaukee Hilton City Center.

The attorneys and judges selected have demonstrated their outstanding leadership, vision and legal expertise in Wisconsin’s law community.

The following was written by Jane Pribek for the 2012 Leaders in the Law event.

Jeff Pitman found his calling in 2001. That’s when he handled his first nursing home case and decided to concentrate his practice on serving residents who’ve been injured at the hands of health care providers.

“I wanted to help people who didn’t have the voice to speak for themselves,” he said.

Since then, the Milwaukee lawyer has helped hundreds of residents and their families recover.

On Jan. 6, Pitman helped a 94-year-old client land $1.5 million from a Washington County jury for the client’s daughter’s wrongful death in Anderson v. County View Group Homes.

The client’s daughter, 56, lived in a community-based residential facility. She’d been prescribed a diet of only pureed foods. She wound up choking to death on food that was not chopped to the proper consistency.

Pitman argued the facility was understaffed on the day of the accident. The jury agreed. He said it’s the largest reported verdict against a long-term care facility in Wisconsin.

He also has settled several cases favorably, but confidentially.

Notable among them was Pitman’s representation of the family of a quadriplegic resident who was placed on a defectively-designed “pressure release” mattress. Making matters worse, no one on staff knew how to use it properly. The mattress overheated, causing the victim to suffer a stroke. She survived for about a month before the family terminated life support. They received a $1.1 million settlement in July 2010.

In addition to his advocacy for individuals, Pitman is an outspoken advocate for all resident’s rights, having testified before state lawmakers when pending legislation would negatively affect residents of health care facilities. He also has testified on behalf of the rights of all injured Wisconsin citizens through his advocacy for the Wisconsin Association for Justice. He serves as WAJ’s president-elect.

Pitman’s law partner M. Angela Dentice had high praise for her colleague.

“Jeff has the unusual combination of intelligence, passion for nursing home clients and causes and the ability to connect with people from all walks of life,” she said. “That’s what makes him such a successful trial lawyer.”

Pitman has secured successful results in most of his cases, but they often require a tough fight, he said. At the policy level, he said, it’s currently a very hostile climate for nursing home residents. His work can be frustrating and heartbreaking, he said, but the tragedies “embolden” him.

“And if I don’t do this work,” Pitman said, “who’s going to do it?”

The following is an article written by Lee Berquist and appeared in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on January 8, 2012. Click here to read the story.

Jurors in Washington County awarded more than $1.5 million Friday to the mother of 56-year-old woman who died after choking while in the care of a group home in Germantown.

Vicky Anderson died on March 3, 2009, after an incident on Feb. 27 of that year, according to her attorney, in which staff of the group home failed to properly purée her food.

As a result she choked on her meal, causing brain damage and eventually her death, attorney Jeff Pitman said.

Anderson was developmentally disabled, blind and had difficulty swallowing her food. She lived at a group home in Germantown operated by Countryview Group Homes.

Pitman said that while researching the case, he discovered Countryview was operating the day of the incident without a required manager and had recently cut staffing levels.

Jurors awarded the woman’s estate nearly $1.52 million for burial expenses, pain and suffering, loss of companionship for Vicky’s mother, Evelyn, and punitive damages.

Michael Yelin, administrator of Countryview, said in a statement:

“Countryview disputes any evidence of inappropriate staff cuts and (is) considering an appeal on that issue.

“Countryview took responsibility from the beginning because its employee made a mistake.”

The body of a missing nursing home resident was found in the Trempealeau River Sunday, sparking an investigation by Wisconsin's Department of Health Services. The body of Hong Lin, 43, was found by a hunter Sunday morning near the town of Lincoln. Lin had been reported missing from the facility since November 3rd.

According to an article written in the LaCrosse Tribune, the Divsion of Quality Assurance, a part of the Department of Health Services, will be investigating the case.

The Trempealeau County Health Care Center cares for the elderly and people with chronic mental diseases. 

Click here to read the full story.

The following is an article from the Des Moines Register published September 27, 2011. Click here for the story.

On the front page of the Des Moines Register today was the powerful story of a Des Moines woman who fought for a necessary change in policy at Mercy hospital, and won.

Polly Fullbright took her husband to the emergency room at Mercy hospital in Des Moines a couple years back. She and her husband are both deaf, and required a certified interpreter to communicate with the doctor and staff. During the five hours her husband was at Mercy before he died of heart complications he had no interpreter available. His final hours were spent completely in the dark, at no point could he talk to his doctor about his needs or his condition.

This was a traumatizing and unacceptable experience for Polly and her family. She and another Iowan who faced a similar situation sued Mercy hospital. As part of the settlement they won, Mercy will soon make a 24/7 video relay service with certified interpreters available for deaf and hard-of-hearing patients. This will make communication accessible for deaf and hard-of-hearing patients when a live interpreter is not available, which was the case for Polly and her husband. Mercy also must administer stronger staff trainings for assisting deaf and hard-of-hearing patients, among other things.

This settlement is great news for Iowa patients who need the services of interpreters. Polly was represented by IAJ past president Thomas Duff. He tipped us off about this settlement and we recognized it right away as an excellent story to highlight the power of our civil justice system to affect positive change. We helped place this story in the Des Moines Register and helped line up a TV interview with Des Moines' Channel 8 - KCCI, which you can see on tonight's newscast.

These clips show the impact we can have when we use the resources available to us to tell our story. So many of you win similar verdicts and settlements throughout the year. Please see IAJ as a resource to help get the word out if you ever have a powerful and compelling client and/or case that highlights the important role of our justice systems in holding wrongdoers accountable.