Cohen and Kolodny Help Get Justice for Veterans in Landmark Settlement

YARDLEY — Back in the days when Bucks County residents David Cohen and Elliot Kolodny were volunteering with Washington Crossing National Cemetery, they would have never imagined that they would someday join forces and become part of the team that negotiated one of the country’s largest landmark settlements for veterans who suffered gross negligence in two New Jersey nursing homes amid the Covid-19 pandemic — but they did just that.

And now, according to the New Jersey Law Journal, the founding partners of Cohen Kolodny Abuse Analytics, LLC were the Bucks County-based attorneys, working with Scott Piekarsky – of Phillips Nizer and two other firms that received the No. 1 ranking in the publication’s annual “Personal Injury Top Awards” report released August of 2022.

Cohen Kolodny Abuse Analytics, LLC, headquartered in Yardley, along with Piekarsky, directly represented 15 of the 119 residents of the state-run veterans’ homes in Paramus and Menlo Park, New Jersey, that secured a $52.9 million settlement — New Jersey's largest personal injury award this year.

“We were honored to receive this year’s top ranking,” said Cohen, past chair of the National Nursing Home Litigation Group of the American Association for Justice. “This was a milestone settlement for us, and it was a privilege to represent the families of these veterans who suffered during the pandemic.”

Kolodny was one of the inaugural members of the Guardians of the National Cemetery Business Advisory Council, a locally-based volunteer organization whose mission, according to its website, is to serve as official support committee for the Washington Crossing National Cemetery. Meanwhile, Cohen has volunteered for several years at the Washington Crossing National Cemetery through beautification and cleanup efforts.

“Our commitment to veterans has long preceded this case,” Kolodny said.

Both with decades of relentless dedication to their clients, Cohen and Kolodny are passionate about seeking justice for residents of long-term care facilities who suffer from neglect and abuse. Through their trusted expertise in nursing home litigation, their firm has secured results for numerous victims of neglect and abuse, including families in Bucks County.

“It’s an honor and a solemn responsibility to have represented every victim in this case,” Kolodny said. “It’s especially an honor when these are veterans who literally put their lives on the line for our country and in turn were treated so poorly.”

In 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, New Jersey adopted a law giving nursing homes immunity from suit over Covid-19 infections, but the law did not apply in cases of extreme negligence, according to New Jersey Law Journal. However, the team of attorneys for the deceased residents — including Cohen Kolodny — were able to show that management’s conduct was grounds for an exception to that law, asserting their grossly negligent conduct and incompetency in responding to the pandemic.

Unfortunately, while the victims of nursing home neglect and abuse are often deceased by the time a case is settled, both Cohen and Kolodny agree that the settlement brings hope to families that what happened to their loved ones won’t happen again.

“We have shown a light on how shabbily our veterans were being treated and we, and more importantly our clients, think that this is going to make a difference,” Kolodny said.

Both the judge who presided over private arbitration and the nurse who documented and summarized what had occurred to each of the families’ loved ones were military veterans. Families of the deceased residents presented to the judge and detailed the ways in which their loved ones suffered.

“They were heard in a cathartic and meaningful way by a judge who cared — it was incredibly moving,” said Cohen.

Eldercare Abuse in Bucks County

Despite the magnitude of the New Jersey veteran home settlement, Kolodny says the firm’s true passion is similarly focused on fighting eldercare abuse within Bucks County nursing homes. The firm’s local cases have included a case against former Bedminster Supervisor, Robert Holland, who was charged with sexual assaulting a resident and the choking death of a resident living within a Bucks County group home. “Sadly, there are too many nursing homes that put profits over patients. Our passion will always be fighting for those vulnerable individuals and their families,” says Kolodny.

For more information on Cohen Kolodny Abuse Analytics, LLC, visit https://cohenabuseanalytics.co...

SIDEBAR: Warning Signs of Nursing Home Abuse

Kolodny advises families who may suspect their loved ones are suffering from neglect or abuse at long-term care facilities to “speak up.”

“You have to speak up, and you want to be proactive about it,” he said.

Warning signs include:

• Bedsores (also known as pressure ulcers/decubitus ulcers) or open wounds especially to the lower back or buttocks region
• Falls that cause an injury, even if this is the first fall you know about
• Loss of mobility
• Signs of malnutrition or dehydration including weight loss or gain, hair loss
• Complaints of physical or mental abuse by caregivers or other patients even if your loved one has dementia including any sudden or unusual changes in behavior
• A loved one who seems heavily sedated
• Poor hygiene or unsanitary living conditions
• Any unexplained or unusual injury