Since your last visit, your attorney has been busy sending subpoenas to the hospice facility to compel

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Question:

Since your last visit, your attorney has been busy sending subpoenas to the hospice facility to compel them into providing the firm documentation which might help your case.

After you spoke with your attorney, you offered to do whatever you could to help, and apparently he decided to take you up on your offer, because you received a call to come to the firm and meet him in the conference room.

However, when you enter you're surprised to find that your attorney isn't present...

Instead, the only thing in the conference room are several boxes full of documents on the table.

As you enter the room, you quickly realize you're not alone, as a smartly dressed man raises up and starts to head in your direction. He seems rather put out, and as he approaches it becomes obvious that you're in his way.

You move, and he quickly leaves the room-saying nothing to you...

Suddenly a voice from the dark side of the room rings out, breaking the awkward silence. "Don't mind him."

"That was the defense attorney leaving all these boxes, minus a few items." She states rather coolly.

"My name is Beverly. I'm Ben's partner, and Ben has graciously appointed me to conduct all the depositions and to sort through all these documents."...

"Yeah for me." She expresses sarcastically.

She stares at you for a minute... "Ben didn't tell you why you were coming here did he?" Your silence seems to confirm her answer, because she gives an exasperated expression. "Thought so."

"Well, you're here to help me in the discovery phase of the trial. You did say you were willing to help, right?" You nod your head in confirmation. "Great." She says rather unenthusiastically. ..

"Well, we better get started going through all these files." Your silence and puzzled expression seems to have asked a question you didn't realize you had. "They are patient's medical and accounting records from our families. We need to corroborate what we know and to find out if there are other medical or fraud issues to establish a pattern of abuse."

"There are other documents we need as well, like communications-emails and conversations by the executives confirming they had knowledge of the problem. However, so far they have been unwilling to provide that-claiming it's all privileged information." She looks annoyed.

"So, we may need to get the court's help to..."

She stops abruptly, as a nervous looking woman enters the room.

"Hello. Excuse me, is this Ben Sherrer's office." She speaks very quietly, and looks around. Beverly nods, and then asks the obvious question.

"Who are you?"

The woman, still nervous, answers quietly. "My name is Carla Maldonado. Im a nurse at the local hospice...

Silence fills the room. You and Beverly immediately stop working to give Carla your full attention, straining to hear her.

Carla continues. "I'd like to speak with someone about some things l've witnessed at my job." ...

Carla fills you and Beverly in on a lot of information that you probably shouldn't have been there to hear. However, from what you heard, there have apparently been numerous incidents of alleged abuse witnessed by Carla and some of the other nursing staff. There also appears to be a general sense there that the patients are seen as an annoying feature, rather than the sole purpose, of the facility. However, the worst treatment is saved for the mental health wing of the facilitywhere your father was a patient. So, what do you do now?

Knowing what you know now from Carla, what other information or documents might you want to obtain? Is there anyone else you'd like to talk to?