Spring 2026 Newsletter

April 13, 2026

A MESSAGE FROM ED DUDENSING

Dear friends and colleagues,

This has been a meaningful few months for our firm and for the broader fight to protect California’s elderly residents. In March, our team secured the largest elder abuse verdict against an assisted living facility in the history of the United States, a landmark result that speaks directly to the dangers of REIT and private equity ownership in elder care. Beyond the courtroom, we’ve been active in the press, on the advocacy front, and in building resources for the attorneys, advocates, and families who share in our mission to protect this vulnerable community.

I invite you to subscribe to our Newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn and Facebook to be part of the community we’re building around this work.

With gratitude,
Ed

TRIAL UPDATE: $110 MILLION JURY VERDICT

This March, a Sacramento County jury returned a $110 million total verdict in favor of the family of Mildred Hernandez, a 100-year-old assisted living resident who died after wandering into an outside courtyard at her facility and freezing to death. The verdict was secured by Dudensing Law founder Ed Dudensing (lead counsel), and fellow attorneys Jay Renneisen and Rolando Hidalgo, after a two-month trial before Judge Jeffrey Galvin. It held a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT), Colony Capital, and a private equity investment firm, Formation Capital, responsible for corporate decisions that left residents at serious risk.

The case underscores growing concerns about the role of REITs and private equity in the ownership and operation of long-term care facilities, where complex corporate structures can distance decision-makers from the consequences of unsafe conditions.

WORLD ELDER ABUSE AWARENESS DAY

Each year on June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day serves as a reminder that the fight to protect older adults extends well beyond the courtroom. An estimated 1 in 10 older Americans experience some form of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, yet many never report it.

The mission driving Dudensing Law’s work is rooted in the same principle that underlies this World Elder Abuse Awareness Day: every older person has the right to live free from abuse and neglect.

ADVOCACY UPDATES & RECOGNITIONS

This quarter has brought a number of meaningful developments for Dudensing Law beyond the courtroom. From new honors and media recognition to expanded advocacy tools, we’ve been deepening our commitment to systemic change in how California treats its most vulnerable residents.

Now on Substack: Protecting California’s Seniors

If you’ve been following our work, you know that the fight to protect California’s elderly residents doesn’t stop in the courtroom. That’s why we’ve launched a Substack, Protecting California Seniors, as a dedicated space for news, commentary, and analysis on elder abuse and neglect in our state.

Our Substack covers the policy developments and legal trends that affect California’s most vulnerable residents. Whether you’re an attorney, a policymaker, a journalist, or a family member navigating the elder care system, this is a resource built for you.

Subscribe to stay informed and join the conversation: https://protectcaliforniaelders.substack.com/subscribe

Recognition & Honors

Dudensing Law has once again been recognized in the prestigious 2026 Chambers and Partners USA Guide, maintaining its ranking in Band 3 for Litigation: Mainly Plaintiffs – California. This year’s recognition carries added distinction, as firm founder Ed Dudensing also earned an individual ranking in the same practice category. He is one of only 25 attorneys who were ranked in this category.

Ed Dudensing has also been named an “Attorney of the Year” finalist for the 2026 California Legal Awards, presented by Law.com and The Recorder. The California Legal Awards recognize the state’s most accomplished attorneys across practice areas, honoring those who have demonstrated exceptional skill, leadership, and impact in the law.

Finally, founder Ed Dudensing has been named to the 2026 Lawdragon 100 Managing Partners You Need to Know guide. The guide highlights the nation’s top law firm leaders who combine exceptional legal skill with outstanding firm management and vision.

IN THE NEWS

Hunterbrook Media: Ensign: The Nursing Home Empire Built on Fatal Neglect

An investigative piece by Hunterbrook Media reported that The Ensign Group, the largest operator of skilled nursing facilities in the United States, systematically understaffs its facilities, resulting in millions of hours of missing care for some of the nation’s sickest and most vulnerable residents.

Hunterbrook interviewed Dudensing Law founder Ed Dudensing as part of its reporting. “The regulation is that you have to staff to meet the needs of residents, and that consistently does not happen,” said Ed. “That’s illegal.”

Read the full piece here.

NPR: Real estate investors are buying up long-term care facilities. Residents can suffer

Dudensing Law Founder Ed Dudensing is featured in a KFF Health News investigation, published in NPR, that exposes how real estate investment trusts (REITs) have taken control of the nation’s nursing homes and assisted living facilities with devastating consequences for residents.

As Ed told NPR: “REIT money is very detached from knowing about or caring about patient or resident outcomes, because it’s not in their business model. Their allegiance is to their investors.”

Read the full investigation here.

Daily Journal: Why Loosening Sedative Rules in Nursing Homes Would Put Vulnerable Patients at Serious Risk.

The op-ed piece by Ed offers a powerful look at the growing threat of chemical restraint to nursing home residents across the country and the federal rollback that could make it worse.

“The answer to an imperfect oversight mechanism is not to gut it,” he writes. “The answer is to strengthen it by requiring non-pharmacological interventions to be documented before prescribing, closing the schizophrenia diagnosis loophole, and implementing staffing requirements that would make sedation unnecessary in the first place.”

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