Feliz Rael on Leaving Railroad Defense Law to Spend Two Decades Fighting for New Mexico's

What happens when a young woman goes to law school intending to work on the plaintiff's side, clerks and works for plaintiff's firms all the way through her training, graduates, and then ends up taking a job as a railroad defense lawyer fighting off injury claims from the exact people she always meant to help In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Feliz Rael of The Law Office of Feliz A. Rael in Albuquerque, New Mexico — a Super Lawyers selectee, AV Preeminent rated by Martindale-Hubbell, a member of the American Association for Justice's Nursing Home Litigation Group, a podcast host Feliz walks through the case that launched the rest of her career: Gene Marie Gann, an 86-year-old woman at a senior living facility in Albuquerque who walked up four stairs every week to get her hair done, reached the top of the staircase one day, and grabbed for a railing that simply was not there — because the twelve inches of ADA-required railing at the top of the stairs had never been installed because a closet door was nearby She explains what a bed sore actually means and why it is almost always a sign of inadequate staffing rather than individual negligence, why complaining about a family member's care does not have to trigger retaliation if handled with documentation and a non-hostile tone that reaches the right people rather than the frontline workers who did not make the staffing decision, how to check nursing home staffing ratios at Medicare.gov while recognizing that assisted living facility numbers are not publicly available They also discuss the financial exploitation case Feliz has been working for over five years: a doctor with a traumatic brain injury who hired a housekeeper at fifteen dollars an hour, within three months watched her become power of attorney over himself and his wife, become CEO of his company, drain his bank accounts, sell his house, buy luxury cars, purchase a two million dollar home in Albuquerque, and then drop him at the hospital and tell the staff he had dementia and could not be believed Feliz Rael is the founder of The Law Office of Feliz A. Rael in Albuquerque, a Super Lawyers selectee, AV Preeminent rated, a member of the AAJ Nursing Home Litigation Group, and an attorney who has devoted two decades to protecting nursing home residents, group home residents, assisted living facility residents, and victims of financial exploitation across New Mexico. Connect with Feliz Rael: raelfirm.com Contact via the website contact form — email response is preferred Albuquerque, New Mexico — practicing only in New Mexico Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Feliz Rael 00:13 Railroad defense lawyer who always meant to be on the other side — and why it just weighed on her 00:32 Her heart was not in it, she got married, had a baby, and found her way back through a colleague's call 01:54 A woman who started her own nursing home firm needed an associate and the role fit immediately 03:00 The case that launched the rest of her career 03:11 Gene Marie Gann — four stairs, a missing railing, a fractured skull, and a $1.86 million verdict 05:30 The CEO who could not name a single safety repair his sixty-five-building company had ever made 06:10 A contractor who said installing the missing railing would have cost twenty-six dollars 07:23 The message the jury sent: elderly lives get more valuable, not less 07:57 My mom has a bed sore that was not there last month — is that neglect or does that just happen 08:48 I am scared to complain because I think they will treat my dad worse — how do you handle that 09:15 Documentation, a non-hostile tone, date-stamped photos, and who is actually making the staffing decision 10:39 Are nicer more expensive nursing homes actually safer — not necessarily, and here is why 11:20 The state-run New Mexico nursing home with the highest staffing ratio and the best outcomes in the state 12:10 Genesis, private equity, a third of New Mexico's nursing facilities, and what the bankruptcy left behind 13:29 Visits are critical — even video visits, even when it is hard to get there 14:07 How to check nursing home staffing ratios at Medicare.gov — and why assisted living statistics are not public 14:35 Ask about nights, weekends, and holidays — when the most harmful things happen and the fewest staff are on site 15:30 What are the cooking and laundry staff counted in the care ratio — and the question to ask 16:11 Warning signs to watch for on every visit: smell, urine stains, unexplained bruises and scratches #FelizRael #RaelFirm #TrustcastShow #NewMexicoNursingHomeLawyer #NursingHomeAbuse #ElderLaw #FinancialExploitationElders #NursingHomeNeglect #AlbuquerqueAttorney #VulnerableAdults