Practice Areas

Criminal Law

As a former Assistant City Attorney serving in the capacity of City Prosecutor for the City of Wichita, I personally prosecuted a minimum of 1,200 criminal and traffic trials before the Municipal Court of the City of Wichita. Since that time I have also served as Municipal Court Judge Pro-Tem in the municipal courts of Wichita, Mulvane, Goddard, Haysville and Valley Center, Kansas. Now as a defense attorney with over 25 years of experience who has handled hundreds of traffic tickets and other criminal charges, I require that the prosecuting attorney adhere to the strict burden of proof that must be met by the government in order to prove a case. For example, I have won DUI cases because the prosecutor could not prove that my clients had been driving the vehicle or had been drinking prior to being involved in an accident. I won a Domestic Violence Battery trial because the prosecutor could not properly identify my client as the perpetrator. I achieved a dismissal of six cases of writing a worthless check because the prosecutor could not prove that the merchant followed the law regarding notice and the prosecutor could not prove that the checks were written by my client. In many cases I can get the charges dismissed entirely, amended, or reduced in severity.

DUI - TRAFFIC VIOLATIONS-
Don't think you need a lawyer? Think again!!! Do not plead guilty to any DUI or other traffic violation occurring in Wichita or in the cities located in Sedgwick County, Kansas or the surrounding areas without calling my office for a free consultation. Avoid jail, driver's license suspensions, increased insurance rates, and higher fines by calling my office as soon as possible. In many instances I can get your charges dismissed entirely or amended to a non moving violation saving you increased insurance rates or avoiding a suspension of your driver's license. I handle all moving violations including, but not limited to:

• DUI
• Driving While Suspended (DWS)
• No Proof of Insurance
• Driving While Habitual
• Speeding
• Reckless Driving
• Careless Driving
• Hit and Run
• Evade and Elude
• Stop Sign/Stop Light Violations
• Disobeying a Traffic Control Device
• Improper Passing
• Driver's License Administrative Hearings
• Failure to Signal Violations
• Turning Violations
• Exhibition of Speed
• Probation Violations
• Withdrawing Arrest Warrants
• All Moving Violations

MISDEMEANOR CRIMINAL CHARGES -
Don't think you need a lawyer? Think again!!! Do not plead guilty to any criminal charges in the Municipal Court of Wichita or in cities located in Sedgwick County, Kansas or the surrounding areas without calling my office for a free consultation.In many instances I can get your charges dismissed entirely or amended to a lesser charge saving you jail time and extra fines. I handle all misdemeanor criminal charges including, but not limited to:

• Assault and Battery
• Disorderly Conduct
• Domestic Violence - Battery, Disorderly Conduct, etc.
• Drug Charges - Possession of Drugs and/or Drug Paraphernalia
• Theft - Shoplifting, Temporary Deprivation of Property, Worthless Checks, etc.
• Sexual Offenses - Prostitution, Solicitation, Lewd and Lascivious Behavior, etc.
• Resisting Police, Battery of Law Enforcement Officer, etc.
• Obstructing Legal Process or Official Duty
• Criminal Damage to Property
• Criminal Trespass
• Weapons/Firearms Violations
• Probation Violations
• Withdrawing Arrest Warrants
• Expungement of Past Felony and Misdemeanor Criminal Convictions
• All Criminal Misdemeanor Violations

Nursing Home Negligence and Abuse

It is unfortunate that my practice has been seeing more and more cases brought under this heading. However, in order to change the way nursing homes are run, it is essential these claims be brought to light. Nursing home abuse, injury or neglect can take many forms and exhibit itself in ways that can be easily ignored. Such things as bedsores, skin ulcers, pressure sores, decubitus ulcers, septicemia, gangrene, malnutrition, and dehydration can occur even with the best of care; however, these conditions are not inevitable for each and every nursing home resident. Objective injuries, such as burns, sexual assault (rapes), falls, overdoses, infections, osteomyelitis, threats, and deaths are more apparent. Often times in such cases, a child or other care giver feels guilty enough about placing a family member in a nursing home that they refuse to face positive signs of neglect or abuse, fearing it will reflect poorly on them and their choice of a facility for their family member. A nursing facility must provide services and activities designed to maintain the health and well-being of its residents. To do less than that is negligent at least, and often reckless indifference. Every nursing home resident is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect.

How Much is Your Loved One's Life Worth?

In a perfect world no one would mistreat someone entrusted to their care. But it's obvious to see that today's society is far less perfect than it could be. We live in a world where monetary gains outweigh moral concerns to humanity and our environment. In recent years, one of the largest automobile manufactures in the United States proved this theory correct. The company made the decision to let people die rather than spend the extra money needed to prevent gas tank explosions as a result of rear end collisions. The repairs would have only cost a few hundred dollars per car, but the victims who died in these accidents were worth far more than that to their families. This decision was economic, not moral.

Unfortunately, too many nursing home administrators make similar "economic" decisions concerning people placed in their facilities. It's "cheaper" to hire inexperienced or unfit attendants to care for those placed in their facilities. It's "cheaper" to staff more patients per care giver, even if patients are forced to soil themselves when no one is available to help them to the restroom or clean up after an avoidable accident. It's cheaper to "warehouse" the elderly and make "big money" from Medicare or Medicaid than it is to provide proper and dignified care. The examples are horrifying and, unfortunately, unlimited. As with the auto manufacturer, only when this "immoral" attitude is brought to light and the perpetrators made to admit their negligence is the situation addressed and corrected.

What Are Your Chances Of Being Injured, Neglected Or Abused?

A Wichita television broadcast reviewed nursing homes in the state of Kansas and revealed that more than ninety percent (90%) of these institutions were being operated properly and in accordance with state and federal guidelines. However, this statistic also reveals that ten percent (10%) of the nursing homes in Kansas are not meeting the standard of care prescribed by law.

Many of the elderly are confined to nursing homes because they cannot care for themselves. They do not have the ability to speak out against the poor conditions they are forced to live in on a daily basis. Instead, they must rely on their families and loved ones to stand up for them.

What Can You Do?

The first step is to always inform the state authorities of the situation (preferably in writing with a copy kept by the complainant) so that they can investigate and possibly correct any deficiencies. However, the financial resources of  Kansas Department on Aging (the department in charge of reviewing adult care facilities) is severely limited. Investigations may be scheduled six months or more after an incident has occurred and the fines imposed on the adult care homes may be only a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. These "consequences" give those who endanger lives a low financial risk and an excuse to do business as usual in these slip-shod institutions. As a result, only when private attorneys bring claims or lawsuits against these facilities do their managers and owners wake-up to the need to reorganize and to actually care for their residents in a reasonable manner as provided by law

Since lawsuits against nursing homes and home health care agencies for negligence in the care and treatment of residents are comparatively new, there are only a handful of attorneys in the state of Kansas actively engaged in pursuing cases in this area of the law. Verlin A. Ingram has been involved with nursing home and health care negligence cases for over fifteen years. He has been able to establish a rapport with the families of residents who have suffered at the hands of negligent care givers and home health care providers. More importantly, in successfully prosecuting many of these cases, he has delivered a clear message to any nursing home which would provide less than adequate care. That message? Clean up your act or you will be forced to pay a substantial financial penalty. Every resident deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

According to the American Medical Association, only 1 in 14 cases of mistreatment to the elderly are reported. Until such abuse is brought to light, improper treatment will continue to increase.

Only through a willingness to step forward will the parents and grandparents who live in nursing homes be protected from abuse, injury and neglect. And, only with the possibility of facing a lawsuit, will negligent nursing homes face up to the very real fact that no one is free to treat the elderly, infirm, or disabled as human castaways only to be warehoused until their death.

For further information or questions contact:

Kansas Department on Aging
Adult Care Complaint Program
New England Building
503 S. Kansas Avenue
Topeka, KS 66603-3404

Kansas Advocates For Better Care
913 Tennessee, Number 2
Lawrence, Kansas 66044 (800) 525-1782

VERLIN A. INGRAM ATTORNEY AT LAW
River Park Place 727 N. Waco,
Suite 175 Wichita, Kansas 67203 (316) 262-2018

Verlin A. Ingram is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas (BA. in Economics and Business Administration) and a graduate of Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas (Juris Doctorate). Since being admitted to practice in 1978, he was a Revenue Agent with the Internal Revenue Service and was the City Prosecutor for the City of Wichita, before going into private practice.

In private practice for over 25 years he maintains an emphasis in nursing home negligence, home health care negligence, auto accident recovery claims, medical malpractice, psychological malpractice, prescription drug liability, criminal misdemeanor law, DUI and traffic violations.

He has been involved with nursing home and home care cases concerning residents who, to name only a few examples, have been subjected to mistreatment in general or loss of human dignity, who have been mistreated for bed sores, who have been beaten and humiliated, who have suffered from failure to treat decubitus ulcers resulting in death, who through lack of treatment became infected with gangrene resulting in loss of limb or death, who have been raped, received broken bones due to falls, or who have died of sepsis or through malnutrition/starvation, and who have suffered or died due to inadequate training of nursing home staff.

Personal Injury Litigation

I represent only plaintiffs in personal injury disputes. I have experience in the art of negotiation and mediation in Kansas courts. My firm has handled cases arising from automobile accidents, wrongful death, nursing home negligence, medical malpractice, psychological malpractice, and prescription drug liability. Personal injuries also extend to those injuring or damaging another person’s rights, reputation, or property resulting from events or activities such as automobile accidents, defective products, infliction of emotional distress, intentional misconduct, and negligence.

Prescription Drug Litigation

My office has handled cases for individuals who have taken prescription drugs such as Fen-Phen and now suffer serious side effects. If you have taken any prescription drug causing serious injury, call my office for a free consultation. If warranted, I may associate with other law firms to achieve the best possible representation for my clients. Our attorney fees are based on a percentage of the damages we recover. If unsuccessful in a recovery, no expenses nor attorney fees are owed to us. Feel free to give me a call at 316-262-2018 for a free consultation or if you have any questions.

FEN-PHEN-

Since early 1998, my firm has been involved in the process of helping men and women who have taken the prescription drugs Fen-Phen (the combination of fenfluramine and phentermine), Pondimin, or Redux (dexfenfluramine). In September 1997 these drugs were removed from the market voluntarily by their manufacturers after a FDA request prompted by reports of cardiac and pulmonary abnormalities reported by their users. As you know, if you received the AHP Settlement Trust’s Official Notice of May 3, 2003 Deadline packet by calling 1-800-386-2070 or accessing the web site at www.settlementdietdrugs.com for the Official Notice of May 3, 2003 Deadline forms and information, the court set important deadlines in this litigation for the filing of certain forms with the AHP Settlement Trust. This means, in effect, that if you do not file on time the appropriate forms with the AHP Settlement Trust, you will lose many important benefits under the Fen-Phen, Redux and/or Pondimin class action settlement. Since the Official Notice of May 3, 2003 Deadline was published, AHP Settlement Trust also published, in late September, 2004, a new Official Court Notice of the Seventh Amendment to the Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement which sets out new important deadlines, the earliest new deadline being November 9, 2004***. If these new deadlines are not met, you will lose many important benefits under the Fen-Phen, Redux and/or Pondimin class action settlement.

Since the Official Notice of May 3, 2003 Deadline was published, AHP Settlement Trust also published, in late September, 2004, a new Official Court Notice of the Seventh Amendment to the Nationwide Class Action Settlement Agreement which sets out new important deadlines, the earliest new deadline being November 9, 2004***. If these new deadlines are not met, you will lose many important benefits under the Fen-Phen, Redux and/or Pondimin class action settlement.

If you registered with AHP Settlement Trust by May 3, 2003***, have a Claim Number, have a timely echocardiogram showing FDA Positive (moderate or severe mitral valve or mild, moderate or severe aortic valve) regurgitation or mild mitral regurgitation, or have had a repair to, or replacement of, the mitral or aortic valve, a post-surgical complication, or a stroke due to a heart condition, or die due to a heart condition, stroke, or post-surgical complication by the earlier of December 31, 2011, or 15 years from the last use of the diet drugs, please contact us as soon as possible in order to determine if you or your estate can qualify for any AHP Settlement claim benefits.

If you have already filed a claim on your own and have been paid by AHP Settlement Trust for your Category One, Category Two and/or matrix claim, if you later have a repair to, or replacement of, the mitral or aortic valve, a post-surgical complication, a stroke or die due to a heart condition, stroke, or post-surgical complication by the earlier of December 31, 2011, or 15 years from the last use of the diet drugs, please contact us as soon as possible. We may be able to make additional claims on your or your estate’s behalf in the future (until December 31, 2015).

December 31, 2015, is the absolute deadline to file for Matrix Level Benefits for heart valve disease ranging up to $1,544,994.

In order to make a claim you will need a copy of your correspondence from AHP Settlement Trust showing your Claim Number, a copy of a qualifying echocardiogram videotape or disk, a copy of the echocardiogram narrative report, and documentation from your pharmacy or doctor that you took Fen-Phen, Redux or Pondimin and for how long. Since some of these records may get destroyed, you should obtain copies now to have on hand for the future if needed.

***The May 3, 2003 and November 9, 2004 deadlines do not apply to claims relating to Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (“PPH”). Please contact my office if you have been diagnosed with Primary Pulmonary Hypertension. You may be entitled to compensation far in excess of the $1,544,994 maximum benefit for heart valve disease.

You are specifically advised that if you wish to make a claim under the Class Action Settlement and/or protect yourself from the running of the statutes of limitations in regard to Fen-Phen related damages and claims, you should secure legal counsel as soon as possible, whether it is with our firm or with another attorney. Feel free to give me a call at 316-262-2018 for a free consultation or if you have any questions.

Medical Malpractice

I have experience in professional malpractice law. Groups such as the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association have adopted codes of professional responsibility that must be followed and failure by one of their professionals often has legal implications. I can help a client distinguish between medical conditions for which the result would not have been different, regardless of the treatment rendered, and those for which a failure or delay in diagnosis or treatment has worsened a condition that could have been improved.

Products Liability

In addition to prescription drug liability, my office assists individuals who have been injured as a result of an unsafe product that was designed, manufactured, sold, and/or furnished by a person or company. We assist those injured individuals in bringing their claims and being fairly compensated for their injuries.

Workers’ Compensation

My office also assists employees who are injured on the job in claims for lost wages and medical treatment expenses against private industry, state, federal, and local government employers and their workers’ compensation insurers to insure that these injured workers receive the medical care they need to fully recover and be able to return to work or to provide payment for permanent disabilities.