Aside from the large volume of car wrecks in Las Vegas, Slip and Fall claims fall in second in terms of accident volume. Ice, water, oil and other substances make up foreign debris causing major injuries. Hotels and casinos account for a large number of claims every year in Las Vegas. The common defense to these actions are alcohol and comparative negligence by the patron. Other common premises cases occur in grocery stores, malls, parking lots, valets, restaurants, and places that have heavy foot traffic.
Sprinklers and water make up a huge volume of residential problems and claims. In areas of the country where temperatures freeze sprinkler overspray creates hazards on sidewalks and driveways. Broken ankles are very common in these cases as are rotator cuff tear injuries. Sealed concrete is a popular material for casino valets which tend to be very slippery when it rains. These can be excellent personal injury cases.
It is very important to get the right expert on board to help prove your case. Experts that specialize in building code violations and have professional engineering experience can be very helpful to prove the floor was unreasonably slippery or constructed incorrectly.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will sometimes investigate and provide very helpful information to the attorney in cases where clients are injured in the workforce. The workplace can be a very hazardous environment.
One important tenet a victim need's to understand is whether they have a good case in the first place. Please read the following information to determine if it is a good slip or trip and fall case: Fact Scenarios that (usually) DO NOT make good Slip & Fall Cases.
What do I need to Prove?
In a premises liability case (slip & fall), the owner must be on notice of the slippery substance and have a chance or opportunity to cure the defect.
If a patron slips on ice that accumulated from a customer’s spill, the owner may not be liable for the slip and fall if they were never “on notice” that the spill existed; this is called actual notice. If it can be proven, “constructive notice” will be implied without actual notice. Constructive notice simply means that the law will imply that the owner was on notice of the defect even if they did not know about the spill if it can be shown that enough time has gone by and the owner never inspected the premises. These are usually the cases brought in supermarkets. It depends on what is a reasonable time for the inspection, so contact Benson and Bingham to discuss your slip and fall case.
Because Las Vegas is the home of entertainment, it is also home to the most tourists of any city. Due to this, many accidents occur within the hotels and casinos and on the valley roadways. Many times these are slip and falls cases, or slip and trip cases due to the negligence of the resorts. There are many victims injured in taxi cabs shuffling through the busy streets of Las Vegas daily. Taxi cabs and their passengers account for a large portion of city accidents. Nightclub violence either by bouncer or patron is also a major emphasis for personal injury law suits; many times the guest of a hotel actually becomes the victim of the hotel's breach of reasonable care.
Nevada Law Regarding Slip and Falls: See Asmussen V. New Golden Hotel Co
Fact Scenarios that (usually) DO NOT make good Slip & Fall Cases.
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