Las Vegas Injury & Accident Attorney Blog

In 2007, the NBA held their All-Star Game in Las Vegas for the first time. The game was unique because it wasn’t being held in a city that currently had an NBA franchise, but instead was being held in America’s leisure capital. However, violence that weekend marred what could have been a signature event for the largest city in the Silver State. Two shootings occurred in the late hours of Sunday Evening/Monday morning. One occurred in the parking lot of the MGM grand, yet the injured man failed to press charges. The other shooting occurred at a Las Vegas strip club called Minxx. Three people were injured in the shooting, and one, former wrestler Tomas Urbanski had his spine severed, causing him to lose the use of his legs. If you have been involved in a Las Vegas spinal cord injury accident, Benson and Bingham can represent you in your personal injury case.

The shooting occurred when professional football running back Adam Pac Man Jones decided to make it rain in the club by throwing a significant amount of money in the air. After the money had fallen to the ground, dancers at the club began to pick up the money. Mr. Jones feared the dancers were intending to keep the money and allegedly grabbed the dancers hair. After slamming the dancer’s head on the stage, Mr. Jones was confronted by a club security guard and was asked to leave the premises. At the same time, Chris Mitchell, who worked for the club, left the premises with a trash bag full of approximately $81,000 and two expensive Beitling watches. As patrons were leaving the club after the incident, a person suspected of belonging to Mr. Jones entourage fired into the crowd, injuring three, including Mr. Urbanski. If you have suffered a significant back injury in Southern Nevada, Benson and Bingham can represent you in your Southern Nevada personal injury case.

This year, Mr. Urbanski was awarded $13 million in his personal injury lawsuit against Mr. Jones. Alleging his paralysis in the Clark County shooting was due to the NFL’s negligence in controlling Mr. Jones behavior, Mr. Urbanksi also filed suit against the National Football League. The case was originally thrown out of court in 2008 but an August 21^st appeal by Mr. Urbanski led the Nevada Supreme Court to appoint a mediator in the case on August 30^th.

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Las Vegas is a large city that is home to many industries, casino gaming and entertainment the most prominent. Other industries that make their home in the 31^st largest city in the United States include mining & natural resources, construction, manufacturing, transportation. Las Vegas has also seen a growth in high tech business including Zappos.com, videogame publisher Electronic Arts, IBM, videogame developer Petroglyph and more. One industry that has seen significant growth in Las Vegas is pornography. Sin City’s large number of inexpensive hotel rooms and fewer legal restrictions than California have increased adult-video production to multiple scenes and full scale production in Southern Nevada each month. The rise in production also, unfortunately, can spread sexually transmitted diseases. These diseases can bring about significant Las Vegas workers compensation exposure issues for video production companies based in Las Vegas.

It has recently been reported that significant adult-video production in Las Vegas and Los Angeles has been shut down due to a syphilis scare that has potentially infected many male and female adult performers. Last week, five performers tested positive for the disease, and each have begun taking antibiotics to battle the STD. An untreated syphilis infection can damage the brain, heart, liver, eyes bones and even blood vessels. Those who have reached the late stage of syphilis infection have trouble walking, speaking, seeing and even grow demented. If you have been injured in a Las Vegas workplace accident, Benson and Bingham can represent you in your Southern Nevada workers compensation case.

The family owned Las Vegas personal injury law firm of Benson and Bingham has been working with Nevadans since 2003 to help them financially recover from Las Vegas pedestrian accidents, spine, brain and back injuries and even injuries from defective products sold in Nevada. We develop strong relationships with our clients as we work to help them recover money for lost work, medical bills and even pain and suffering.

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Even though the Pentagon and Veteran’s Administration have significantly improved on post-traumatic stress disorder treatment and psychological treatment in general, twice as many active-duty soldiers committed suicide last month. In fact, throughout 2012, with fewer military personnel being deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, suicides have continued to rise each month. In June 12 active-duty soldiers committed suicide, 16 in May and in July 26 took their own lives. The suicides have not been limited to active-duty soldiers – 12 Army Reservists committed suicide in June and July. Many of these soldiers have also suffered brain damage and other injuries from their active-duty service in the military. If you or someone you love has suffered from significant brain injury due to military service and you live in Nevada, Benson and Bingham can represent you in your Las Vegas personal injury case.

Only one of the potential suicides has actually been confirmed, however, the deaths continue to be investigated. The Army has also started to reach out to the individuals who have been impacted by suicide – their studies have shown that at a minimum ten others are affected negatively in the aftermath of a suicide.  Many suicides are often the result of significant psychological trauma from combat and can even arise from combat injuries to the brain. If you are the relative of a Las Vegas veteran who suffered from debilitating brain and spinal cord injury, contact Benson and Bingham to discuss your Nevada wrongful death inquiry.

Benson and Bingham were founded by cousins Joseph Benson, II Esq and Ben Bingham, Esq in 2003 to represent Nevadan’s in their personal injury claims and to help them financially recover from injuries. We represent soldiers from Hawthorne Army base in brain and spinal cord injury cases, casino slip and fall cases for companies based in Nevada and even Las Vegas defective product cases. We also represent tourists to Nevada from all over the world in vacation injury and wrongful death cases. We also offer a discount to military members.

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In the United States, there are over 500,000 trucking accidents that happen every year. Of these, around 5,000 trucking accidents result in fatalities. Moreover, 18-wheeler trucking accidents account for one of every eight traffic deaths. Because of the high profile, weight, and length of a semi-truck, 18-wheeler accidents in Nevada can cause serious injuries including:

• Burns, exposure to hazardous cargo
• Laceration, broken bones
• Spinal cord injury and severe back trauma
• Traumatic brain injury
• Death

With three major highways surrounding the Las Vegas valley, there are countless 18-wheelers that travel around our city. Of the many reasons that 18-wheelers can pose a threat to our highways some include failure to properly to accommodate blind spots, brake failure, exhaustion or fatigue on the part of the driver, and/or excessive speed and failure to follow rules of the road.

Devastating truck accidents in Nevada often give rise to legal claims for wrongful death or long-term medical compensation for catastrophic injuries. Because the majority of Nevada truck accidents involve vehicles that are traveling from outside of the state, it is pertinent to acquire legal assistance and guidance to help resolve jurisdictional issues that can complicate the case, and involve laws other than laws on Nevada multiple vehicle accidents. At times such accidents raise issues of inter-state travel and commerce that are dealt with at the federal level. It is also the case that trucking accident injuries are more severe than those suffered in most accidents due to the size and rigidity of semi-trucks.

At Benson and Bingham, we understand the emotional damage and trauma associated with such large-scale accidents. Our top priority is client care and satisfaction, and we want to help get you through such a traumatic experience. If you or a loved one have sustained injuries due to an 18-wheeler related accident, contact Benson and Bingham to receive a free consultation today:  702-382-9797

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“The Facts Hurt,” a recent report by Washington, DC health-advocacy non-profit Trust for America’s Health ranked Nevada as one of the least safe states in the country. The Silver State garnered 4 points in “The Facts Hurt” study. Eight states had lower scores. New York and California lead the country with scores of 9. Nevada scored points for requiring helmets for those riding motorcycles, enabling people in relationships that are breaking up to get restraining orders, concussion regulations for school sports and monitoring of drug prescriptions in the state. Benson and Bingham are here to help Southern Nevadans who are hurt in Las Vegas dangerous libertarian environment. If your relative was killed in a Las Vegas wrongful death case, contact Benson and Bingham for a free legal consultation today.

Out of the possible ten points in The Facts Hurt study, Nevada only scored four. Nevada lost a point for not having a required seat belt law. In Nevada, if you have been convicted of drunk driving, when you get your license back, you aren’t required to get an ignition interlock device. The Silver State doesn’t require children under eight years old to ride in cars in booster seats. Children in the Silver State are also not required to wear bicycle helmets. The Trust for America’s Health also held points from Nevada due to the state’s lax teen violence laws. Finally, due to the limited amount of data provided by the state’s hospitals and the Department of Health and Human Services to researchers and other officials. If you have had a relative killed in a Clark County wrongful death incident, contact Benson and Bingham today.

The personal injury attorneys at Benson and Bingham have extensive experience trying Las Vegas wrongful death cases. We have the experience and contacts to compel insurance companies to honor their commitments. Contact Benson and Bingham today.

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Is there long-term damage when a boxer or MMA fighter gets hit in the head? Researchers are pointing to new evidence which may illustrate exactly what damage is caused. Whether football lineman, hockey offense man boxer or MMA fighter, during a game or a match, the player’s head is subjected to repeated blows. Many athletes from these sports often fall victim to degenerative brain disease, sometimes called chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Recent autopsies and brain scans performed by the Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory of Boston’s Brigham & Women’s Hospital, have shown that the brains of many deceased 40 and 50-year old linemen, hockey players and boxers look similar to the brains of octogenarians suffering from dementia. If you are suffering from brain damage in Las Vegas due to participation in violent contact sports, contact Benson and Bingham for a free legal consultation today.

The current Las Vegas brain damage study has begun taking repeated brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging or MRIs to chronicle the continuing damage meted out when someone is subjected to repeated blows to the head. Boxers with fewer fights and with less experience in the fighting game had higher brain volumes and had fewer symptoms of cognitive decline or memory loss. In fighters who had fought for longer than nine years, those who fought the most each year suffered the sharper decline. The study also found that the brain damage often times was not evident until up to 6 years later. If you are experiencing brain loss due to Las Vegas boxing and would like to try to recover costs for pain and suffering, lost work and medical costs, contact Benson and Bingham today.

Benson and Bingham was founded in 2003 with the expressed purpose of becoming one of Las Vegas’ leading personal injury firms. The $24,000,000 we secured in 2010 and 2011 show how hard we work on our clients behalf. However, if you are ever unhappy with our fees, our happiness guarantee means we will work with you to find a fee you find appropriate.

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What is the safest form of mass transportation ever developed? We’ve all heard of major and minor accidents from automobiles, planes, boats, motorcycles and trains. People can fall off bicycles. In fact, because millions of people, possible billions travel in elevators every day that is it. Sure, there have been horrific elevator accidents – just last fall in New York City, a woman fell to her death when an elevator door opened to an empty shaft. So accustomed to the safety of elevators, 41-year old advertising executive Susan Hart had no idea she was walking to her death as she entered an elevator on December 14^th. Ms. Hart was crushed when the elevator abruptly jerked upwards, crushing the woman between the building’s 1^st and 2^nd floor. Maintenance workers had disabled the elevator’s safety functions. If you or a family member has been injured or killed in a Las Vegas elevator accident, contact Benson and Bingham for a free legal consultation today.

A recent accident in Nevada highlights the latent dangers of high rise buildings’ reliance on elevator technology. Late Friday night, in Las Vegas’ Luxor Hotel, a man who had been fighting with friends was thrown towards the doors of an elevator shaft in the mega hotel’s West Tower area. As the man crashed into the elevator doors, they mistakenly opened and he fell 25 feet to the hotel’s basement. While he wasn’t killed, the man, whose identity has not been released, was rushed in critical condition to University Medical Center. If you or someone you love was injured or killed by a Clark County elevator, you may be owed reimbursement for lost work, pain and suffering and medical expenses. The attorneys at the law offices of Benson and Bingham have significant experience on wrongful death and injury cases.

Accidents in Las Vegas happen every day. People are injured or killed sometimes by mistake, others through true accidents. Regardless of the cause, if you were injured or had a loved one injured or killed in a Las Vegas elevator accident or something similar, contact Benson and Bingham today. It is very likely our attorneys have represented countless Nevadans in cases similar to your own.

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Nevada has always been a leader nationally in boxing and other pugilistic sports. The casinos of Las Vegas have always used the fight game, in whatever form, to draw people to its hotels and gaming floors. These sports, however, can have a drastically detrimental effect on some of its participants – specifically brain damage in the form of pugilistic dementia. With Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts and Muay Thai all promoted and licensed enthusiastically across the State of Nevada, many from the silver state have suffered debilitating brain injuries from the sport. If you have suffered brain injury in a Nevada licensed fighting sport, contact Benson and Bingham today for a free legal consultation to discuss your case.

Recently, the Cleveland Clinic opened the Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas. To mark the opening Las Vegas hotel owner Kirk Kerkorian has funded a study to perform baseline magnetic resonance imaging scans on 600 fighters in the course of a four year brain study. One of the main goals of the study is to determine why some fighters get brain injury while others do not. The types of brain damage incurred by fighters can include Parkinson’s disease, Pugilistic Dementia, and Early Onset Alzheimer’s. In addition to the baseline MRIs, fighters in the program will also memory and cognitive reasoning tests, with quizzes on judgment and reasoning. If you are suffering traumatic brain injury in Las Vegas from a past as a boxer or MMA fighter, and wish to recover money for hospital bills, lost work and pain and suffering, contact the attorneys at Benson and Bingham to discuss your case.

Benson and Bingham are Las Vegas injury attorneys who specialize in all types of injury cases. They and their staff are able to successfully represent their clients by developing strong trusting relationships. While no law firm can promise to win your case in 2010 and 2011 the firm was able to win over $24,000,000 for their clients.

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America’s all-volunteer military sacrifice tremendously to serve their country – whether they are stationed domestically or overseas in a war zone. These brave young men and women face low wages, time apart from friends and family, debilitating injury and even the ultimate sacrifice, death. For much of the 20^th Century, American soldiers received significant respect and benefits from the service – the GI Bill and the Veterans’ Administration helped educate and keep healthy generations of veterans. The attorneys of Benson and Bingham salute our veterans from Nevada and across the country.

The announcement today that soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder were repeatedly called “malingerers” by the cost conscious doctors and administrators of the Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, WA were extremely disheartening to all Americans. The Department of Defense has received a significant amount of complaints from soldiers stationed at Lewis-McChord, an army base serviced by Madigan. The base, which had sent the largest number of troops in the country to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been plagued by rising rates of alcoholism, family and spousal abuse, and soldiers complaining of significant memory lapses, uncontrollable rages and vivid nightmares. If you are a Nevada veteran suffering symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and feel you were misdiagnosed by the Veterans Administration, contact Benson and Bingham for a free legal consultation today.

Testimony has lead to a presentation given by a forensic psychiatrist from Madigan which detailed the costs to the taxpayer associated with a diagnosis of PTSD. While evidence of pervasive non-diagnosis of the stress disorder is still pending, the entire affair is currently being investigated by the US Senate’s Veteran Affairs Committee. Two physicians and a Colonel, a West Point Graduate, have been suspended due to the pending investigation. If you are a Nevada Veteran with PTSD and have been misdiagnosed by the US Army or Veterans Administration, you deserve legal protection. Contact Benson and Bingham today for a free legal consultation.

Joseph Benson II, Esq.  and Ben Bingham, Esq. are partners in the Nevada’s leading personal injury law firm. We represent clients of all ages and in all types of injury cases. We have successful represented clients in auto accident, wrongful death, injury accidents where our clients have suffered brain damage and spinal cord injuries. Our past experience with spinal cord injuries and brain damage give us the experience to best represent Nevada veterans who have suffered PTSD. Our firm is proud to offer our veterans from all states discounts in appreciation for their service.

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In September 2009, University of Southern California running back, Stafon Johnson was lifting weights as part of his training regimen for the highly competitive world of Division 1A NCAA football. On the weight bench, Mr. Johnson was bench pressing 275 lbs., when the weight bar slipped and fell on his neck. Mr. Johnson sued USC and Jamie Yanchar, the assistant strength coach at the time for the personal injury.

For Stafon Johnson, the remainder of 2009 was extremely difficult. The star running back underwent numerous painful neck and throat surgeries. And even though Mr. Johnson was drafted and signed by the Tennessee Titans of the NFL in 2010, the suit moved forward.

Earlier this week, as Mr. Johnson’s suit against USC and Mr. Yanchar was about to come to trial the two sides settled for an undisclosed amount.

There are thousands of students athletes in Nevada, not only playing at UNLV or UNR but in high schools and recreational leagues across the state. Injuries to Nevada student athletes happen every day – some freak but many because of negligence and poor training facilities and playing fields. If you or a family member has been injured in an athletic training facility and you believe it could be a case of personal injury, please contact Benson and Bingham today for a free legal consultation.

Nevada’s amateur athletes accept many burdens as they compete in their favorite sports. In high school, many are subjected to arduous training schedules that prevent them from other school activities or holding part-time jobs. In college, scholarship student athletes are prevented from working and have even more rigidly defined training requirements. Due to Nevada’s and Las Vegas’ budget challenges, often times these gyms and practice facilities are poorly maintained and staffed.

One of the leading Las Vegas personal injury law firms, in 2010 Benson and Bingham secured over $15,000,000 in successful legal claims for their clients. If you believe you or a loved one has been injured or killed due to a personal injury case, contact us for a free consultation today.

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