Las Vegas Injury & Accident Attorney Blog

On New Year’s Eve, a 21-year old California man fell to his death from the Cosmopolitan Hotel. Found near the property’s tennis courts, police and medical examiners estimate the man fell from approximately 5 stories up. He was pronounced dead at 8:15am on January 1^st. If you or a loved one has been killed or injured due to negligence of a Las Vegas casino, contact Benson and Bingham today.

This is the second falling death from the Cosmopolitan Hotel in less than a year. In March, Sean Campe of New Jersey jumped to his death from a balcony on the hotel’s 14 floor.  While many Las Vegas hotels do not have balconies, the Cosmopolitan does. In addition, last year a man fell from one Planet Hollywood roof to another, and his body was not found for two days. If you have been injured in an Nevada accident and believe the owner of the premises to be negligent, please go to bensonbingham.com today. We offer free consultations.

Benson and Bingham is one of the top law firms in the South Valleys. We pride ourselves on customer service – working closely with our clients to ensure their satisfaction. Please contact us today for a free consultation.

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UC San Francisco recently released a report comparing the quality-of-care in nursing homes across the country. The report compared the ten largest for profit nursing homes with the care in other for profits, non-profits and even government run homes. In general, the report’s findings showed a  better quality of care and higher staffing levels at non-profit and government run facilities. If you believe your loved one has received sub-par care in a Nevada nursing home, contact us today.

In the ten largest nursing homes, the report found that patients had more complaints and incidents of pressure sores, weight loss, falls, infections, mistreatment by staff, unsanitary conditions and more. These higher incident rates stem from lower staffing levels at large, chain operations where patient care is secondary to making a profit. Please contact Benson and Bingham at Bensonbingham.com or 702-382-9797 to discuss the neglect of any Nevadan in a Silver State nursing home.

Benson and Bingham is a full-service law firm that strives to ensure our clients are entirely satisfied by our representation. In 2010, Benson and Bingham secured over $15,000,000 in awards for our clients. Please contact us today to discuss any personal injury case. We can be found online at Bensonbingham.com

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In 2008, 18-year old Hiroyuki Joho, ran across train tracks in an effort to catch another train. Distracted by torrential rains and a large umbrella, Mr. Joho was struck and killed by an oncoming train. At impact, parts of Mr. Joho’s body were thrown, striking Ms. Gayane Zokhrabo approximately 100 yards away. Ms. Zokhrabo suffered a broken wrist, arm and injured shoulder. In Nevada, innocent bystanders can be injured in cases of negligence. Contact Benson and Bingham today for consolation, free of charge.

Injured not only physically but also financially, Ms. Zokhrabo sued the estate of Mr. Joho, looking to recoup medical costs, lost pay and other expenses. While initially struck down, the case was reinstated on appeal – simply put, a person running across train tracks has an expectation that should he or she be hit, their body or belongings may strike and injure another person. If you have suffered a wrongful injury in Nevada, contact us today.

Benson and Bingham (www.bensonbingham.com) Attorneys at Law are one of Las Vegas’ leading law firms. While representing you, Benson and Bingham will do all we can to ensure you are extremely satisfied with your representation. In 2010, we settled over $15,000,000 in cases for our Nevada clients.

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Honda Motors recently announced a recall of an additional approximately 275,000 vehicles, adding to the over 600,000 previously announced for a faulty airbag issue with older model Accord, Civic, Odyssey, Pilot and Acura models. The parts being recalled were installed in 2001 – 2003 vehicles repaired by the Japanese Auto manufacturer. Contact us if you have been injured by a Honda airbag in Nevada.

When driving an automobile equipped with a driver’s-side airbag, it is important to wear a seatbelt and operate the vehicle a safe distance from the steering wheel. In an accident, an airbag can explode with a force that can break a nose, glasses or cause other serious injury. If you have been injured in a Clark County auto accident and would like representation contact Benson and Bingham today.

Benson and Bingham is one of Nevada’s leading product liability attorneys. We focus on ensuring our customers get top-tier service and satisfaction. If you or someone you know has been involved in an Las Vegas auto injury accident and need assistance with workman’s compensation, medical bills or recovering lost wages, contact us today.

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Yesterday, a 65-year old Las Vegas woman, Diana Chambers, was arrested on suspicion of Las Vegas DUI charges after striking a Nevada man, Shannon Newland, and his vehicle as he was filling the car with gasoline. The man is currently at University Medical Center being treated. If you have missed work, lost property or incurred medical costs due to a Nevada traffic accident, contact us today.

The accident, which occurred on Cheyenne Avenue near US95 has put Mr. Newland in critical but stable condition. While he is doing well and expected to recover, the Southern Nevada resident faces a difficult couple of months. He will likely miss significant work and need compensation for his damaged automobile and hospital costs. Ms. Chambers is currently being held in a Clark County jail and it is unknown how much insurance she carries.

Benson and Bingham are one of Southern Nevada’s premiere injury recovery firms. Our Nevada licensed attorneys pride ourselves on customer satisfaction and we work closely with our clients to ensure the best possible outcome for their case. Go to Bensonbingham.com today to start your case.

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The bereaved family of a 17-year-old boy took bitter-sweet comfort in the recent outcome to a case with troubling echoes of recent stories of Las Vegas excessive force accidents. The boy was assailed by a supermarket security guard and was subjected to a continuous blast of electricity from the guard’s Taser device. He fell to the ground and after nearly 40 agonizing seconds lay on the floor of the grocery store, motionless. Unbeknownst to the security guard, his target had a heart condition that turned an excessive use of a Taser into a fatal tragedy.

We have reported before on the Las Vegas personal injury lawsuits that result when police officials overstep their roles and turn crime prevention into unchecked vigilantism. A few months ago a man who had been turning his life around after a long struggle with criminal activity died when he was subjected to excessive Taser shocks. We observed at the time that the man’s surviving family members were likely to consider civil action under Nevada wrongful death law to recover damages to compensate for the tragic loss of their loved one.

In this recent case, attorneys for the plantiff family were successful in securing a large jury award — some $10 million — from Taser International, Inc to compensate the family for their loss and to punish the company. Jurors decided that Taser Inc should have provided more substantial warnings and training materials to go along with its potent device. Arguably, Taser could have faced further penalties under state failure-to-warn statutes that attempt to protect consumers from Nevada defective product injuries.

Any family that has lost a loved one to a tragedy like this — whether in an alcohol-induced motor vehicle accident, a Nevada fire accident, or an unsafe product injury — would instantly trade a multi-million dollar settlement or verdict to have their loved one back. Sadly, all the civil justice system can do is attempt to make victims and their families whole again by other means. If a family member has been harmed or killed in an accident such as these and you want to know more about what options are available, schedule a free consultation with our Las Vegas personal injury attorneys today.

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Anyone who has had a child (or who has been a devoted uncle or auntie, godparent, or other guardian) will likely agree that the experience is 99 percent blessing and only 1 percent curse. Of course, that 1 percent makes its presence felt: from dirty diapers to early morning awakenings and with the constant fear and vigilance that is never enough to avoid turning every sharp corner and power outlet into a potential hazard. Unfortunately, the aggressive speed with which many products are manufactured today acts to increase the risk of a tragic Nevada unsafe baby product injury.

Some will say that ‘kids will be kids,’ that ‘what doesn’t kill them makes them stronger,’ and so on with other platitudes. In fairness, it is true that no parent can provide his or her child with ultimate protection from risk of harm without denying that child the experiences that will make it a rich, interesting person. But it is one thing to concede these philosophical grounds and it is quite another to be an apologist for companies that knowingly or without concern allow their products and services to put the families that use them at risk of Las Vegas personal injury.

Consumer protection agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) are relatively new entities in our country but they already have a lengthy record of taking harmful defective products off the shelves. Some recent targets of federal investigations and recalls are an estimated 76,000 bed-side sleepers made by Arm’s Reach Concepts and nearly 30,000 pacifiers made sold with the Pampers and/or Key Baby brand names. In the latter case, a refund is available to purchasers of these products from the last few months; in the former case, the product was on shelves more than ten years ago and there is concern that the products may be cycling through the economy in second-hand retail and wholesalers. Nearly a dozen incidents have been reported involving the bed-side sleepers where infants slipped into spaces below or between the intended sleeping surface and became entrapped. The design flaws in these products highlights the many ways that seemingly  harmless consumer products can pose risk of death, serious injury, or long-term brain damage due to asphyxiation or suffocation.

If you believe that your family may own one of these products, you can find more information on the CPSC Web site. One of the advantages of having these dedicated agencies is that they scan the marketplace for potentially harmful products and attempt to intervene before tragic injuries occur. However, manufacturers need to take responsibility for their products and that is one reason why we have a civil court system: to hold irresponsible companies accountable for injuries caused by defective products through Nevada jury awards and lawsuit settlements. If your family has already suffered harm due to one of these or any other unsafe, defective, or recalled products, contact us today for a free consultation with one of our experienced Las Vegas defective product attorneys. We will help you understand any pending class-action lawsuits related to your case and offer orientation in your specific circumstances.

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One among many reasons that capital punishment is a controversial form of punishment is its finality — when a person convicted of a crime dies for his or her actions, the death forecloses the possibility of changes that can be healing or cathartic. There can be no repentance if it has not already occured; there can be no realization a life lead wrongly or apology for harmful acts, and there is no longer hope that somehow, someway the person convicted could leave prison and begin a new life. When a loved one is killed while in police custody, a family struggles with these issues among many others that might be approached through a Nevada wrongful death lawsuit.

By means of a brief aside, let us clarify that we are not advocating for the rights of convicted persons to the detriment or exclusion of the rights of victims of crimes and their survivors. Whether we are helping a family fight for a massive Nevada jury award from a reckless driver whose alcohol-induced automobile accident killed an innocent person or we are pushing for an adequate damages against the perpetrator of an attack that caused brain damage in one of our clients, we often represent victims of Nevada crimes who need civil legal action to make them whole again after a tragedy. But we seek to represent wronged Nevadans of all walks of life, and in some cases this means fighting for the rights of inmates or their loved ones.

A handful of cases from the last few months highlight situations in which individuals accused of wrongdoing themselves become the victims of mistreatment at the hands of police officials. In December our Las Vegas injury and accident blog reported on the story of a Clark County man who died after he was subjected to multiple shocks from a Taser device as Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers attempted to detain him. A half-million dollar settlement concluded a long legal battle between a state corrections department and the family of a woman who commited suicide in prison. The woman who took her own life had a well-documented history of mental illness but was allegedly confined to solitary confinement for weeks on end despite this condition.

Even when a person is not killed, s/he can still pursue civil legal action if there is mistreatment on the part of police officials. Several police bias cases are pending in the Denver area where plaintiffs allege that police officers wrongfully detained and humiliated them based on their phenotype. On the other side of the coin is the Las Vegas police brutality lawyer’s responsibilities. A good attorney cares not only about the case at hand but also about her career and reputation, and a responsible advocate will conduct independent research before helping a client bring a civil lawsuit against a public entity such as a police force, prison, or state corrections department. If you believe that your loved one has suffered physical or mental harm as a result of wrongful action (or inaction) on the part of police officials, contact us today for a free consultation.

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It’s not often that you hear the utterance, “a lawyer’s work is never done.” Then again, there aren’t many places online to find continuous, relevant commentary on important Las Vegas personal injury issues. (Hint: you’re at one of them!) At Benson & Bingham, our motto is that “Experience is the Difference.” Each family we represent is both (1) a client for whom we fight to ensure a settlement or Nevada jury award that restores losses suffered by another’s negligence and (2) a new data point in a model that builds upon every success. We represent our clients with our eyes open so that each new case benefits from the hundreds that have preceded it.

This experience comes to bear most profoundly when we handle Nevada defective product lawsuits such as those involving child car seats. In this informational mini-series, we want to explore some of the most common issues that arise in Las Vegas defective car seat cases. Our hope is that this information will help families already affected by these tragic betrayals of trust to better understand the legal elements of a possible lawsuit and guide them toward effective legal representation. Hopefully, this same body of information will help other readers to avoid the use of potentially dangerous models of child safety restraints.

Forgive us for beginning with the obvious, but a basic principle will be key to this analysis: child safety seats are first and foremost supposed to keep children safe in the event of a motor vehicle accident, automobile rollover, or other adverse car incident. If a child car seat fails to do this — by allowing a child to be ejected from the vehicle, by failing to prevent a child from being harmed by interior parts of the vehicle, or by the device itself inflicting injury upon the child — it has failed as a safety device and your trust in it to protect your child has been betrayed. An experienced Nevada car seat accident attorney knows that this is the key lens through which these cases should be analyzed, and you should seek out legal representation that will focus on the device’s theoretical and empirical functioning in the vital role of protecting its precious occupants.

In the coming installments, we will analyze some common design flaws that continue to exist today even though research and a body of tragic evidence has shown them to be dangerous. We hope that you will stick with us as we explore this important information. If you need legal answers now that relate to a defective child car seat or any other personal injury legal matter, contact us today for a free consultation at one of our two Las Vegas offices.

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Some of the most challenging and rewarding lawsuits that a Las Vegas personal injury attorney can handle are those where multiple, complex types of accidents are melded into a single event. One example would be when a motor vehicle defect leads to a Nevada automobile accident, and a recent case provides another: a railroad worker suffered a career-ending electric shock.

Nevada railroad accidents commonly involve train collisions or maintenance failures that result in derailed locomotives. In this regard, incidents of this nature frequently parallel the traumatic back or spinal cord injuries of car accidents or the massive destruction caused when commercial negligence leads to a mechanical or maintenance failure that compromises the integrity of the railroad track system. By contrast, Las Vegas electricity injuries typically occur in urban settings, such as when a defective product harms an unsuspecting consumer or faulty wiring causes an electric shock injury in a home or business.

In this case, a railroad worker suffered a massive electrical shock while attempting to repair a portion of the tracks. The worker had attached a metal clamp to the tracks and was in contact with them when his coworker, who was operating a vehicle with an elevated compartment (or “boom) accidentally directed the boom into an overhead power line. The worker on the tracks received a shock of some 7,500 volts that left his legs with nerve damage that will probably not heal in his lifetime.

The injured worker is no longer able to perform the job that had earned him nearly $60,000 a year to support his family. He also is slated for costly medical checkups that will continue for the indefinite future. To compensate him for his lost earnings, offset the cost of his additional medical costs, and attempt to make him whole again after this devastating injury, a jury award of some $2 million was given. If you have been injured on the job, harmed in a railroad accident, or have suffered an electrical shock due to another person’s or business’s negligence, contact our experienced Nevada personal injury attorneys for a free consultation.

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