Personal Injury » Nevada Personal Injury Lawyer » Nevada Premises Liability Lawyer

Nevada Premises Liability Lawyer

Nevada’s premises laws protect visitors to properties that are open to the public. Any property that is open to the public must take measures to keep people from getting injured on the property. Officials tailor safety and health regulations to the type of property; for example, a casino must keep their floors free of slippery substances and trip hazards.

If a plaintiff can show that a business was negligent in protecting the public from harm, even if the danger was so significant that you could easily see it, you could potentially hold the property owner liable for your injuries.

Note, however, that the law changed in 2015 to state that property owners are not responsible for trespassers that suffer injuries on their property.

Benson & Bingham Accident Injury Lawyers, LLC, stay on top of those and other changes and revisions to the law as we have recovered more than $135 million for our clients, including:

• $1.2 million for a slip and fall injury
• $500,000 for a leg amputation after a slip and fall
• $500,000 for an elevator accident
• $325,000 for a slip and fall on a storm drain
• $350,000 for an elevator accident
• $300,000 for a Rottweiler attack on a senior citizen
• $200,000 for a slip and fall on a marble floor
• $195,000 for casino employee negligence

If you sustained injuries due to negligence on someone else’s property, please contact our experienced Nevada personal injury attorney’s today. We want to hear your story and see how we can help you. Visit our contact page or call us at (702) 382-9797

The Elements of a Premises Liability Case

If you suffer from injuries due to a business owner’s negligence, you may hold the business owner accountable for damages.

You will need to show several elements to prove your claim, including:

• The person you are suing must own the property where you suffered the injuries.
• You must be a visitor or a guest at the property.
• The owner or his or her employees must have committed negligence. An example is that a casino owner knows that the tile floors get wet during a rainstorm, but the owner or his or her employees do not dry the wet floor, block the area off, or put up warning signs that the floor is slippery when wet.

In some cases, a third party—someone who is not the property owner—may share in or might have wholly caused your injuries.

Slip and Fall Cases

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), over three million people go to the emergency department each year because of a slip and fall accident. Of those, more than 800,000 are admitted to the hospital for injuries sustained when they fell. Traumatic brain injuries are common injuries suffered in slip and fall cases; however, for those that fall sideways, 95 percent suffer from hip injuries.

Causes of Slip and Falls

People can fall for many reasons, for instance, slipping on liquid on a hard floor. Some of the most frequent causes of falling accidents include:

• Uneven walkways;
• Clutter in walkways;
• Walkways and hallways that rise in elevation;
• Loose flooring;
• Missing flooring pieces, such as a tile or a portion of wood in a wood floor;
• Open drawers and doors;
• Slippery floors and other surfaces;
• Cables, wires, hoses, and extension cords, especially those in walkways;
• Poor lighting;
• Steps and ramps that do not have markings;
• The curled edges of a carpet; and
• Items left on the floor, such as a purse or a bag.

Injuries Caused by Slip and Fall Accidents

The injuries you could suffer from a slip and fall depend on several factors, including how you fall and the type of floor or ground you fall on, and even the size or conformation of the object that causes you to fall. Injuries could include:

• Cuts, scrapes, and bruises;
• Strains and sprains;
• Simple and compound fractures;
• Head, neck, and shoulder injuries;
• Traumatic brain injuries;
• Back and spinal cord injuries;
• Hip injuries; and
• Wrongful death.

Negligent Security

Negligent security is a premises liability action that could prove difficult for a plaintiff to win without extensive knowledge of the law. For example, a patron drinks at the casino and becomes visibly drunk and starts to get belligerent because he lost all of his money at blackjack. The casino continues to serve the patron as he watches his friend play a few more hands.

Later, the drunk and belligerent patron steps outside and meets a friend who has a gun. The intoxicated patron, standing in the street, takes the gun and decides to shoot and rob the next person who walks out of the casino. Even though the incident happened outside the casino in the street, the casino could share in the responsibility for the injuries to the innocent plaintiff because the casino continued to serve the drunk patron and knew or should have known that the drunk and belligerent patron could or would cause harm to someone else.

Injuries Caused by Negligent Security

The injuries you could suffer from negligent security could be anything from minor cuts, scrapes, and bruises to wrongful death depending on the circumstances of the event. If an assailant attacks you in a poorly lit area of the parking lot, you could suffer more severe injuries such as broken bones or traumatic brain injuries. If you are shot, you could suffer internal injuries or even wrongful death.

Recoverable Damages

Damages you might recover in a premises liability case include economic damages and non-economic damages. Economic damages have a fixed price, while non-economic damages do not. Both types are meant to make you whole again. If the court finds that the defendant was grossly negligent, it might also award punitive damages. When a court awards punitive damages, that award is not to make you whole again, but instead, the award is a punishment for the defendant’s actions or inactions.

Damages include:

• Past and future medical expenses;
• Past and future lost wages;
• Burial and funeral expenses;
• Loss of companionship;
• Loss of consortium;
• Inconvenience;
• Disfigurement; and
• Paralysis.

Generally, the court orders certain non-economic damages, such as loss of companionship, loss of consortium, and inconvenience if doctors expect your injuries to result in long-term disabilities, such as nerve damage from a gunshot wound or traumatic brain injuries from hitting your head in a slip and fall accident. Your premises liability attorney can help give you a better idea of what damages may be compensable in your case.

Nevada Premises Liability Frequently Asked Questions FAQs

Residential and commercial property owners, along with the managers of public properties, have a legal responsibility to protect visitors to their property from foreseeable hazards. If they fail to do so, they are held liable for the damages caused if their visitors are injured. The legal process for obtaining this compensation is through a premises liability lawsuit. Read on for answers to the questions we are most frequently asked about premises liability.

What accidents involve premises liability?

Premises liability falls under the umbrella of personal injury, meaning that the legal action taken involves the recovery of damages relating to an injury suffered as the result of an unsafe property condition. There are several different types of premises liability.

Here is a look at some of those accident types:

• Slip and fall cases: Slip and falls are the most common type of premises liability claim. Some common causes of this type of accident include wet or freshly waxed flooring; loose or worn flooring materials; broken, or improperly constructed stairs; cracked pavement; potholes in parking lots; poor lighting; and obstacles or debris left in walkways.
• Negligent security: Property owners are required to ensure that they provide the proper security to protect their visitors from becoming the victims of foreseeable crimes that take place on their property. An example of negligent security:  The settlement agreement between MGM Resorts and thousands of victims of the mass shooting during an outdoor concert at their Las Vegas venue in which Stephen Paddock shot and killed 58 people and wounded more than 800. The plaintiffs accused MGM Resorts of failing to protect the 22,000 people in attendance at the concert. The plaintiffs agreed to an $800 million settlement, that they would divide based on the injuries each suffered. Claimants were seeking compensation for damages ranging from PTSD caused by the shooting to severe injuries and wrongful death.
• Swimming pool accidents: Just hours after he walked away from his home on the evening of his eighth birthday, police announced that they had found a young autistic boy unresponsive in a backyard pool full of murky water. Property owners have the responsibility under Nevada’s attractive nuisance doctrine to ensure that features such as swimming pools and other hazards that may entice young children to trespass are properly secured. In addition to the hazards of backyard or public pools for small children, property owners are also required to ensure that they have provided adult supervision, a lifeguard on duty, or prominent signs warning visitors to swim at their own risk or to supervise their children while swimming.
• Elevator/ escalator accidents: Both elevators and escalators provide ease to visitors who wish to travel between levels in a multi-level property such as a hotel or department store. Property owners must ensure that elevators and escalators are safe and properly maintained.

How do I know if the property owner was liable for my injuries?

You prove premises liability by establishing the following elements of the case:

• There was a hazardous feature on the property that the owner knew about or reasonably should have known about.
• The property owner failed to repair this condition or warn guests of the hazard.
• The hazardous condition caused the accident, resulting in injuries and expenses.

I was told that I am liable for my own injuries because the hazard was “open and obvious.” Is that true?

Not necessarily. However, the protections afforded by the premises liability laws in Nevada do not usually extend to hazards that are open and obvious. That is, everyone readily sees the hazard. Examples of this include a fall down a bluff on a property in which everyone can see and recognize the danger of the height of the bluff, or a properly functioning escalator or moving walkway that pose the obvious hazards of a fall from heights or tripping potential simply by their moving parts. An experienced premises liability attorney can help you understand if the hazard that caused your accident was “open and obvious.”

If I file a premises liability lawsuit, will I have to go to court?

The vast majority of civil claims, such as premises liability, personal injury, and medical malpractice claims, are settled out of court. Chances are, yours will be too. However, if the property owner’s insurance provider fails to offer a fair settlement in your case, you deserve to have an attorney who is confident in his or her ability to win your case through litigation. It should be noted that litigating slip and fall cases can be a costly endeavor, so prior to taking these measures the victim and his attorney must show that the property owner or an employee’s negligent actions were instrumental in the cause of the fall.

How much is my premises liability case worth?

There is no average settlement or award in premises liability cases. Each case depends on its own unique facts.

Factors that can affect the value of your case include:

• The severity of your injuries.
• The amount of medical treatment needed to treat your injury.
• Your age and overall health before the accident.
• The amount of work you miss due to being too injured to work or to attend injury-related appointments.
• The impact that the injury has on your life. For example, the damages for someone who missed a minimal amount of work and did not acquire any permanent disability or chronic pain from the injury would likely have a case that is valued below the amount that can be recovered for a person who suffers a life-changing, and career-ending spinal cord injury.

Each of these factors represents damages that are recovered through this type of claim. The damages you might recover include medical expenses; lost wages; loss of future earning capacity in cases involving permanent disability; and non-economic damages such as physical pain and suffering, emotional distress, or loss of enjoyment of life.

Will my settlement or award be subject to income tax?

According to the Internal Revenue Service, settlements or jury awards in personal injury cases—including premises liability cases—are not taxable. However, if you receive punitive damages—damages unrelated to the injury that punish the defendant for particularly reckless behavior—you may owe taxes on those damages. Our attorneys can help you understand any tax or personal finance implications of any settlement or award.

Contact Benson & Bingham Accident Injury Lawyers, LLC’s Nevada Premises Liability Attorneys Today

If you suffered injuries or lost a loved one because of a slip and fall or negligent security in a public place or business, contact Benson & Bingham Accident Injury Lawyers, LLC, online or call at (702) 382-9797 to schedule a free consultation and review your case.

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