Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyers

Gallagher & Lipshutz represents people injured in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, and throughout Clark County. We handle Nevada injury claims involving crashes, falls, dog bites, dangerous property, and other events caused by careless conduct. These cases often involve medical bills, missed work, pain, future care, insurance disputes, and the way an injury changes daily life. The firm offers free consultations so an injured person can understand the claim before giving a recorded statement about what happened and the injuries, signing a release, or accepting an early settlement.

Most Nevada injury claims come down to a few practical questions. Who was at fault? Did the crash, fall, dog bite, or other event cause the injury? What did the injury cost? What insurance is available? How much time is left before the filing deadline? Nevada generally gives an injured person two years to file a lawsuit for an injury or wrongful death caused by someone else's wrongful act or neglect, but some cases have special rules. See Nevada's two-year injury filing deadline, NRS 11.190(4)(e).

Our approach is direct and evidence focused. We review fault, injury proof, insurance coverage, medical treatment, future care, and the filing deadline before the insurance company has a chance to turn gaps in the record into arguments against you. In a serious case, that work can include scene photographs, police or incident reports, medical records, wage records, witness information, video, vehicle data, policy review, and expert analysis. The goal is to identify the real disputes early and build the claim around proof, not assumptions.

Nevada's Comparative Negligence Rule

Nevada uses a fault sharing rule called comparative negligence. An injured person can still recover money if partly at fault, as long as the person's share of fault is not greater than the fault of the person or people being sued. If the injured person is 50 percent or less at fault, the money recovered is reduced by that percentage. If the injured person is more than 50 percent at fault, Nevada's comparative fault rule can prevent recovery. See Nevada's comparative fault rule, NRS 41.141.

If a jury says your damages are $100,000 and you were 20 percent at fault, the award is reduced to $80,000. Insurance companies understand that math, so they often try to shift blame onto the injured person to reduce what they pay. In car, motorcycle, pedestrian, and fall cases, they may say the injured person was speeding, was distracted, wore the wrong gear, crossed in the wrong place, waited too long to get treatment, or claimed injuries from another cause. Good evidence matters because it can show what happened before the insurance company writes its own version of the story.

Useful proof can include photos, videos, police reports, incident reports, witness names, medical records, repair records, and timeline evidence. Comparative fault is not just a trial issue; it affects settlement value because every percentage of fault assigned to the injured person can reduce the amount the insurance company offers. A claim should be prepared with those blame arguments in mind from the beginning.

Filing Deadlines for Nevada Injury Claims

For most Nevada personal injury cases, the general lawsuit deadline is two years from the injury. For wrongful death, the deadline is generally two years from the death. These rules come from Nevada's injury and wrongful death filing deadline, NRS 11.190(4)(e), and Nevada's wrongful death statute, NRS 41.085.

Some claims require special review, including cases involving a government vehicle, a city or county employee, a public bus, medical professional negligence, a child, delayed discovery of an injury, or a death. Waiting can also weaken a case before any deadline expires because vehicles get repaired, video gets erased, witnesses move, and memories fade. For a fuller deadline discussion, see our Nevada personal injury statute of limitations page.

Damages You Can Recover in a Nevada Injury Case

Personal injury damages usually fall into two groups. Economic damages are the money losses that can often be proved with records, such as medical bills, future medical care, missed paychecks, the money you can no longer earn in the future, out of pocket costs, and property damage. Human losses include pain, anxiety, loss of sleep, physical limits, scarring, and loss of enjoyment of normal life. Both categories require proof, and both should be evaluated before a case is settled.

Nevada does not have one single limit that applies to all injury cases. Some types of cases have special rules. For example, medical professional negligence cases, often called medical malpractice cases, have a special limit on non economic damages such as pain and suffering. See Nevada's medical professional negligence damages limit, NRS 41A.035. Car, truck, motorcycle, pedestrian, and fall cases are different from medical malpractice cases, so the damages analysis depends on the type of claim.

Useful proof can include medical records, billing records, wage records, disability notes, photos, repair estimates, prescription records, and testimony from people who saw how the injury changed your daily life. In a serious case, doctors, life care planners, job experts, or economists may be needed to explain future medical care, work limits, and long term losses. A settlement should account for the medical picture as it exists now and the treatment doctors reasonably expect later.

How a Nevada Personal Injury Claim Works

A Nevada injury claim usually starts with a consultation and evidence review. The attorney evaluates the people or companies that may be at fault, the insurance policies that might apply, the police or incident reports, photographs, witness names, medical treatment, and any evidence that needs to be gathered and saved quickly. In a crash case, that may include vehicle photos, 911 records, body camera footage, dash camera footage, nearby business video, repair records, and insurance information.

After the facts and medical picture are clearer, many cases move to the demand stage, where a demand package is sent with records explaining who was at fault, how the injury happened, what treatment was needed, what money was lost, and why the claim should settle. The insurance company may accept, reject, or make a low offer. If settlement does not make sense, the next step may be a lawsuit.

A lawsuit does not automatically mean the case will go to trial; it means the claim has moved into court because the dispute could not be resolved fairly before filing. The court process may include written discovery, which is written questions and document requests, depositions, which are sworn question and answer sessions, subpoenas, which are court backed requests for records or witnesses, expert review, and trial preparation. Many cases still settle during that process, but the work has to be done as though the case may need to be tried.

Frequently Asked Questions

Gallagher & Lipshutz represents injury victims in Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas, Summerlin, and throughout Clark County. For a free consultation, call (702) 381-3770 or contact Gallagher & Lipshutz. The sooner evidence is gathered and saved, the easier it is to deal with fault disputes, insurance limits, and filing deadlines.