Handling Accident

In the state of Nevada, we have what are called District courts, where all matters with a value of $10,000.00 or more are heard. That means a lot of car accident cases that do not settle and require a lawsuit being filed, end up in district court. In Las Vegas, Nevada, we have 32 district court judges that hear personal injury matters. When making their decisions on cases, the judges look at the laws as written by the legislature and written opinions from our highest court in Nevada, the Nevada Supreme Court. As of this writing, there is presently no intermediate court of appeals in Nevada.   However, there has been a growing movement to have a court of appeals in Nevada. Without a court of appeals, the Nevada Supreme Court has to decide all appeals. Given the limited resources of the Nevada Supreme Court, the court is not able to make decisions on all cases that request an appeal. What happens when the legislature and the Nevada Supreme Court haven’t addre...

What happens when you settle a case? A lot of people don’t know what the settlement process is like once a case settles. So, to take you through the process, we will be begin with your car accident lawyer negotiating the maximum settlement amount from the insurance company. Once a car accident case settles, there is still work to be done by your Las Vegas car accident lawyer . Once the settlement is reached, the insurance company will prepare a document, called a Release of All Claims, outlining the settlement terms. The settlement document is usually just referred to as the Release. Your attorney will review the settlement agreement before you sign it.   The Release will have your name, the date of the car accident and the other parties’ information as well. The Release basically states that by accepting the settlement, the case is over and you have resolved all of your claims against the person who hit you in the car accident and their insurance company. The i...

When your car accident case doesn’t settle and you end up in Court, which Court are you actually in? In Las Vegas, Nevada, there are three main Court levels for car accident cases. These Courts are called Small Claims Court, Justice Court, District Court. Each Court has a higher jurisdictional amount, meaning how much they can award. Small Claims Court hears cases, where the value of your car accident case is $7,500 or less. Small Claims Court is great for Las Vegas auto wreck cases, where your medical bills are in the $2,000 to $3,500 range. In Small Claims Court, everything is moved along at a relatively fast pace and your case gets resolved quickly.   As part of the Small Claims Court process, you and your Las Vegas personal injury attorney will meet with the insurance company’s attorney at mediation. At mediation, an impartial third person tries to get both sides to come to an agreement on settlement.   If no agreement can be reached, then on a separ...