Handling Accident

In a somewhat typical car accident , Doron York, caused a car accident. As a result of York’s negligence, Emmett Smith was injured in the accident. See York v. Smith, 367 P.3d 821 (Nev., 2010).  When the case didn’t settle, Smith sued York. At trial, the jury agreed that Smith had been injured the accident and awarded him damages.  After hearing all of the evidence, the jury awarded Smith damages for both past and future damages.  The future damages were allocated to allow Smith to pay for a possible future ankle surgery. Not liking the award, the at fault driver appealed the decision to the Nevada Supreme Court. The Nevada high court determined that the jury was indeed out of bounds for making its award. We will go into detail about what happened at trial. At trial, the injured party, Smith, put a medical expert on the witness stand. Smith’s expert stated that future surgery was just one of many possible future treatment options for Smith. The expert also noted that Smi...

Las Vegas is on the cutting edge of technology. Designed by a French company, Las Vegas recently unveiled one of the first completely driverless vehicles on public roads. The automatic car was recently driving down the streets of downtown Las Vegas, with no one at the wheel. More importantly, there was no wheel. Las Vegas has created what is called an “Innovation District” in downtown Las Vegas. The completely driverless cars are just part of the innovation Las Vegas wants to create. Similar electric shuttles are being tested in Paris, Singapore, Qatar, New Zealand and Australia. What they all have in common, is that there is no wheel, no brake pedal and no driver. The shuttle uses cameras and sensors to navigate the road.  The shuttle operated on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. The Las Vegas shuttle only operated at 12 mph, for a few short blocks and in a dedicated lane. There was a “stop” button, where at least for now, an employee was on board while the shuttle was in moti...

We have all seen the orange cones around the city as new freeway construction continues in the Las Vegas Valley. As part of that process, the City of North Las Vegas wanted to take some land to expand the 215. Although it involved the government’s forced sale of private property, eminent domain, the recent case involving the City of North Las Vegas discusses when pre-judgment interest starts on cases. See City of NLV v. 5th & Centennial, LLC 130 Nev.Ad.Op. 66 (August 7, 2014).  Although it dealt with real property, this case might have applications on personal injury cases.   In the City of North Las Vegas case, the trial court calculated pre-judgment interest from the time the lawsuit (Complaint and Summons) documents were served on the City. However, the property owner asserted that interest should start when the acts complained of took place. The Nevada Supreme Court agreed with the complaining party and held: “prejudgment interest should be calculated from the date o...

Few things affect your Las Vegas Car Accident Attorney more than the automated cars. As you may recall from prior blogs, automated cars are now being tested on our Nevada roadways. Aside from minor accidents, there have been no real catastrophes involving automated cars. That all changed on May 7, 2016 for a driver in Florida. On May 7, 2016, Joshua Brown, a former Navy Seal, was driving his Tesla Model S in Florida, in the “semi-autonomous Autopilot system”, when he was killed in a fatal car crash. In piecing together the events leading up to the crash, investigators determined Mr. Brown wasn’t actually driving his car.  Moments before the crash, a big rig, made a left hand turn in front of Mr. Brown’s Tesla. The driver of the semi-truck, said when the accident happened, he could hear a movie playing. In an erie turn of events, even after Mr. Brown had died in the collision, the truck driver saw the Telsa drive down a quarter of mile before stopping due to hitting a light pole. I...

What is the best thing about the law? That it changes all the time. What is the worst thing about the law? That it changes all the time! If one thing can be said about the practice of law for your Las Vegas Personal Injury Lawyer, is that she is always being challenged to keep up with the changes in the law. Today’s blog deals with the exciting new developments for personal injury cases in Las Vegas Justice Court.  In the past, Las Vegas Justice Court and it’s Small Claims counterpart, both had max awards limits of $10,000 per injured person. Starting on January 1, 2017, Las Vegas Justice Court will increase its jurisdictional limit from the present $10,000 to $15,000.   Small Claims Court will keep its trial award limits of $10,000. Your Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney will tell you that the benefit of Small Claims Court is that your case will go to trial generally within a few months of filing your lawsuit and trials generally last less than an hour. This is a quic...

After being in a car accident , you may be faced with the task of finding the right lawyer for you. To help you guide you through the process, here are the 5 Top Questions to ask an attorney in your personal injury case:     •    Will you be the actual person handling my case? At some larger firms, during your initial consultation, you will have a quick meet and greet with your lawyer, yet never see them again. During your first meeting, ask who will be your contact? And ask who will be the person handling your case? Many firms will route you to the paralegal, even if you would like to speak with your attorney on a certain issue. Make sure that you have access to your lawyer when you need them.     •     What is your contingency fee? Most personal injury lawyers will not require you to pay for any attorney’s fees out of your pocket. The typical fee ranges from 25-50% of the ultimate recovery. You are paying for an attorney’s skill a...

Since tax time is near, I thought providing you with information on whether personal injury settlements are taxable was in order. After being in a car accident and having received a settlement, you may be wondering if you have to report that money to the IRS as “income”. The short answer is: NO (BUT, there are exceptions where do have to report the income). In a typical car accident claim, you will be awarded monies for bodily injury and related pain and suffering, that you may have sustained as a result of the accident. In this scenario, which usually happens in your standard car accident claim, you will not have to report your settlement as “income” to the IRS. However, there are some exceptions to this general rule.  The first exception applies if you have taken itemized deductions for medical expenses in recent years on your tax return. If  your medical expenses have been so high in the past, that you itemized those bills on your tax return, you MUST report your personal...

After a serious car crash, you may be transported to the nearest hospital for immediate medical treatment.  If your injuries are life threatening, you may be taken to UMC hospital, since it is the only level 1 trauma center in Las Vegas.  UMC’s doctors and staff are equipped to handled the most serious injuries that typically happen in motorcycle and semi-truck accidents.   However, this type of emergency room treatment is costly.  If you do not have health insurance, then all major hospitals are required to reduce their bill by 30%. All hospitals in Las Vegas are considered “major hospitals”, except for the County run, UMC hospital. So, if you went to UMC, they are not required to reduce their bill by the statutory 30%.  This law is found in NRS §439B.260 , which allows for the 30% reduction and states in part: NRS 439B.260  Reduction of billed charges for certain patients and services; notice; resolution of disputes.       1.   A ...

In Las Vegas accident and injury cases, there are two types of settlement offers. One is generally used before a lawsuit is commenced. These are just regular offers to settle your personal injury case and are simple offers, where you can accept, reject or submit a counter settlement offer. However, after a lawsuit has been filed, a regular offer of settlement can be transformed into a more formal settlement offer. These formal offers of settlement are called “Offers of Judgment”.  Offers of Judgment must be submitted to the other side in writing and at least 10 days prior to trial. What makes an Offer of Judgment different from a regular offer, is the legal effect if the Offer of Judgment is rejected. There are legal penalties if Offer of Judgment is rejected and it turns out after a trial that it would have been a better financial decision to accept the Offer of Judgment. The trial court has discretion to award attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the party who submitted the Of...

A new case has come out of the Nevada Supreme Court on the scope of treating doctor’s testimony during trial. This new case is FCHI, LLC v. Rodriguez, 130 Nev. Adv. OP 46 (2014). In Rodriguez, Nevada Supreme Court determined that the trial court allowed improper testimony by Rodriguez's treating physicians, concerning the cause of Rodriguez's injuries. One of Rodriguez's medical providers testified about causation, after reviewing his patient’s other medical records, which consisted of "thousands of pages of documents" from many different doctors. To the extent that this doctor reviewed these documents in the course of providing treatment to Rodriguez, the treating doctor could offer an opinion based on them. However, since the treating doctor only had 21 pages of records in his medical file, the treating doctor was prohibited from opining about these additional medical records. The Nevada Supreme Court went on to say, that as to Rodriguez's other treating doc...

A little known fact in Nevada, is that when an injured party lives out of state, the at-fault party is allowed to make a demand for “security costs” in Las Vegas personal injury cases. There is no similar law for Nevada residents. The law allowing this is NRS 18.130 and provides in full: NRS 18.130  When plaintiff may be required to secure costs; affidavits of sureties; dismissal of action if undertaking not filed.       1.  When a plaintiff in an action resides out of the State, or is a foreign corporation, security for the costs and charges which may be awarded against such plaintiff may be required by the defendant, by the filing and service on plaintiff of a written demand therefor within the time limited for answering the complaint. When so required, all proceedings in the action shall be stayed until an undertaking, executed by two or more persons, be filed with the clerk, to the effect that they will pay such costs and charges as may be awarded against th...

Everyone knows that they are required to wear their seat belts while driving or riding in a car. However, most people do not know where the rule comes from or what implications it has in a Las Vegas car accident case. Today’s blog discusses what happens when the law on wearing your seat belt is not followed. For ease, personal injury attorneys call it the “Seat belt Rule”. The Seat belt Rule is laid out in Nevada Revised Statutes (“NRS”) §484D.495.    NRS §484D.495 requires adults riding in cars to wear seat belts.  However, the law says that a violation of the rule is not a moving traffic violation and may not be considered as negligence in any personal injury action action. Relevant portions of NRS §484D.495 are set forth below:   NRS 484D.495   Safety belts and shoulder harness assembly; requirements for child and other passenger; penalty; exemptions.         ….       2.  Any person driving, and any passenger who: ...

What happens if you need to sign an affidavit in the presence of a notary, but you do not have a notary available? Today’s blog will tell you the law on the issue. There is both State and Federal law on the issue of signing an affidavit (sometimes called a “declaration”) without a notary. Nevada law on this issue is set forth in NRS § 53.045 and provides in full:  NRS § 53.045. Use of unsworn declaration in lieu of affidavit or other sworn declaration; exception. Any matter whose existence or truth may be established by an affidavit or other sworn declaration may be established with the same effect by an unsworn declaration of its existence or truth signed by the declarant under penalty of perjury, and dated, in substantially the following form:   
       1.  If executed in this State: "I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct."
 
       Executed on     _______...

The internet and social media have changed the way in which we interact with one another. This is having a spill-over effect in personal injury cases. We all know that the use of social media sites such as Facebook are relatively new. In the one hundred year history of people making claims of personal injury in Nevada, social networking sites were not something your personal injury attorney had to deal with. The question is now what is the scope of use of social media sites after being involved in a car accident? It may surprise you, but when you make a personal injury claim, the at-fault party may try to find out everything there is about you. This includes any and all information online. They will look at sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. In addition to just looking at the sites, they will try to get this information into evidence . What if all of your Facebook information is private? The short answer is that is does NOT matter. What does this usually mean? That the court will r...

In today’s blog we will be discussing what happens if you loan your car out to a friend and they cause a car accident . Whether you are liable for the resulting damages or injuries they cause is determined on a case by case basis. If you loaned your car out to a friend, who had a perfect driving record and gave you no other cause for concern, you will likely not be held liable for the damages they cause.   However, if you knew your friend had been in multiple car accidents or was intoxicated when you gave them your keys, you will likely be held financially responsible for their actions. This type of liability, is called “negligent entrustment”.  It essentially means that you were negligent in giving someone else permission to drive your car.   To make a successful claim of negligent entrustment, the injured party must allege four elements. Those elements are (1) the owner of the car owed a duty of care to the injured party; (2) the car owner breached that duty of care to ...

The disclosure of damages in Nevada injury cases is mandated by our Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure. Specifically, Rule 16.1 (a)(1)(c) requires that once litigation is ongoing, your personal injury lawyer is required to disclose all of your damages. When does this happen? After an Answer to the Complaint (lawsuit) is filed, then your injury attorney and the other side, will personally meet for an Early Case Conference, to agree on discovery dates and discuss your case. At this Early Case Conference or within 14 days thereafter, your accident attorney will disclose your damages to the other side. There is a continuing obligation to update your computation of damages, so the other side has this information well before any trial date is set.   What do your “damages” consist of in your case? Your damages would be your past and future medical bills, lost wages and any loss you sustained as result of the accident. These are called your “special” damages. Your attorney will also ...

When you need to disclose expert witnesses in Las Vegas injury cases, the first place to look is Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure, (usually shortened to “NRCP”) Rule 16.1.  Rule 16.1 provides in part: RULE 16.1.  MANDATORY PRETRIAL DISCOVERY REQUIREMENTS (a) Required Disclosures.  (2) Disclosure of Expert Testimony.                    (A) In addition to the disclosures required by paragraph (1), a party shall disclose to other parties the identity of any person who may be used at trial to present evidence under NRS 50.275, 50.285 and 50.305.                    (B) Except as otherwise stipulated or directed by the court, this disclosure shall, with respect to a witness who is retained or specially employed to provide expert testimony in the case or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly in...

There are two separate laws that govern registration tags in Las Vegas , Nevada. One is the City law, called municipal law. While the other, state law, located in Nevada Revised Statutes, usually shortened to simply “NRS”. Municipal is another word for City and includes the laws in the City of Las Vegas. According to Municipal Code §11.24.010, it is unlawful, on a street within the City, to "[p]ark a vehicle which does not display thereon a valid registration permit …  So, what happens when you renew your registration, but haven’t received that new color-coded sticker in the mail? Nevada state law may come to your rescue. NRS §482.280(4) states that a car owner who has applied for renewal may continue to drive the vehicle for the time it takes the DMV to issue a new registration card aka sticker. NRS §482.280(4) states: an owner who has made proper application for renewal of registration before the expiration of the current registration but who has not received the license plate o...

You are in a car accident. Your car is damaged, needing extensive repairs. You need your car to get to work, take care of your family and do every other errand to manage your life.  But the at-fault driver’s insurance company is dragging their feet on getting you a rental car. So, you rent a car yourself. After weeks of rental car, you decide you can no longer afford it.  You rely on friends and family for another week, while your car is being repaired.   It turns out the insurance company never gets their act together and you have three property damage losses:1. Car Repair costs; 2. Rental Car Costs; 3. Vehicle Value and 4. Loss of Use for your own car while you didn’t have your car or a rental car. The seminal case on car issues after a car accident is Dugan v. Gotsopoulos, 117 Nev. 285 (2001)   Car Repair Costs. This is the easiest property damage to prove. Evidence of the car repair costs from the car repair shop can be used to document your out-of-pocket car re...

The Nevada Arbitration Rules (“NAR”) govern arbitrations in Clark County, Nevada. Rule 6 describes how an arbitrator is actually selected in your personal injury case. First, the arbitration commissioner gives both parties identical lists of 5 arbitrators. These 5 arbitrators are randomly chosen from the arbitration commissioner’s global list of approved arbitrators in Las Vegas. Each party only has 10 days to strike up to 2 arbitrators on the list. If both sides strike 2 different arbitrators each, then the remaining fifth arbitrator will be the arbitrator that decides your case. If both parties have stricken the same arbitrators on the 5 person list, then the arbitration commissioner will randomly pick an arbitrator from the remaining names.   It is important to note that the parties are able to bypass this 5 arbitrator list if they choose to do so. This is done by the parties jointly selecting an arbitrator from the arbitration commissioner’s global list or a private arbitrator...