Handling Accident

You cause a car accident and get sued. Now what? Part of having car insurance means your insurance company has to hire a lawyer to defend you in lawsuits. What happens if your insurance company thinks you didn’t have coverage for the acts alleged against you? Your insurance company can write a “reservation of rights” letter, saying that they will hire a lawyer to represent you. But if it turns out that you acted intentionally or did something else that is “excluded” under your policy, your insurance company will not have to pay any damages. This issue came up after a rowdy house party in Las Vegas. See State Farm Mutual Insurance Company v. Hansen, 131 Nev.Ad.Op. 74 (2015). In the Hansen case, Stephen Hansen went to a house party. When things got out of control, Stephen tried to leave. To keep Stephen and the fight going, some of the party guests tried to prevent Stephen from leaving the party. Eventually Stephen drove off. But, as luck would have it, the party was in a gated communi...

Today’s blog deals with the worker’s compensation platform and how that may affect your personal injury case. Let’s take an example that you are driving for a work related errand. While you are stopped for a red light, you are violently rear-ended by an inattentive driver. Due to the negligence of the at fault driver, you seek immediate medical attention. As a result of your injuries, you also miss time from work and have to get additional follow up medical care.  Since you were working at the time of the accident, you can make two claims. One claim would be for worker’s compensation benefits, to pay for your accident related medical care. The other claim would be against the at fault driver and their insurance. The claim against the at fault party can be for more than just getting your medical bills paid and instead can be for pain and suffering and other damages.  It is important to note that the worker’s compensation program gets a credit for any monies the at fault third ...

Whether someone is here in the United States legally or not, is not admissible evidence in a Las Vegas personal injury action. So, whether someone is here on vacation from another county or has outstayed their visa, they both can recover if they were injured while in Las Vegas, through no fault of their own. For those wanting to look at specific cases, a New York court held that a plaintiff's immigration status was properly excluded in a case involving a construction worker who fell two stories through an improperly covered hole in the roof of the defendant's construction project. Angamarca v. New York City Partnership Housing, 2011 NY Slip Op. 5361, 2011 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 5251 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. June 21, 2011).  However, if someone is from another country and they have sustained lost wages, then their immigration status may be relevant for the limited purpose of their wage loss claim. The reason for this is because the law states that a wage loss claim for a non-U.S. citizen ...

Most people do not know that when a minor is involved in a car accident, special legal steps must be taken in the minor’s personal injury claim. First, Court approval must be sought, before any settlement can be confirmed. That means, once the parents have agreed to the settlement amount, the Court must also agree that the settlement amount is in the best interests of the minor child. It also doesn’t matter if the minor is a teenager and will turn 18 soon. As long as they have not reached 18 years of age, the Court must agree to the settlement terms. Additionally, the parents cannot hold onto the settlement money for the son or daughter. That means, parents cannot invest the monies in the stock market or any other type of higher yield investment.  Instead, the settlement funds for the child must be placed in an interest bearing blocked account with a local financial institution. Only when the child reaches 18 years of age can they can access that money. So, parents cannot take any...

The law governing how to file an exemption from the Nevada’s mandated arbitration program, is set forth in the Nevada Arbitration Rules (“NAR”), Rules 3 and 5. In personal injury cases, if your case has a case value of $50,000 or more, then your injury attorney will file a petition for exemption from arbitration (“petition”). This is done so your case is funneled into southern Nevada’s regular litigation channels and where there is no cap on the amount of damages that you can claim.  This petition must be prepared and filed within 20 days after the at-fault party files its answer to the complaint (aka your initial lawsuit paperwork). The petition will included a brief summary of the accident and your injuries, together with a quick synopsis of your medical treatment and the amount of your medical bills.   Your injury attorney will have to set forth in the petition that your case fits into one of the categories for exemption. Once the petition is signed and filed by your...

Clients sometimes ask what are the differences between mediation and arbitration. So, today we will discuss the similarities and contrasts between the two methods of alternative dispute resolution. Both are a means to resolve a civil legal dispute without the need to have a jury to decide your fate. Mediation is an informal process, where the parties meet with an independent third party, called the mediator. The mediator attempts to bring the parties together to resolve their disputes. By contrast, arbitration is a more formal process, akin to a mini trial, where the parties present evidence and an arbitrator renders a decision. Since arbitration is more formal, the arbitrator issues a formal written decision concerning his findings. In personal injury cases, such as car accidents and slip and falls, mediation and arbitration are regularly used by your personal injury attorney to resolve disputes. Since they are so common, each will be discussed more in depth. Mediation is something t...

When someone is involved in an accident, they are sometimes unable to return to work immediately. When this occurs, your treating doctor will write you an “off work” slip, which you can take to your employer. This will document your temporary inability to perform your work duties. If this happens and you are temporarily off work, then your lost wages will be part of your damages in your personal injury case. If you missed a few days or even a few weeks of work, then your Las Vegas personal injury lawyer , may ask you to provide your most recent pay stub, to establish your lost wages. The head of your human resources department will also be asked to provide a letter concerning your hourly rate and how many days of work you missed. All of this information and documentation will be provided to the insurance company to establish your damages and before your case is resolved.   But what happens if you are in a very serious accident and unable to return to work permanently? To establish ...

A lot of people wonder what the process is if the insurance company will not come to a reasonable settlement on their case. If you have been injured in an accident, and have suffered whiplash or some other related injury, at our law firm, your car accident lawyer will file a lawsuit if the insurance company refuses to settle for what your case is worth. Your auto accident lawyer will tell you that when we file a lawsuit, the insurance company may decide to increase their settlement offer and your case may settle. This happens frequently, since many car wreck attorneys do not file lawsuits and the insurance companies are surprised when our office actually does file a lawsuit. However, if your case does not settle after we file the lawsuit and serve it on the other driver, then your case may go into a special Nevada program for whiplash type car accident cases. In Nevada’s special program, we will be assigned to a private judge, called an arbitrator, who will coordinate th...