The Most Common Slip and Fall Injuries

Slips and falls can lead to serious personal injury, especially as we get older and our bodies become less resilient. When a slip or fall is caused by someone else's negligence, you may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries.

What are the Most Common Causes of Slip and Fall Injuries?

• Wet or Uneven Surfaces: Wet or uneven surfaces cause over half of these accidents according to the National Floor Safety Institute. This type of accident includes those caused by cluttered or damaged floors, uneven or damaged sidewalks, potholes, damaged staircases or carpeting, and wet or recently waxed floors. 

• Weather Conditions: The snow or rain is obviously not caused by your neighbor's negligence. However, when bad weather happens and the people responsible for shoveling, plowing, and salting roads, sidewalks, and stairways fail to do so, you can be seriously hurt by their negligence.

• Improper Training: Slip and fall accidents can happen at work. Some people's jobs require them to walk in dangerous areas. If these employees are not properly trained how to navigate these dangerous areas, their employers may be held responsible for their injuries.

• Neglect: When a nursing home or hospital staff member neglects a patient, that patient may slip and fall and suffer a serious injury as a result.

What Sorts of Injuries Do Slips and Falls Cause?

Some falls can result in simple bumps and bruises. However, some falls result in very serious, or even life-threatening injuries. If, for example, a person hits his or her head when falling, this can result in a traumatic brain injury. According to the Alzheimer's Association, falls are the leading cause of traumatic brain injury for people of all ages. Brain injuries can result in unconsciousness, memory loss, confusion, learning and memory difficulties, speech problems, coordination problems, hearing or speech loss, dementia, or even death. Joint or bone injury is another serious injury of a slip or fall. Older individuals are particularly at risk for hip fractures. These serious injuries can affect an individual's mobility and his or her ability to engage in the activities he or she loves. If an individual falls on to some sort of object, internal injury is also possible. This could include injuries to vital internal organs, a situation which could be life-threatening.

If you have been injured in a slip and fall, you should contact an experienced Las Vegas personal injury lawyer. When you speak with the experienced attorneys at the De Castroverde Law Group they can explain your legal options and discuss whether you may be entitled to financial compensation for your injuries.

Liability for Construction Site Injuries

Construction is among the most dangerous industries in the nation, as these workers put themselves in harm’s way on a daily basis at job sites. The injuries sustained by construction workers can range from minor to catastrophic, depending upon the type of accident. Accidents on construction sites frequently involve:

• Falling from scaffolding and other heights
• Trip, slip, and falls
• Lifting and repetitive motion injuries
• Defective and unsafe equipment
• Electrocution, fires, and explosions
• Machinery accidents
• Falling debris, equipment, or materials

Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has established numerous rules and regulations to protect employees on job sites, thousands of construction workers are injured each year. When a construction worker is seriously harmed on the job, who is at fault for their injuries and expenses?

Determining Fault in Construction Accidents

Fault could potentially be attributed to multiple parties for a construction site accident. Liability will be determined based upon the factors that led to the incident, the level of control each potential party had over the job site, and the level of control each potential party had over the work that was being done when the accident occurred.

Depending upon each party’s legal responsibilities and duties, the following individuals could be held liable for a construction worker’s injuries:

• Owner of the construction site
• General and sub-contractors
• Engineers
• Architects
• Prime contractors
• Manufacturers of equipment or machinery used on the site
• Each party’s insurer

If you were hurt in a construction accident, you could greatly benefit from hiring an experienced injury attorney to handle your case. Your attorney can determine which parties may be liable for your injuries, determine if any OSHA violations occurred, and build a comprehensive case that seeks maximum compensation for your suffering and expenses.

De Castroverde Law Group is a family-run firm that aggressively fights for the rights and interests of accident victims in Las Vegas. If you were injured on a job site in Clark County, NV or the surrounding areas, get in touch with our highly-reviewed firm to discuss your legal options!

Negligent Security & Premises Liability

In Nevada, casinos, hotels, clubs, restaurants, bars, stores, and all other commercial establishments are required to ensure the safety of their guests. 

Under premises liability law, property owners have a responsibility to protect guests, patrons, employees, and visitors from potential hazards on their properties. This means that in addition to preventing accidents like slip and falls, owners of commercial establishments must also make sure that their premises have sufficient security to keep all visitors safe from assault and other types of violence. 

Victims have the right to file premises liability claims against commercial establishments that failed to ensure their safety because of a lack of security.

What types of security should commercial establishments have?

Property owners must take reasonable precaution to prevent violent crimes from taking place on their premises. Steps commercial establishments should take to protect visitors and prevent crime include:

• Installing surveillance cameras
• Keeping all areas well-lit
• Properly training all security guards and bouncers
• Hiring enough security guards to patrol the whole premises
• Restricting access to areas that are reserved for patrons
• Installing strong door and window locks

In order to have grounds for a claim, the victim must be able to prove that the attack could have been prevented if proper security measures were in place. It is important to hire an experienced lawyer who can prove to the court that the property owner did not take reasonable care to ensure visitors’ safety by failing to provide adequate security.

If you or a loved one was the victim of a violent crime due to negligent security at a Las Vegas establishment, contact De Castroverde Law Group. Our family-run firm believes that every victim deserves justice and fair compensation for their injuries, and we may be able to advocate for you. Call our team to learn about your legal options! 

Premises Liability: Who is at Fault?

It is a property owner’s responsibility to ensure the safety of all those that enter their property. When a person visits another’s property, they are doing so under the reasonable assumption that the owner or manager has taken necessary action to prevent dangerous situations from occurring.

Premises liability law seeks to ensure that stores, homes, buildings, retail shops, outlets, restaurants, and other facilities are kept safe for public and private use. Property owners are required to provide safe conditions for visitors and patrons, in addition to warning of any potential hazards present on their property.  

Property Owner Carries Majority of Responsibility

An owner can be held liable for any injuries that occur on their property if they knew of the potential hazard, or should have known of the hazard, but did not make a reasonable effort to fix the problem. Property owners may also be required to provide reasonable warnings to potential trespassers for any hazardous conditions on their property that may not be obvious or visible.

For example, a property owner could be held liable for any injuries that occur on their premises because of:

• Broken hand rails
• Wet floor
• Poor lighting
• Lack of security
• Cracked sidewalk
• Exposed electrical wires
• Hazardous materials

Comparative Fault in Premises Liability

Comparative fault refers to when both the property owner and the visitor share fault for the injury, often because the visitor failed to exercise expected care for their own safety. In other words, their actions may have contributed to their injury in some way. An example would be if a visitor cut their leg on the sharp corner of a shelf in a grocery store, but did so while chasing a friend through the aisles. In these incidents, the monetary recovery for the injuries can be reduced by the percentage of the visitor’s liability for the accident.

Standard comparative fault laws do not usually apply when a premises liability case involves injuries to a child. Because young children are typically unable to recognize potentially dangerous situations, the law does not hold them liable, even if their injuries were caused in part by their own negligence. For example, it is an owner’s responsibility to install a fence around their pool and keep the area locked securely. If an owner does not install a fence and a child wanders onto the property and drowns in the pool, the owner would be liable.

Know Your Options

If you or a family member was injured on another person’s property because the owner was negligent, you may be entitled to compensation under premises liability law. De Castroverde Law Group represents injury victims in Las Vegas, and we may be able to help you seek justice. Contact our experienced premises liability attorneys to learn about your rights and options if you were injured in Clark County. 

Who’s at Fault for My Accident?

One of the key issues in any personal injury case is determining who was at fault for the accident, which involves both negligence and liability. Liability is most often assigned to the person or party whose negligence caused the accident. However, there may be more than one party that is liable for the accident.

Proving Negligence

In personal injury cases, a party is typically liable for an accident if they failed to use reasonable caution and their carelessness caused another person to suffer harm. In order to prove that the other party, also known as the “defendant”, was negligent, your claim or lawsuit must show the following:

• The defendant owed you a duty of care.
• The defendant breached the duty of care through their actions or lack of action.
• You were injured because the defendant breached the duty of care owed to you.
• You suffered quantifiable losses because of the defendant’s actions.

Determining Liability

Determining who is liable for the accident can sometimes be complicated, but an accident case will usually depend upon the answers for the following questions:

• Should the victim have known better? If the victim was hurt while at a location they should not have been at, such as a restricted or off-limits area, the negligent party may not be liable.
• Is the victim partially at fault? If the victim also acted carelessly, they can still hold the other party liable for their injuries, but the compensation they could recover may be reduced.
• Does the defendant’s employer share responsibility? If the defendant was on the job when the victim was injured, their employer could also be held liable. For example, the employer could be liable if their employee was improperly trained or if they hired a person who was known to be reckless or careless.
• Was the accident caused by a negligent property owner? If the victim’s injury was caused by a dangerous condition on another person’s property, the property owner could be held liable under premises liability law. The victim could hold the property owner responsible if they can prove that the owner knew of the dangerous condition but did not fix it, or that they should have been aware of the dangerous condition.

Proving fault in an accident can be difficult in some cases, but an experienced lawyer can determine your options and help you seek full compensation for your injuries. If you need help proving fault for a personal injury case in the Las Vegas area, get in touch with the experienced team at De Castroverde Law Group today!

Slip & Fall Accidents – What Are Your Legal Options?

We've all been there – going about our day when we suddenly slip or trip and fall on the ground. For many people these incidents are nothing more than embarrassing missteps, but for others a bad fall can lead to injuries that have widespread effects on their lives.

Commonly referred to as “slip & fall” or “trip & fall” accidents, these incidents can happen at retail stores, shops, casinos, hotels, restaurants, apartment complexes, schools, and any other type of property. Slip & fall accidents occur when a visitor or patron is harmed because of a hazardous condition that exists at the premises. Hazards and dangerous conditions include:

• A mopped floor with no warning sign
• A spill that wasn't cleaned up
• A broken step
• A crack in the sidewalk
• An object in the walkway
• A bunched rug on the floor

Slip & falls are the most frequently filed type of premises liability claims. If your fall was caused by another person’s negligence, you might be able to take legal action and seek compensation for your injuries.

Pursuing Compensation for Your Injuries

If you were injured in a slip & fall accident in the Las Vegas area, we encourage you to discuss your case with our team at De Castroverde Law Group. Our attorneys can evaluate your case and determine if it involves the elements needed to take legal action against the property owner.

1. You must be able to prove at least one of the following factors in order to hold the property owner liable for your injuries:
2. The property owner or an employee caused the hazardous condition that led to your fall.
3. The property owner or an employee was aware of the hazardous condition that led to your fall but did nothing to fix it.
4. The property owner or an employee should have been aware of the hazardous condition. This is determined by assessing whether a reasonable person in the same situation would have discovered and fixed the hazard.

Want to learn more about filing an injury claim in Las Vegas, NV? Visit the Slip, Trip & Fall page on our website and contact our dedicated lawyers today!

Understanding Premises Liability

Under premises liability law, property owners have a responsibility to protect their visitors and patrons from harm. “Premises” refer to both private property, such as a person’s home, and commercial property, such as a retail store or hotel. While the owner of a property cannot prepare for every possible accident that could occur, the law requires that they take reasonable care to prevent injury to others.

Reasonable care refers to the owner’s duty to keep their property free of potential hazards and eminent dangers. This means that an owner could be held liable if someone was injured on their property because they failed to take reasonable action to prevent the accident from occurring.

Premises liability cases often include injuries caused by:

• Spills or leaks that are not cleaned up
• Failure to post caution signs after a floor is mopped
• Broken steps and handrails
• A bite or attack from an unrestrained dog
• Broken or uneven cement or pavement
• Exposed tree roots in a walkway
• Insufficient lighting in a parking garage or walkway
• Objects left in walkways
• Negligent or insufficient security
• Negligent lifeguards at a pool
• Exposed electrical wiring
• Lack of fencing and barriers at a pool

If you were injured as a patron or visitor on another’s property, you may be able to seek compensation for your suffering and expenses by filing a premises liability claim. Your claim or lawsuit must be able to prove that:

• You were lawfully on the premises when injured.
• The property owner knew or should have known that a potentially dangerous condition existed on their property.
• The owner’s negligence in addressing the hazardous condition directly contributed to your injury.

If you were injured in the Las Vegas area, our team at De Castroverde Law Group can help you explore your legal options. Visit our Premises Liability page to learn more about filing a claim or lawsuit against a negligent property owner.