Nevada recently joined several other states in enacting laws preventing many aspects of cell phone usage while operating an automobile. This reform was in response to the large number of Nevada car accidents that were resulting from the inattention caused by cell phone use. There are many aspects of cell phone usage that a Las Vegas personal injury attorney must be familiar with. This article will give the reader some insight on how cell phone use and regulation might affect a Nevada personal injury case, including some insight on how this new law can get you more money for your personal injury settlement!

Nevada’s New Law It has now been codified under NRS 484B that it is against the law to physically handle a cell phone or other electronic device (such as a tablet) while operating an automobile in Nevada. Note that it is legal to drive while speaking on a cell phone via a “hands-free” instrument such as a Bluetooth earpiece or headphones. If you use your phone as a GPS device, your should program the destination into the device prior to taking the wheel. Likewise, if you use your phone as a music device, having it in your hand in order to play music is technically illegal. Police has been advised to assume that anyone holding a cell phone while operating an automobile in Nevada is violating NRS 484B.

Law students spend several weeks in their torts classes studying this question, and it is a major point of emphasis on bar exams. But any Las Vegas personal injury attorney better have studied hard, because this simple question dictates the outcome of every single Nevada personal injury case. For purposes of our personal injury blog, we’ll cover the basics so you can be informed and educated as to the big picture issues in your Nevada personal injury case.

To prove a case for negligence, an injured person must prove the following elements:

1. The existence of a legally recognized duty on the part of the defendant (person responsible for the incident/accident) to conform to standard of conduct. (For example, a duty to give full attention to the road and other drivers while driving a car).
2. A breach of that duty. (For example, texting while driving and running through a stop sign due to lack of attention).
3. Causation. Meaning, the breach of duty caused the incident. (For example, as a result of texting and running a stop sign the driver T-bones another car, causing property damage and personal injuries.)
4. Damage. (For example, the driver may have T-boned the other car but if by some miracle neither car nor person were hurt, then there are no damages).

In another blog entry, we discussed the concept of negligence, which includes the elements of a duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. But it’s one thing to read about the definition of negligence and have a basic understanding of it. Proving it is a different story. Your Las Vegas personal injury attorney must be experienced in understanding what is required to prove your case.

Step one is proving that the Defendant actually did something wrong. Sometimes, bad things happen even if no one did anything wrong. So how do you know if somebody did something they weren’t’ supposed to, or failed to do something they were required to do. In many cases, common sense will tell you that a driver, cyclist, or pedestrian acted carelessly, but you may not know what rules that person violated. What you need is some support for your conclusion that someone did something wrong, and then information supporting what happened as a result of someone doing something wrong. Without that support, proving a Nevada personal injury case may be difficult or impossible. So here are some common resources for finding support for your case.

A very common question that we get from our Las Vegas personal injury clients is whether or not the money they got from their personal injury settlement, often very large sums, is taxable as income. A valid question…your income from work is taxed. Rental income is taxed. What’s the difference, right? Fortunately, the proceeds from Nevada personal injury settlements are not taxable. To anyone reading this blog who is pursuing a Las Vegas personal injury claim or even considering it, that last sentence should bring you a sigh of relief!

Unfortunately, personal injuries can happen to children just as easily as they can happen to adults. In fact, injuries to minors can often be more complicated, if not more serious, due to the fact that children are smaller, weaker, and in some cases incapable of expressing the location of pain or other symptoms.

Nevertheless, children and teenagers are entitled to compensation for their personal injuries just like adults are. The question becomes, who decides how much money they can accept and where that money goes. Ninety-nine parents out of one hundred will put the money from their child’s settlement somewhere safe and set it aside from them…however, the law has to protect the child whose parents or guardian may not have that interest in mind. Your Las Vegas personal injury attorney must be experienced in negotiating these procedural complexities.

Despite what you may see or hear in advertisements, a personal injury case is not a “one call that’s all” type of legal matter. Maybe one call gets a traffic ticket taken care of, but it doesn’t resolve a personal injury matter. Las Vegas personal injury cases are not simple matters.

In fact, personal injury cases can be much more complex than you might have thought. Take a medical malpractice case for example. The medical records for every single facility or physician who treated the injury victim must be obtained. These can be voluminous, totaling hundred or even thousands of pages. And every single page must be reviewed to identify and scrutinize the treatment provided. And then experts must be retained to evaluate the treatment and offer an opinion on the standard of care. And then the all of the damages must be calculated, including past and future medical treatment and lost wages. And that’s only the short of it. Oh, and the case has to be put together in only 1 year! That’s right, medical malpractice personal injury cases only have a one-year statute of limitations.

Every law firm is a business. However, it is a very special kind of business, and the attorney rules of professional conduct are intended to ensure that when a client hires an attorney, they get an attorney who is competent and diligent. These rules are also intended to insure that no client gets misled or hires an attorney with whom that have a conflict. At Naimi, Dilbeck & Johnson, Chtd, we embrace these rules and strive to not only follow them to the letter, but exceed them and set the standard for other personal injury attorneys. Our attitude, sadly, is not the norm. In spite of the rules attorneys are supposed to observe, it is exceedingly easy to hire an attorney who can mishandle your case or even intentionally handle your case in a manner not consistent with your best interests.

Personal injury attorneys are perhaps the best available case study of the application of the rules of professional conduct. Personal injury attorneys are everywhere you look…television ads, billboards, yellow pages…you name it. It is no small coincidence that many people do not know any better than to hire someone they have seen repeatedly in advertisements.

If you are involved in an accident due to the fault of the driver of another vehicle, that driver’s automobile liability insurance is responsible for the cost of repairs to your automobile as well as the costs of your medical treatment, lost wages, and pain and suffering.

Nevada law requires that all vehicles be insured with liability insurance at a minimum of $15,000 per person, $30,000 per incident. But what if, in spite of this law, the negligent driver did not maintain liability insurance? In that case, you can make a claim against your own Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist (“UM/UIM”) insurance.

By some estimates, over 16% of the citizens of the United States lack health insurance. This is nearly 50 million people. Yet, a lack of health insurance puts someone at no less risk for an accident and resulting personal injuries than someone who does have health insurance. Quite simply, uninsured people have, and will, suffer personal injuries due to the neglect of someone else. So, if a person without health insurance becomes injured in an accident, how does that person get the medical treatment they need and deserve?

The first thing the injured person needs to do is retain a personal injury attorney. At Naimi, Dilbeck & Johnson, Chtd, we have carefully cultivated relationships with leading healthcare providers in Las Vegas who will agree to treat the injured person on a lien basis. As soon as we are able to identify that you were injured due to the fault of someone else, we can arrange for you to begin getting treatment on a lien.

The moments, days, and even weeks that follow a car accident or other injury-causing incident can be chaotic. We are all living busy lives anyway. Add to that a car that is destroyed, a stay in the hospital or the need for regular medical treatment, inability to perform in your occupation, or even the inability to perform basic household tasks. Worrying about protecting your personal injury case is probably the last thing on your mind.

However, as the person making a personal injury claim, it is your burden under Nevada personal injury law to prove your injuries and damages by a preponderance of the evidence. The purpose of this article is to present some simple, big picture things you should do to make sure that evidence of your accident and your personal injuries is preserved.