Experiencing a personal injury can be stressful. You are suddenly faced with doctor appointments, high medical costs, lost wages from time off work, and difficulties with your regular day-to-day activities. The thought of fighting for fair compensation following an injury can be crushing and leave you feeling paralyzed. Knowing the Nevada personal injury statute of limitations can help you manage how much time you have to file a claim.
Experiencing a personal injury because of another’s negligence is overwhelming. Worrying about medical bills, replacing damaged property, and lost wages can be challenging. At Aaron Law Group, we understand the need for a quick and favorable outcome to your personal injury case.
A statute of limitations is a law that sets the maximum amount of time a person must seek legal repercussions for a crime or civil wrong committed against them. Although there are exceptions, the Nevada Revised Statutes explain the specific timeframe for a variety of offenses. For most personal injury cases, the statute of limitations is two years from the date the injury was discovered or should have reasonably been discovered.
Related offenses, such as wrongful death and medical malpractice claims, also have a two-year statute of limitations. If the injuries were sustained through an act of fraud, you have three years to file a claim for the fraud charge. The statute of limitations for property damage is three years. Property damage is likely to occur with personal injuries because of traffic accidents. If your injuries were the result of faulty construction, you have six years to file a claim.
Personal injury claims cover a wide range of accidents that result in an injury or wrongful death charge. The key feature of personal injury cases is that one party was negligent in some aspect, which then caused the injury to occur. Without negligence, it is not possible to file a personal injury claim.
In a personal injury claim, the plaintiff must show that the defendant had a duty of care, failed to perform that duty of care, that failure directly resulted in an injury being sustained, and the plaintiff directly suffered losses or damages due to the negligence of the defendant.
Some personal injury claims rely on vicarious liability. Under vicarious liability, one party can be held responsible for actions performed by another party. The original party had a duty of care that was not performed. Common types of personal injury cases include:
Experiencing an injury due to another’s negligence can happen anywhere, but there are common situations where injuries are more likely. Injuries sustained at work are reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Severe injuries sustained at work often lead to days away from the job, transfers, or restrictions. These reports include private industry and government cases in 2023:
Personal injuries are also often a result of traffic accidents. The Nevada Department of Public Safety & Transportation releases information on the number of fatalities as a result of traffic accidents each year. In 2023, there were 389 traffic fatalities.
The U.S. Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration report on rates of traffic accidents in 2022. Of those:
The hardest injuries to prove are those that are not readily visible. Broken bones or burns are easy to demonstrate. Soft tissue injuries, nerve damage, emotional distress, and the early stages of a traumatic brain injury are not easily identifiable. To show the connection between your injuries and the accident, you may need to show the results of advanced diagnostic tests, offer expert testimony, and provide detailed medical records.
The burden of proof for personal injury cases is on the person who initiates the claim in court. The plaintiff must prove beyond a preponderance of the evidence that their injuries were a direct result of the accident they experienced. A preponderance of the evidence means that the plaintiff must show that the other party is more likely than not to be responsible for the accident. The plaintiff can present physical evidence, medical testimony, and other evidence that demonstrates their version of events.
You can receive partial compensation if you are partially at fault in Nevada. Under the comparative negligence rule, Nevada Revised Statutes 41.141, partial compensation can be awarded. As the injured party, if you are partially responsible for the accident, any compensation you are entitled to is reduced by the percentage of fault that is your responsibility. So, if you are found to be 20% at fault for the accident, your compensation is reduced by 20%.
The discovery rule for the Nevada statute of limitations states that the statute of limitations does not start counting down until the injury is discovered or should have been discovered by a reasonable person. This rule gives those injured time to discover that they were injured before the statute of limitations begins. In some instances, injuries are not readily evident immediately after an accident.
The cost to hire a personal injury lawyer varies with the specific details of the personal injury case. Many personal injury lawyers charge a contingency fee, which is a specific percentage of any compensation you are awarded. For these types of cases, if you are not awarded any compensation, then you are not responsible for paying anything after the case concludes.
Aaron Law Group has been representing Nevada residents in personal injury cases since 1993. We have the experience and skill to be members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. Let us put our skills to work securing fair compensation for your personal injury case. Contact us today for a confidential consultation.