Slip And Fall At A Vegas Casino

[Walten]

My wife and I were walking through a Vegas Casino parking lot to our car after placing our football bets and I slipped and fell in a curb-covered rock bed.  I didn't make a report at the time, but a week later i was in excruciating pain, and went to the ER for treatment.  Upon seeing the triage personnel, they discovered I have sustained shoulder damage to my rotator cuff and back and deltoid region of both sides of my chest and neck.  I retained an attorney about three weeks later, and we are in the process of filing a lawsuit against the Casino Property. How long do these situation usually last?  I have to have a surgical procedure done by an orthopedic specialist to my shoulder, and being a professional drummer in the LAS Vegas area, as you probablly can guess, I CAN'T WORK WITH A BUSTED SHOULDER!!  Does this sound like my attorney has a viable case and do you think we an win this case with the information that I have given you thus far?

[Giorgio]

Hi Grady,

I would love to give some help, but you have given me no information whatsoever to even speculate about the claim.  

We are not too good at making second opinion guesstimates based upon such little information.  For example—and please forgive my ignorance on this—I have NO IDEA what a “curb-covered rock bed” is, whether it presents any kind of danger, whether or not the casino should have been aware of the danger, whether or not YOU should have seen the danger, etc.  I have tried to picture in my mind what you might be talking about, but nothing come up.  How can a curb “cover” a rock bed”?

What is ESSENTIAL in any premises liability case are the facts on the ground.  The reason for this is that the owner is NOT an insurer of your safety.  Even though I do not have the facts to make any kind of help for you, Grady, why don’t I go ahead and review for you some of the information about premises liability so you can know what to expect, and maybe even so you can think of evidence or a witness that will help your case?

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Review of laws regarding Premises Liability Trip And Fall Accidents http://www.settlementcentral.com/page3006.htm  is an excellent review of premises liability or slip and fall accident confusion as to liability.  There are three good examples on that page to show you the difference between liable property owners and those whom one cannot sue. A property owner IS NOT AN INSURER OF YOUR SAFETY.  You can recover ONLY if you can show that the owner was negligent.  Was it negligent to put rock garden where it was or to make it seem part of a walkway(just guessing here)?  This is NOT a case of automatic liability, no matter how obvious YOU think it is.  They will always fight on some aspect of liability—maybe comparative negligence in your case. Expect a defense of comparative negligence to be raised against you.  

Your award will be reduced TO THE EXTENT OF YOUR OWN NEGLIGENCE IN FAILING TO WATCH WHERE YOU were walking.  The insurer will raise this defense in an effort to reduce your award.

It will not defeat your claim.  But others reading this answer online need to check with your state insurance commissioner http://www.settlementcentral.com/links.php  

There are some regressive conservative “red states” controlled by the insurance industry, where any negligence on the part of the plaintiff will KILL the right to recovery, and a bunch of conservative states wherein the tortfeasor gets to WIN outright, denying even one cent to the plaintiff if the plaintiff were to be 50% or more at fault.  So those reading this answer must check on this, depending upon how your state has voted in the past—i.e. does the insurance industry have an “in” with your legislature and governor? In Nevada, you have to be more that 50% at fault before they deny you any recovery.  So this reflects the fact that in the past, voters in your state have elected legislators and governors who are cozy with the insurance industry.   Compare your state with the thirteen pure comparative negligence states.  This is the fairest system in that it punishes the victim claimant only in proportion that his negligence is responsible for the entire harm caused by the accident.

The Nevada system will bar any claim whatsoever if the victim claimant is 51 percent or more at fault.  But if he is 50 percent or less at fault, the victim claimant can recover versus the tortfeasor, although his recovery is reduced by his degree of fault.

So if you were 40% at fault, then you will receive only 60% of the award.  And if you were 55% at fault, you would get nothing.  Does this make sense?  

The point is, your negligence can be used to reduce the amount of your award.  So here is your lesson: assume that they will claim that you are at least one-third at fault, and be prepared to defend on the basis set forth above.  They will contend that any person who was at all cognizant of where he was walking could not help but have seen a rock garden where this one was.  How could he miss it?  So expect that defense to be raised as your claim goes forward. DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED about that defense: they try to make it in EVERY claim.  But just be aware that it will be raised if your claim has even moderate value.  The remedy is to PREPARE evidence.

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How to GATHER EVIDENCE AND PREPARE your insurance claim. Gather Evidence: photos and witness statements

GET PHOTOS—your attorney will either hire this done(at YOUR EXPENSE), OR you could do it yourself. Take your cell phone or small camera and take some photos of the area.  There is NO need to let the owner or the casino know you will be doing this.  Go at the same time of day.  Was your accident at night?  Make sure they have not added lighting, and if so, comment on that in your notes.   The darkness of the area might be one of the elements of your claim of negligence and your defense.  So make some photos without any flash, using a tripod if necessary. http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0216.htm  

Evidence to Support Your Personal Injury Insurance Claim of Premises Liability, Slip and Fall.  http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0200.htm  

Photographs to Preserve Evidence of Negligencehttp://www.settlementcentral.com/page0130.htm  Best Photo Tips for Insurance Claims of Negligence: How to Photograph in a Storehttp://www.settlementcentral.com/page0161.htm  Store Slip and Fall Photos ARE NOT Trespassing Since if it Public Access

GET WITNESS STATEMENTS:  if you know of anyone who has experienced a slip and fall or even a near-accident on any similar conditions, then you can use their statement.  

In addition to liability witnesses, you can use some witnesses on damages—that is, the pain and suffering you have had to endure.  The need to use your arms is obvious in your profession, but still—maybe there is someone you know who can add some words on that topic.  Let your attorney know.  If she wants you to get the witness statements, then you can do that.  Otherwise, she will make the contacts and get the witness statements.  

In any event, do not let the witnesses go.  Try to take a moment to get the statements of any witnesses down in writing.  This will also prepare them for what they will be asked later on.  Witness Statements Settle Personal Injury Insurance Claims http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0196.htm Be Prepared for the Kinds of s they Might Ask of you.  Of course we would like to avoid giving any recorded statement, so ask the questioner to send a list of questions since you do not think well in quick pressure situations.  Fat chance she will do that, but you could try.  At a minimum, you need to be prepared for an interview.  Your attorney is the best one to sandpaper you for an interview. If she has to file a lawsuit, then this will be done via your deposition under oath.  Your attorney will guide you on how to prepare and how to answer.  

We have not made up a list of questions to expect for the premises liability part of the free side of my website, so you will just have to use the following as a guide to the range of questions to expect.  This is a list of questions insurance adjusters ask http://www.settlementcentral.com/page0207.htm  injured claimants.

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“How long do these situation usually last?”  

ANSWER: I have no idea—for two reasons.  First off, I have no idea about liability, and that is a key factor.  Secondly, court backlogs differ wildly even within the same state.  Some are offering trials within 6 to 8 months.  In others, the settings can be two years hence. Here is why the liability issue is so controlling.  The defense wants to get the case over and done with if liability is clear.  The other side can cave in at the time of a settlement conference sponsored by the court.  If liability is being disputed, then there will be no concession and the matter will take as long as it takes to get a case called for trial on the trial docket.  That varies widely from county to county even within a state.  

But let me go over with you some of the progress in such cases—what are the steps.  

First off, we would like the owner to come forward and discuss settlement at the time we submit the demand letter.  They often do so and the case will settle.  But if liability is disputed, then we will have to file a lawsuit.  

The first thing to expect is the discovery process wherein each side gets to discover what evidence and witnesses and experts the other side intends to call as witnesses.  Many of those witnesses will be deposed, as will both parties.  A deposition is a FORMAL part of the trial, given under oath, but in an informal setting, such as an attorney’s office.  Make sure your attorney preps you before any deposition. Meantime, you might have to undergo a so-called “Independent” Medical Examinaiton(IME).  This is a bogus procedure wherein some insurance doctors prostitute themselves and try to attack and undermine the claims of the injured victims.  

Along the road, if the defendant feels there is some risk, they might pose mediation as a possibility.  That is a process wherein both sides use an independent professional to show the strengths of their cases, and negotiations happen, with the mediator doing shuttle diplomacy—going from room to room and back, carrying messages and debating with the parties in privacy.  

Mediation is non-binding.  Either or both can walk away.   But for some claims of marginal value, arbitration is ordered, and it is binding. In any event, the court will sponsor a settlement conference, which is the same as mediation.  This will be about two months or less before trial.  

If case does not settle, then you will go to trial, although at each stage of the way, the defense can—and often does—offer a settlement. I trust that my here has produced some information that has been of value to you, Grady, and thus I would respectfully request that you take the time to locate the FEEDBACK FORM on this site and leave some feedback for me.

Best Wishes, Dr. Settlement, J.D.(Juris Doctor) http://www.SettlementCentral.Com