If you’ve been in an accident caused by the negligence of someone else, it’s always important to contact an injury attorney in Las Vegas, NV as soon as possible. Here are a few reasons that’s important.
To Avoid Running Afoul of the Statute of Limitations
For most personal injury, you have just two years to bring a claim here in Nevada. If your claim is for medical malpractice, you have three years from the date of the injury or two years from the date that you discovered the injury (or should reasonably have been expected to discover it) to bring a claim. If the person responsible for your injury is not in the state, the statute of limitations does not run while they are away.
If you miss this window of opportunity, you cannot bring a claim in most cases, no matter how great your damages and losses or how strong the evidence you have. And while two years may seem like lots of time, in most cases you need to wait until you reach the point of “maximum medical improvement” before you will be able to bring a case. This could eat up some of your time and means it’s important to get started as soon as possible building a case and gathering evidence.
In addition, you have to allow for time to negotiate, and insurance companies are notorious for dragging their feet. An attorney can help you keep their feet to the fire and keep your case moving.
To Avoid Evidence Degrading
To bring a claim, you must prove negligence on the part of the other party. You must also prove that their negligence was the cause of all your damages and specifically be able to prove what those damages are. This can be more difficult than it sounds, and over time, evidence tends to disappear, degrade, or become impossible to access. Witnesses begin to forget what happened and start to give contradictory statements. Physical evidence fades away or is lost. Security cam videos get overwritten to make room for new footage. The longer you wait, the harder it gets to prove what really happened.
This is particularly important because of Nevada’s comparative fault rules when it comes to negligence. If you are over 50% responsible for an accident, you cannot recover any damages. If you are less than 50% responsible, you can recover damages but minus the same percentage as your fault. As you can imagine, insurance companies are anxious to shift as much fault onto the victim as possible so they can pay less. It’s important that your attorney be able to do a thorough investigation with fresh evidence in order to show clearly exactly who was at fault and to what degree.
It’s always wise to contact a personal injury lawyer as quickly as possible in these cases. Reach out to Goldberg Injury Law in Las Vegas, NV today for a free consultation.
Reviewed by Katie Goldberg, founding attorney at Goldberg Injury Law.
Goldberg Injury Law
Downtown Address:
6010 S Rainbow Blvd Suite A1,
Las Vegas, NV 89118
Phone: 702-382-9797
Fax: 702-920-8670
