What’s the Statute of Limitations for “Slip and Fall” in Nevada?

Victims of slip and fall accidents in Nevada may have the right to seek compensation for sustained injuries. Nevertheless, there is a time limit to file a personal injury lawsuit, which is called the statute of limitations. This crucial time limit determines when an injured person should present a claim to a court of law. Failure to meet this deadline can be disastrous, as a court will most likely dismiss the case, regardless of its merit. Thus, when it comes to Nevada, it is crucial to know the time within which these actions should be carried out to have legal recourse.

Nevada Two-Year Deadline on Personal Injury

Nevada law requires filing a personal injury lawsuit against a private person or business within two years of the injury date. This deadline is stipulated in NRS 11.190(4)(e). This is referred to as the statute of limitations. Unless you file your lawsuit before the expiration of these two years, a court is highly likely to dismiss your case, no matter how strong your claim is. The two-year period starts on the date of the injury.

This rule gives a definite deadline to both plaintiffs and defendants and means that legal claims are filed when evidence is fresh and witnesses still retain their memories. Meeting this deadline is essential to any individual who wishes to receive damages to cover the injuries. There are only a few exceptions to this rule. The statute of limitations is a pillar of the legal process that ensures fairness and efficiency by eliminating the uncertainty of an indefinite threat of court action.

Exceptions To The Two-Year Personal Injury Statute Of Limitations In Nevada

Although the general rule is that a personal injury lawsuit must be filed within two years of an injury, certain conditions can delay the time. These exceptions are designed to promote fairness in situations where an injured person is reasonably unable to file a claim within the standard timeframe:

• The discovery rule— The two-year clock does not have to start on the date of the incident, and it may happen that the injury could not be reasonably discovered on that date. Instead, the time begins to run when the injury is actually discovered or reasonably could have been discovered. This is especially so in cases where the injury has a delayed onset, for example, exposure to toxic substances or medical malpractice.

• Statute of limitations on minors—The statute of limitations is suspended (tolled) for an injured minor until they are 18. This means that minors must file a lawsuit two years after their 18th birthday, irrespective of when the injury was sustained.

• Absence of the defendant in the state—If the at-fault party leaves Nevada after the incident, the statute of limitations clock is paused for the duration of their absence. The clock is put on hold as the defendant is out of the state.

• Statute of limitations tolling—The statute of limitations is also tolled when the injured person is legally incapacitated, for example, being mentally incompetent and hence not able to manage their own affairs or file a lawsuit. The clock stops until the disability is lifted.

The Implication of Missing the Deadline

Missing the statute of limitations deadline in Nevada is a fatal error with serious and often irreparable consequences. The two-year deadline is not a recommendation. It is a legal requirement. Failure to file your personal injury lawsuit within this period will make it impossible to recover compensation. The results are direct and unforgiving. When you attempt to sue after the two years have elapsed, the at-fault party will most likely raise a motion to dismiss your case.

The court will legally grant this motion, and your case will be thrown out with prejudice, meaning it can never be refiled. This forever waives your right to recover damages on all related losses, including:

• Medical bills (past and future)

• Lost wages and loss of earning capacity

• Pain and suffering

• Other non-economic damages

Effectively, the expiration of the deadline removes your strongest bargaining chip, the threat of a lawsuit. This will cause settlement talks you might have with the insurance company to end immediately, as they know you cannot sue them anymore.

Does the Statute of Limitations Affect Damaged Property?

Nevada law distinguishes between claims for personal injury and claims for damaged property, applying a different statute of limitations to each. If your property, including your vehicle, electronics, and other personal items, was destroyed in the same accident that injured you, a different statute of limitations applies.

Under NRS 11.190(3)(c), you have a distinct and extended three-year statute of limitations to bring an action seeking your repair or replacement costs of your destroyed personal property. This means that even though the two-year statute of limitations on your physical injuries may have expired, you may still be able to pursue a legal case regarding your property damages.

This is key because it allows you to file your compensation claim on a damaged property separately from your personal injury claim, and you have an additional year to do so.

The Workers' Compensation Timeline for Workplace Falls

When a fall happens at work, it is not treated within the ordinary personal injury legal system. Instead, these occurrences fall under the jurisdiction of Nevada’s workers' compensation system, which has its own rules and, even more importantly, its own deadlines.

In Nevada, workers' compensation is generally the exclusive remedy of a work-injured employee. In most cases, you cannot sue your employer directly in the event of an injury sustained at work, no matter the extent of his/her negligence that contributed to the fall.

The workers compensation system is a no-fault program designed to provide injured workers with prompt and specific benefits, and in exchange, employers receive immunity from most direct personal injury lawsuits.

Workers compensation claim deadlines are shorter and more rigid than the two-year statute of limitations on a personal injury suit. Two critical deadlines not to miss are:

• 7-day reporting—You should give your employer written notice of your accident within 7 days of the accident by filling out a Form C-1 (Notice of Injury or Occupational Disease). While verbal notice may be given initially, written notice is legally required. The written one is essential.

• 90-day filing—You should file your claim by submitting a Form C-4 (Employee's Claim for Compensation/Report of Initial Treatment) to the insurer within 90 days after reporting the injury. You and your treating physician normally fill out this form.

• Third-party claims—A significant exception to the exclusive remedy rule is the potential third-party claim. This enables you to claim personal injury against a party other than your employer who caused your fall. For example, in the case of a fall as a result of a faulty product of a manufacturer or the negligence of a third-party contractor working on the premises, you can pursue a separate claim against that party. Again, with the standard two-year statute of limitations, you can still receive workers compensation benefits.

Claims Against Government Entities

The process of suing a government entity, whether a city, county, or state, has a special set of procedural requirements distinct from those of a standard personal injury case. The Nevada Tort Claims Act, NRS Chapter 41, controls these claims.

Although the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit is two years, there is a critical prerequisite: filing a notice of claim. This preliminary step can make or break your case. This claim is a fixed-written statement that should be submitted to the proper government authority within a given period. Neglecting to file this notice will prevent you from ever being able to file a lawsuit, even though the deadline by which you must file the lawsuit itself may not yet have expired.

A notice of claim is intended to provide the government agency with an opportunity to investigate the incident and resolve the situation before filing a formal lawsuit. It should include specific information, such as:

• The type of claim

• The date and place of the accident

• A description of the damages or injuries you received

The statute of limitations for filing the lawsuit is two years, but you must first file a formal notice of claim. The deadline for this notice can be significantly shorter than two years and varies by government entity. Failing to meet this initial deadline will bar you from filing a lawsuit. It is essential to consult an attorney immediately to identify the correct deadline for your specific case.

Nevada’s Slip and Fall Case

Nevada laws require that you be able to prove four elements to win a slip and fall case. You need to establish the following elements by a preponderance of the evidence; that is, it is more likely than not true:

1. Duty of Care

You must prove that the property owner or manager owed you a legal duty of care. This responsibility demands that the property owners provide a relatively safe environment for the visitors. For example, a store owner is responsible for ensuring that aisles are clear and secure for customers (invitees). The degree of this obligation could vary depending on your reason for being on the property.

2. Breach of Duty

You should then show that the property owner had failed in this duty. A breach is a failure to act as a reasonable person would to avoid foreseeable harm. This can be demonstrated in three ways:

• The owner caused the dangerous situation; for example, they spilled something on the floor

• The owner knew the danger but did not correct it or warn you

• The owner must have known the hazard, since a routine inspection would have identified it. For example, the spill had been on the ground a long time.

3. Causation

Causation is a key connection. You must prove that the owner's breach of duty was the direct and proximate cause of your fall and resulting injuries. In other words, you have to show that your injuries would not have occurred but for the owner's negligence. An example of this is a wet floor that caused you to fall. You would have to demonstrate that the wet floor and the owner's failure to fix the wet floor directly caused your injuries and not some other factor, like a medical condition on your part.

4. Damages

You have to demonstrate that you incurred measurable damages because of the fall. These damages reflect the injury you have suffered and are the foundation of the compensation you seek. Damages may include both economic and non-economic losses:

• Economic damages—These are actual financial losses, including medical expenses, lost wages, and future medical expenses.

• Non-economic damages—These are intangible losses like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and diminished quality of life.

Unless you can prove these four factors, your case will be unlikely to succeed in the Nevada courts.

Common Defense Defendants Will Use in a Personal Injury Case

A personal injury case is a legal battle, and the other side will not simply accept your side of the story. They will offer a strong defense to dispute your allegations of negligence and reduce or even avoid paying any money to you. These are the three typical defenses used in a premises liability case in Nevada.

1. Comparative Negligence (NRS 41.141)

Comparative negligence is the strongest and most frequently used defense in Nevada. The defendant will state that you, the plaintiff, were also to blame for your injuries as per the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 41.141. Nevada follows a modified comparative negligence principle, often called the 51% bar rule. Under this rule, you can recover damages as long as your percentage of fault is not 51% or greater.

In court, the jury will be asked to assign the percentage of fault to each party involved. If the jury determines that you are 50% or less to blame, your overall damage award will be reduced by the assigned percentage of fault. In a case like this, if you were awarded $100,000, but the jury decided that you were 25% to blame as far as the fall is concerned, your final payout would be $75,000.

However, if the jury concludes that you were 51% or more at fault, you cannot recover any damages at all, and you are entitled to nothing. The defense will present evidence, including security footage, witness testimonies, and your own testimony, to claim that you were distracted, not paying attention, or acting carelessly.

2. Known and Apparent Danger

The property owner may assert that the hazard was so open and obvious that any reasonable person would have noticed and avoided it. This defense means the owner was not obligated to warn you of an easily foreseeable danger. For example, a big pothole in a well-illuminated parking lot or a wet floor sign in an area that has just been mopped might be classified as an open and obvious danger.

Although this defense has been a powerful argument in the past for property owners, it is now less effective due to recent rulings of the Nevada Supreme Court. Open and obvious doctrine does not necessarily exonerate a landowner of his/her duty of care. Instead, it is often applied as a comparative negligence case element to show that the plaintiff should have been more careful. The final issue presented to the jury is whether the landowner should have foreseen the harm despite the obviousness of the danger.

3. Lack of Notice

To win an action based on premises liability, you must demonstrate that the property owner knew about the dangerous condition, either actually or constructively. The defense of lack of notice directly challenges this element. The defense will claim that they did not know about the risk and did not have a reasonable time to learn and correct it before you fell.

Notice falls under two categories, namely:

• Actual notice—Under this, the owner or an employee was told or directly saw the hazard. An example is when a customer reported to a manager that there was a spillage on a particular aisle.

• Constructive notice—The danger was present long enough that the owner ought to have detected it with reasonable maintenance and inspection routines.

The defense will assert that the hazard was a temporary condition that no one could have reasonably known about. The defense attorneys can present maintenance records, cleaning records, and employee testimony that their employees complied with all safety rules and had no reason to suspect the hazard.

Find a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

The legal process following a slip and fall in Nevada may be complicated, but the most important thing to know is the deadlines. Although the statute of limitations is generally two years, notable exceptions exist. Failure to meet a deadline may cost you forever the chance to claim compensation.

Do not risk jeopardizing your claim when you or a loved one has suffered an injury in a fall. At Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm, our legal team can advise you on the appropriate timeline that applies to your case and pursue maximum compensation on your behalf. Call us at 702-996-1224 for a free consultation and discover how we can help you initiate the first step towards justice.