In a Nevada injury case, you must prove, with clear evidence, that another party’s careless actions caused your injuries to prove negligence. Nevada law allows you to hold people responsible accountable for causing harm. However, success hinges on meeting specific legal standards. Furthermore, Nevada’s modified comparative negligence rule makes things even more confusing by requiring you to prove your share of fault was less than 50% to recover compensation.

To build a compelling case, you need strong evidence, persuasive arguments, and the fact that you are following Nevada’s legal standards. This process is daunting, although experienced personal injury attorneys can help you make it through each step and protect your rights. The information below will explain how you can prove negligence in your personal injury case.

Proving Negligence in a Personal Injury Case

To succeed in a personal injury lawsuit, you must prove four essential elements:

  • Duty of care — You need to show that under the circumstances, the defendant had a legal obligation to act to protect your safety.
  • Breach of duty — You have to prove that the defendant violated the legal obligation by acting negligently or failing to act as expected.
  • Causation — The evidence you present must link your injuries to a defendant’s actions or failure to act because of their breach
  • Damages — You need to show the actual and non-quantifiable losses you suffered, including medical costs, lost earnings, or emotional harm.

Let us look at each element in detail.

Duty of Care

You must prove negligence as the plaintiff in a Nevada personal injury case. To do that, you must prove that the defendant owed you a legal duty of care. It can be:

  • Specific — This duty stems from statutes, contracts, or relationships that have been established
  • General — This duty requires people to act reasonably to avoid causing harm

When you demonstrate this duty, you can hold the defendant responsible for their actions or inactions.

Everyone in society has a general duty of care. It forces people to act rationally in similar situations to prevent foreseeable harm. For example, drivers have to drive their vehicles safely to avoid inconveniencing other drivers on the road. By contrast, a specific duty of care derives from more clearly defined legal obligations. These duties are often imposed in professional or contractual situations or other legal relationships, including between doctor and patient, trustee and beneficiary.

Nevada statutes recognize several specific duties of care. For instance:

  • NRS 41A.015 defines the duty of medical professionals to provide care that meets the requirements of their profession. This statute holds doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers accountable for failing to exercise the skill and diligence expected in their field.
  • Under NRS 484B.270(5), drivers should not block cyclists, electric bicycle riders, and scooter users’ way and should pass safely, maintaining a minimum distance of 3 feet. Drivers must change lanes on the immediate left if it is safe or pass carefully to the left if there is only one lane. Drivers must yield the right of way to cyclists and scooter drivers and do not have the right to stop, park, or drive in a bicycle lane unless there is an emergency or official business. Drivers must pay attention to prevent colliding and use their horns to sound the alert when necessary.
  • NRS Chapter 162 also creates fiduciary duties for trustees, requiring them to act in the best interest of beneficiaries when managing assets or performing other responsibilities.

Duties of care also include the limited liability rules. Nevada’s limited liability rule defines when a duty of care does or does not exist. Given the particular circumstances, courts use this rule to answer the question: did the defendant have an obligation to protect the plaintiff? The limitation, however, usually depends on several factors, such as:

  • Foreseeability
  • The nature of the relationship
  • Public policy considerations

For example, property owners may have a duty to keep their premises safe. However, this duty might not extend to trespassers under some circumstances. Knowing how this rule works can help prove the defendant’s responsibility.

In proving a duty of care, you must link it directly to the defendant’s conduct or their relationship to the incident. If, for example, you were injured in a car accident caused by a driver, that driver owed you a duty to follow the traffic laws and to operate his/her vehicle safely. If a doctor fails to diagnose a condition because of negligence, you must prove that their specific duty as a medical provider applies to your case.

The existence of a duty shown in these examples shows how the duty depends on the facts and the context of your injury.

Breach of Duty

As the plaintiff in a personal injury case, you must prove that the defendant acted negligently or failed to act as they should have. Only then will you establish that he/she violated their duty of care.

A breach of duty is a violation in which the defendant’s actions or omissions are less than required in a particular situation. You must prove that the defendant’s conduct was unreasonable and directly caused your injuries. The breach is a critical element of a negligence claim, and proving it requires consideration of the facts and circumstances of a case.

Negligence can take many forms, namely:

  • If the defendant acted recklessly
  • The defendant acted contrary to what was expected
  • The defendant failed to take appropriate precautions

When determining whether this duty was breached, the law looks at what "a reasonable person" would have done in the same situation. This standard attempts to test whether or not the defendant’s behavior was acceptable or if it could foreseeably cause harm to other people.

Let us look at a driving situation. When a driver fails to follow traffic laws, his/her actions constitute a breach of duty. If the defendant runs a red light, speeds, or drives drunk or high, he/she fails to exercise the standard of care expected from a driver. In these cases, the defendant’s breach of duty can be easily linked to the injury caused by the accident. This link establishes that their actions directly led to the plaintiff's harm.

Besides neglect, negligence can arise from not doing what is necessary, for example, in a property owner's case, who fails to keep their premises safe. Property owners are legally obliged to ensure their premises are safe for visitors and residents. If they know that a hazardous condition (like a broken handrail or uneven flooring) has occurred and do nothing to fix it, they have breached their duty. In these situations, the defendant’s failure to act, knowing of the danger, is as damaging as direct misconduct.

Another key element in proving a breach of duty is showing that the defendant had knowledge or should have known about the dangerous situation. Sometimes, a person may not realize he/she is in a situation that poses a significant risk to another. However, if a reasonable person in their position had known, their failure to act could also have been deemed negligent. For example, if a store owner lets a spilled liquid on the floor go uncleaned, that spill causes a customer to slip and fall. The store owner could be found to have been negligent because he/she should have known about the hazard and prevented harm.

To build a strong case, you must present evidence showing the defendant’s breach of duty. This evidence can comprise:

  • Witness statements
  • Medical records
  • Expert testimony
  • Physical evidence

For instance, in a slip-and-fall case, pictures of the hazard and witness testimony of how long the hazard had been on the property could be compelling evidence of negligence on the part of the property owner.

Particular use of expert testimony is when the breach of duty is in specialized knowledge. A medical expert can explain the standard of care for this procedure and how the defendant did not meet the standard in a medical malpractice case. During these cases, expert opinions can make or break a case by giving the court an example of the defendant’s behavior within the degree of deviation from the practices that could be considered acceptable in the said field.

Causation

In a personal injury suit, you must prove that the defendant’s breach of duty caused you harm. In other words, you must show that their actions (or lack of actions) caused your injuries. It is essential to establish this connection for your case to succeed.

There are two key elements you need to demonstrate:

  • Actual causation — Causation in fact (or actual causation) means that the defendant’s breach directly caused your injury. This can be shown using the "but-for" test: If the defendant had acted or failed to act, you would not have been injured. For example, a car crash resulting from a defendant’s negligence is the actual result of the defendant's negligence. For example, a driver runs a red light and causes an accident. If the driver had obeyed the traffic signals, there would have been no accident.
  • Proximate causation — This goes further than demonstrating that the injury was a foreseeable outcome of the defendant's actions. It is not enough to show that the defendant's conduct caused harm. You have to show that the harm was something the defendant could reasonably expect. 

For example, if a store owner fails to clean up a spill and a customer falls, it is foreseeable that the spill could cause a fall. The injury must fall within a natural scope of what could be anticipated from the breach.

Damages

When pursuing a personal injury case, you will be seeking compensation for the injuries you have suffered. To do that, you must prove that the defendant’s actions or lack thereof caused your injuries. You must show tangible and intangible losses like medical expenses, lost wages, emotional distress, and pain and suffering. Establishing these damages is crucial, as they form the basis of the compensation you are entitled to.

Nevada's negligence rule falls under the "no harm, no foul" doctrine. If the defendant breached their duty of care, you will not be entitled to compensation unless you can also show that their action caused you actual harm. You cannot recover damages even if the violation involved no harm, no matter the nature of the violation.

Nevada’s modified comparative negligence rule also applies. In addition to proving harm, this rule reduces your compensation by your degree of fault in the incident. For example, if you are 20% at fault, your compensation is reduced by 20%. However, you cannot recover damages if you are more than 50% at fault. This system ensures fairness by aligning compensation with the responsibility each party bears.

Once you have established that the defendant’s actions resulted in harm, you need to prove the extent of your damages. These damages are divided into two categories:

  • Compensatory damages, which are either economic or non-economic
  • Punitive damages

  1. Economic Damages

Economic damages are the financial losses directly resulting from the defendant’s actions. These losses are easy to identify and can be quantified with supporting documentation. Common types of economic damages include:

  • Medical expenses — These expenses include medical treatment for your injury. It includes hospital stays, surgeries, medications, and any future care you may require.
  • Lost wages — If you are injured, you may be unable to work. You can recover the income you lost during the recovery. You may also claim compensation for future lost earnings if the injury has long-term effects that reduce your ability to work.
  • Property damage — If your belongings were damaged (for instance, a car or furniture), you can seek reimbursement for the money you used to repair or replace what was destroyed.
  • Other out-of-pocket expenses — You should include any expenses related to your injury like transportation costs to see a doctor or hiring help for household tasks.

Non-Economic Damages

Non-economic damages are the intangible but significant losses you suffer from the injury. The damages are more subjective, and it is not easy to quantify them. Examples of non-economic damages include:

  • Pain and suffering — An award in damages under this category compensates you for the physical pain and discomfort caused by the injury. The amount of a plaintiff’s award is often based on how severe and how long the pain lasted.
  • Emotional distress — Injuries do not just cause physical pain. They can also cause significant emotional harm like anxiety, depression, or PTSD. Courts will consider these emotional effects when determining how much you will get paid.
  • Loss of consortium — If your relationship with your spouse or partner is affected negatively by the injury, you can receive compensation for the loss of companionship, affection, and intimacy.
  • Disfigurement or disability — You are entitled to compensation for the permanent disfigurement or permanent disability from your injury.

Moreover, Nevada law allows courts to award punitive damages in certain circumstances. These damages do not compensate you for your damages but serve as punishment for gross negligence or willful misconduct on the defendant's part. Courts award these damages only in the most extreme cases of negligence and are intended to deter people from engaging in similar conduct in the future.

Economic damages are usually easier to calculate than non-economic damages. With non-economic damages, you have to consider the type of injury and its impact on your life. Nevada courts consider how your injury affects your overall quality of life, the time it took you to recover, and the severity of the injury.

In some cases, Nevada law presumes that harm has occurred even when you cannot provide direct evidence of the damages. For example, in defamation per se cases, where the defamatory statement is inherently damaging, the law assumes harm to your reputation or emotional well-being without the need for detailed evidence.

Statute of Limitations for Nevada Personal Injury Cases

There is a statute of limitations for personal injury cases. This means that you have a strict deadline for filing a lawsuit. In Nevada, the standard statute of limitations for personal injury claims is two years from the date of the injury or from the date you discover it or should have reasonably discovered it. If you fail to file within this period, you will lose the right to seek compensation because the court will likely dismiss your case.

However, certain exceptions apply to this general rule:

  • Minors — The statute of limitations is paused if the injured party is underage. They can then file a claim when they are 18.
  • Discovery rule — In other cases, the clock starts when you discover or should have discovered the injury, not when you were injured, for example, in medical malpractice or long-term exposure injury cases.
  • Government claims — The statute of limitations can be shorter in a case against a government entity, and you may have to file a notice of claim within a specific time before you can file a lawsuit.

Find a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

You must prove negligence to win the compensation you deserve in a Nevada injury case, and doing so is challenging. Nevada’s comparative negligence rule makes your job even more complicated, requiring you to consider your responsibility for the incident. You also have to understand the nuances of compensatory and punitive damages to know which you can pursue for your case.

If someone else’s negligence has injured you, you should act quickly and get a personal injury lawyer. The Las Vegas Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm team can help you through your case's confusing aspects and ensure your rights are protected. Contact us at 702-996-1224 to begin your path to justice.