Las Vegas Slip & Fall Attorneys
Hurt in a fall in Las Vegas?
If you fell on a casino floor, in a hotel lobby, at a store, or in a parking garage anywhere in the Las Vegas area, the most important decisions in your case are the ones made in the first week, not the ones made years later in a courtroom.
Jack’s Got Your Back
Las Vegas Slip & Fall Lawyers
A slip-and-fall claim is usually won or lost on evidence that is already disappearing: surveillance footage that overwrites on a set schedule, cleaning logs that get overwritten or discarded, and witnesses who scatter. This page explains how to tell whether you have a real case, what Nevada law actually requires, and what to do right now to keep the evidence from vanishing.
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Over $500 Million in Verdicts & Settlements
Jack Bernstein stays personally involved in the cases his firm handles. We will investigate your claim and pursue any compensation that may be available under the facts and the law.
*Jack Bernstein has worked on the above cases during his career at this firm or another firm. Past results do not guarantee, warrant, or predict future cases.
See Case ResultsIf you fell within the last few days and you are leaving Las Vegas soon: the footage clock is your first problem, not the lawsuit. Skip to What to Do in the First Week. The single most valuable thing you can do today is get a written request to preserve the video into the hands of the property before it overwrites.
If you fell recently and you are local: you have a little more breathing room, but the same clock is running. Read What to Do in the First Week, then Do You Actually Have a Case? to see how Nevada law sizes up your situation.
If you are weeks or months out and trying to decide whether to pursue it: start with Do You Actually Have a Case? and Who Is Actually Responsible?, which cover the two questions that decide most claims: was the property careless, and how much fault might land on you.
If an adjuster, a hotel “guest services” representative, or a claims handler has already contacted you: read What the Other Side Is Already Doing before you sign anything or give a recorded statement.
What You Need to Know
- The deadline is short. In Nevada, you generally have two years to file a personal injury lawsuit (NRS 11.190(4)(e)), and different deadlines and exceptions can apply: claims against state and local government run on NRS 41.036, and the period does not run while the injured person was under 18 or insane when the claim accrued (NRS 11.250). Do not assume an exception applies to you, and do not let the deadline that does apply run out.
- The evidence has a shorter clock than the deadline. The Nevada Gaming Control Board’s surveillance standards (Rev. 04/26) require a licensed casino to keep the recordings those standards cover for a minimum of seven days until April 3, 2027 and fifteen days after that (30 days for a recording of a detention or questioning by security), and cameras a casino is not required to cover, along with cleaning logs, can cycle even faster. A written preservation request, sent fast and to the right parties, is what keeps the proof alive.
- Open and obvious is no longer an automatic defense. In Foster v. Costco (2012), the Nevada Supreme Court held that the open and obvious nature of a dangerous condition does not automatically relieve a landowner of the general duty of reasonable care. The fact that a hazard was visible does not by itself end your claim; it goes to whether the owner acted reasonably and to your own share of the fault.
- Your own share of fault is the real battleground. Under NRS 41.141, you can still recover as long as your negligence “was not greater than” the combined negligence of those you sue. Cross that line and you recover nothing. This is why the other side works so hard to pin fault on you.
- More than one company may be responsible. Who controlled the hazard, not just who owns the building, is often the question, and a property owner, a management company, a cleaning contractor and a maintenance vendor can each end up in the case. How responsibility divides among them is decided on the facts.
- You pay nothing to find out where you stand. Most Nevada slip-and-fall lawyers, including this firm, work on contingency and offer a free consultation.
Why hire Jack Bernstein Injury Lawyers?
Jack G. Bernstein, Esq. has been protecting the rights of injured victims and their families for over 40 years.
Speak to Jack about your caseI honestly can not say enough great things about this firm. Jack gave me such amazing advice when I was lost after my accident and he never rushed my calls. He helped me get back on track and a great settlement for all my loss, pain and downtime. I highly recommend Jack Bernstein and his team. Thank you so much for helping me! ~Bethany
$500 million+ recovered
More than 40 years of verdicts and settlements for injured people and their families. Past results do not guarantee your outcome.
Jack is personally involved
You are not a case number. Jack stays involved in your case, and you will always know who is handling it.
We know how insurance companies work
Property owners often claim they never knew about the hazard. We find out what they knew and when they knew it.
Experts who strengthen your case
Safety experts, surveillance footage, incident reports and maintenance records, secured before they disappear.
No fee unless we win
No upfront cost. We advance the expenses of your case, and you pay no attorney fee unless we win.
Free consultation, day or night
Call any time, 24 hours a day. Tell us what happened and you will get an honest answer about your case.
Do you actually have a case?
A slip and fall is not automatically a lawsuit. Falling on someone else’s property only becomes a claim when the property failed to use reasonable care to keep the area safe, and that failure is what hurt you. Here is the framework Nevada courts actually use, so you can size up your own situation before you call anyone.
Nevada does not have a single “premises liability statute” that spells out the property owner’s duty. People sometimes point to NRS 41.130, but that is Nevada’s general negligence statute, not a premises-duty rule. The actual duty comes from Nevada Supreme Court decisions. In Foster v. Costco Wholesale Corp., 128 Nev. 773, 291 P.3d 150 (2012), the court adopted Restatement (Third) of Torts section 51 and concluded that a landowner owes a duty of reasonable care to entrants for risks that exist on the property. The older sorting of visitors into invitees, licensees and trespassers had been abandoned earlier, in Moody v. Manny’s Auto Repair, 110 Nev. 320, 871 P.2d 935 (1994), which added that the status of the injured party may not be the dispositive factor, so status can still bear on what reasonable care required. Nevada has long read that duty to include inspecting the premises for dangers the owner does not yet know about and warning of hidden or concealed perils (Twardowski v. Westward Ho Motels, 86 Nev. 784, 476 P.2d 946 (1970)). Slip-and-fall is one corner of Nevada premises liability law; the same reasonable-care duty runs through every kind of property hazard.
Whether the property met that duty usually turns on what it knew and when:
| Question the case turns on | What it means for you | What proves it |
|---|---|---|
| Did a dangerous condition exist? | A wet floor, a spill, loose carpet, a broken stair, poor lighting, an unmarked level change. | Photos, the incident report, the physical condition itself. |
| Did the property know, or should it have? | If a spill was there long enough that a careful staff would have found it, the property is responsible even if no one saw it happen. | Surveillance timeline, inspection logs, cleaning schedules, employee statements. |
| Did the property fail to act reasonably? | No cleanup, no warning cone, no inspection in a reasonable window, no repair. | The gap between when the hazard appeared and when (if ever) it was addressed. |
| Did that failure cause your injury? | The hazard, not something unrelated, is what hurt you. | Medical records tied to the fall, timeline consistency. |
Bottom line: The strong cases are the ones where you can show the hazard existed long enough that a reasonably careful property would have caught it, and you can prove it before the footage and logs that establish that timeline disappear. The hard cases are the ones where the proof is already gone.
The “open and obvious” trap
Properties still argue that the hazard was “open and obvious,” meaning you should have seen it, so they owed you nothing. Foster v. Costco answers that argument: the open and obvious nature of a dangerous condition does not automatically relieve a property owner of the general duty of reasonable care. Obviousness instead bears on whether the owner acted reasonably, and your own failure to protect yourself from a danger you could see bears on how much fault, if any, belongs to you.
This matters because the defense still uses the argument, just differently. Instead of a complete shield, “open and obvious” is now deployed to push fault onto you and to pressure an early, cheap settlement before you understand that the doctrine no longer works the way it once did. Knowing it is an argument about reasonableness and fault, not a case-ender, changes how you respond to it. (Whether the property posted adequate warnings is part of this fight, which is why the role of warning signs in premises-liability cases often matters.)
Who is actually responsible? The six-layer question
Most people assume one defendant: the business where they fell. In reality, the question Nevada law asks is who controlled the hazard, and control is often spread across several companies that have nothing to do with each other on paper. A large Las Vegas property can involve:
Identifying all of them matters for two reasons. First, the company that controlled the specific hazard may not be the one whose name is on the door, and missing it can mean suing the wrong party. Second, each of these companies may carry its own insurance, which can be the difference between a recovery that covers your medical bills and one that does not.
What this means for you: When a representative tells you “we don’t own the property” or “the cleaning company handles that,” they are not closing the door on your claim. They are describing exactly why more than one party may owe you, and why pinning down who controlled the hazard, early, is part of building the case.
Where you fell shapes your Slip-and-Fall case
The duty is the same everywhere (reasonable care), but the practical case changes with the venue: which hazards are common, who controlled the floor, what evidence exists, and how fast it disappears. A gas-station fall turns on pump-island grease and outdoor camera coverage; a grocery-store fall on spills, produce misting, and floor-maintenance logs; a casino fall on the seven-day minimum in the state gaming surveillance standards and a stack of separate vendors; a warehouse or big-box fall on pallets, spilled product, and loading-area hazards. Because the venue changes the proof, we keep location-specific pages for the most common Las Vegas settings.
By type of property: gas stations, grocery stores, retail stores, pharmacies, fast-food restaurants, malls and shopping centers, and casinos and hotels.
Nearby communities: Henderson, Summerlin, Boulder City, and Pahrump.
If your specific location is not listed, the same reasonable-care duty and evidence rules still apply, and a consultation can map them to your fall.
What to do in the first week
Slip-and-fall cases are built or lost on evidence, and the evidence is on a timer. These are the steps that protect a claim in the days right after a fall. They apply whether you end up hiring this firm, another firm, or handling something yourself.
Report the fall and get the incident number. Ask the property to document the fall in writing and give you a copy or a report number. A documented report is far harder for the property to later say never happened.
Photograph everything before it changes. The hazard, the surrounding area, the lighting, the lack of warning signs, your injuries, and your footwear. A spill gets mopped within minutes; a photo is permanent.
Get the date and time exact. Surveillance footage is found by timestamp. The more precisely you can identify when and where you fell, the easier the right video is to locate.
Send a written request to preserve the video, fast, and to the right parties. This is the single highest-value step, and it is also the one most people get wrong. The property is supposed to preserve footage once a claim is foreseeable, but cameras keep overwriting until someone tells them to stop. A licensed casino has to keep the recordings covered by the Gaming Control Board’s surveillance standards (Rev. 04/26) for a minimum of seven days until April 3, 2027 and fifteen days after that (30 days for a recording of a detention or questioning by security). Cameras the standards do not cover, and cleaning logs, often cycle faster.
Identify every custodian, not just the front desk. This is the structural mistake that quietly kills cases: sending one notice to the business and assuming the evidence is safe. Practitioners who handle these cases routinely find the footage controlled by a separate security vendor, the cleaning logs held by an outside janitorial contractor, and the property managed by yet another company. A preservation request that reaches only the primary entity can leave the most important evidence sitting on a system no one told to stop deleting. The fix is to send the request, in writing and by a method that proves delivery, to every party that might hold a piece of the proof (the owner, the manager, the operator, the cleaning contractor, and the security vendor), and to ask specifically for the footage from the fall and the hours before it, which is what shows how long the hazard sat there.
Keep your medical care consistent. Gaps in treatment are the first thing the other side uses to argue you were not really hurt. See a doctor promptly and follow through.
Bottom line: The lawsuit can wait; the evidence cannot. If the footage and logs survive the first week, you have something to build on. If they overwrite, even a strong-sounding case can collapse for lack of proof.
What the other side is already doing
If you have a claim, the property’s insurer and its claims handlers are working on it before you have hired anyone. Recognizing their playbook is part of protecting your case.
The friendly check-in call
The fast settlement offer
The fault-shifting move
The “guest services” approach
A common point of confusion: if you fell at a bar or casino and alcohol was involved, Nevada generally does not allow a claim against the venue for over-serving an adult who is 21 or older. Under NRS 41.1305, the business “is not liable in a civil action for any damages caused by the person to whom the alcoholic beverage was served.” But that immunity is narrow. It does not touch the property’s separate duty to keep its floors and walkways reasonably safe. A slip on a wet casino floor is a premises-condition claim, which the alcohol-service immunity does not bar.
If you would like to ask those questions
Ask us any of those questions, and ask about your fall while you are at it. Jack will tell you honestly whether it is a case worth bringing, who may have controlled the hazard, and which preservation letters would need to go out.
Free consultation · No fee unless we win · Available 24/7
How Nevada’s fault rule decides what you recover
Nevada uses modified comparative negligence. In plain terms, you can be partly at fault and still recover, but only up to a point. Under NRS 41.141, your negligence cannot be “greater than the negligence or gross negligence of the parties” you are suing. Practitioners call this the 51% bar, but the statute prints no percentage: what decides it is whether your share of the fault is greater than the negligence of the defendant, or the combined negligence of the defendants you are suing, and if it is, you recover nothing.
Two details change how this plays out in real cases:
Your fault is measured against everyone you sue, combined
Whatever fault sticks to you reduces your recovery
This is the mechanism behind nearly every adjuster tactic. The recorded statement, the “open and obvious” argument, the questions about your footwear: they are all aimed at moving your fault percentage up, either past the point where your share is greater than the combined fault of everyone you are suing and you recover nothing, or just high enough to cut the payout.
What to look for and ask before you hire anyone
Once you understand that these cases are won on early evidence work, you can judge a Las Vegas slip-and-fall lawyer by whether they treat the first week as urgent. Reasonable questions to ask any firm you talk to:
How quickly will you send preservation letters, and to whom?
How will you identify who controlled the hazard?
How do you handle the comparative-fault argument?
What does it cost me?
You do not need to have figured all of this out before you call. A short consultation can tell you where you stand and, just as important, can get the preservation requests out the door before more evidence disappears.
Frequently asked questions
Have questions about your case?
Every slip & fall case is different. These answers cover the general rules; what applies to you depends on the facts.
Call us any time, 24 hours a day, and we will go through the specifics with you. It is free, and there is no obligation.
(702) 633-3333 Free consultation · Available 24/7 Or send us the details onlineHow Long Do I Have to File a Slip and Fall Claim in Nevada?
Generally two years after the cause of action accrues, under NRS 11.190(4)(e) (more in our explainer on how long after a slip-and-fall you can sue in Nevada). Different deadlines and exceptions can apply: a tort claim against the State or a political subdivision must also be filed with the Attorney General or with that subdivision’s governing body within two years after the cause of action accrues, and that filing is not a condition precedent to bringing an action (NRS 41.036), and the period does not run while the person entitled to sue was under 18 or insane when the claim accrued (NRS 11.250). Do not assume an exception applies to you, and confirm your specific date with a lawyer early. The practical deadline that matters most, though, is much sooner: the days it takes for surveillance footage to overwrite.
What If I Was Partly at Fault for My Own Fall?
You can still recover, as long as your share of fault is not greater than the combined fault of the parties you sue (NRS 41.141). If your share is greater than theirs, you recover nothing; at or below that line, your recovery is reduced by your percentage. This is exactly why the other side works to inflate your fault, and why it is rarely a good idea to concede fault in a recorded statement.
Can I Sue a Casino or Hotel If I Fell on the Strip?
Yes. A casino or hotel owes the same duty of reasonable care as any other Nevada property. Falls at large Strip properties often involve several responsible companies and tight evidence windows (the state gaming surveillance standards make a licensee keep the recordings they cover for seven days until April 3, 2027 and fifteen days after that), so acting quickly matters even more. Casino- and hotel-specific slip-and-fall claims carry their own complications, as do casino injuries beyond falls, and you can also read more on suing a Las Vegas hotel for a slip-and-fall. A consultation can sort out who controlled the hazard in your case.
The Property Offered Me a Room Upgrade and a Form to Sign. Should I?
Be careful. Customer-service gestures sometimes come with release language that can end your legal claim. Before signing anything a property gives you after a fall, have it reviewed. Once you sign a release, undoing it is difficult.
Do I Have to Pay a Lawyer Up Front?
Most Nevada slip-and-fall lawyers, including Jack Bernstein Injury Lawyers, work on a contingency basis: you pay no upfront fees, and legal fees come out of a recovery only if there is one. The initial consultation is free.
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Free, confidential evaluation in as little as 5 minutes. Contact us today to speak to Jack personally.
- You pay nothing until we win
- Get an immediate call back. 24/7
- We do not sell or share your information