Every day in Las Vegas, preventable accidents inflict traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) on innocent victims.
It can happen anywhere—in a crash on I-15, a fall at a casino on the Strip, a mishap at a residential construction site, or in sports when officials and coaches ignore rules or concussion protocols.
But no matter where TBIs occur, they can have devastating physical, emotional, and financial consequences for victims and their loved ones.
If you or someone you love suffered a traumatic brain injury in Las Vegas, you may recover compensation to pay your bills and get your life back on track.
A Las Vegas traumatic brain injury lawyer at Edward Bernstein and Associates can explore your options with you, evaluate your claim, and protect you from insurance companies that want to minimize your settlement.
About Edward Bernstein and Associates
If you live or work in Las Vegas, chances are you know something about Edward Bernstein already.
As one of the most recognized public figures in Nevada for over three decades, Ed has represented people who have suffered injuries because of someone else’s wrongdoing.
Edward Bernstein and Associates’ mission is to secure compensation to help injured people pay for medical care and rebuild after devastating accidents.
Over the decades, our Las Vegas injury attorneys have represented numerous clients whose lives have been upended by traumatic brain injuries.
We understand the challenges a TBI can create in your day-to-day life and the burdens it can place on you and your family.
We aim to ensure you receive fair compensation from anyone whose poor decisions or dangerous actions harmed you.
Las Vegas Traumatic Brain Injury Guide
- How we can help
- What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
- Signs of a Traumatic Brain Injury
- Types of Brain Injuries
- Are Concussions Traumatic Brain Injuries Too?
- Potential compensation
- TBI case
- Legal Elements of a Brain Injury Claim in Las Vegas
- Does Hiring a Lawyer Mean My Brain Injury Case Will Go to Court?
- What Is the Statute of Limitations on a Brain Injury Case in Nevada?
- Concussions
- Contact a lawyer today
How We Can Help With a Las Vegas TBI
If we have learned anything over our 40-plus years of law practice at Edward Bernstein and Associates, it is that personal injury victims tend to need significant medical and financial support fast.
That is especially true of traumatic brain injury cases because a TBI often requires immediate, expensive treatment and can keep a victim or the victim’s loved ones out of work for months.
TBIs can also throw your life into disarray, making it difficult to know where to turn for help or how to make good decisions to protect your future.
A lawyer at Edward Bernstein and Associates can address those concerns as quickly and comprehensively as possible. We work to secure the money you need now and in the future to overcome the challenges of your TBI.
Every case is unique, but in representing TBI victims, we can:
- Investigate the accident that caused a TBI to determine how it happened and who should bear liability for it;
- Evaluate the scope of your TBI, with the help of medical experts when needed, to assess your current and future medical and financial needs;
- Answer your questions quickly and in language you can understand, including en Español.
- Plan a legal strategy that gets you the maximum compensation available as efficiently as possible;
- Prepare, file, and pursue insurance claims and lawsuits against anyone who owes you damages for your TBI;
- Negotiate a favorable settlement of your claim with insurance companies and defense lawyers when possible;
- Present a strong, convincing case at trial when necessary to achieve a fair outcome of your case;
- Take action to collect all money due to you from at-fault parties, insurance companies, and others.
Because we recognize that a TBI can strain your finances, we work on a contingent fee basis.
At Ed Bernstein Injury Lawyers
We Work on a Contingent Fee Basis
That means we do not charge a retainer or bill by the hour for our services.
Instead, we work for our clients in exchange for a percentage of any funds we secure for them.
What Is a Traumatic Brain Injury?
A traumatic brain injury describes when a patient’s brain suffers any type of harm or damage due to an impact from an external force.
A serious bump, blow or jolt to the head can disrupt the brain’s normal function by damaging its tissues, cells or nerves.
TBIs can inflict severe and long-term or permanent brain damage.
There are also acquired brain injuries (ABIs). This is a brain injury that is caused by an internal issue rather than an external one, such as congenital or genetic factors.
ABIs can also result from a lack of oxygen (e.g., drowning, suffocation or asphyxiation), exposure to toxins or chemicals, or a stroke or illness.
Signs of a Traumatic Brain Injury
Every TBI is different. The symptoms and effects one individual notices may not match what someone else experiences, even with a similar diagnosis.
This is why it is critical to see a doctor as soon as possible after your accident, especially if you hit your head. You may not notice or recognize the signs of a TBI right away.
The brain is responsible for controlling everything from physical function and motor skills to thought, emotion and memory. An injury to part of the brain can result in a wide range of symptoms, such as:
- A headache that won’t go away
- Sensitivity to light and sound
- Nausea or vomiting
- Confusion or disorientation
- Dizziness or loss of balance
- Trouble concentrating
- Memory loss
- Trouble speaking or slurred speech
- Blurred vision
- Mood, personality or behavioral changes
- Clear liquid leaking from nose or ears
- Seizures
- Loss of consciousness
- Coma or death
The prognosis for recovering from a brain injury will also depend on the circumstances. Some victims may recover completely from mild concussions while others suffer permanent brain damage or lasting effects from severe TBIs.
Types of Brain Injuries
The brain has many complex parts that can get injured in a traumatic accident in Las Vegas.
The main parts of the brain are the cerebrum, cerebellum and brainstem.
Brain injuries range in nature and type depending on the severity of the injury and the location of the brain affected.
Common types of brain injuries include:
- Concussion
- Contusion or bruising
- Swelling (edema)
- Bleeding or hemorrhage
- Hematoma (blood clots)
- Diffuse-axonal injury
- Coup-contrecoup injury
- Penetrating injury
A closed head injury is a brain injury that occurs when the skull isn’t fractured or penetrated but the brain gets injured due to contact with the inside of the skull.
An open head injury is one that does involve a compromised skull, such as if something penetrates the skull and injures the brain.
Are Concussions Traumatic Brain Injuries Too?
People tend to associate traumatic brain injuries with extreme harm that leaves someone in a coma or permanently incapacitated. But the most common form of a TBI is a concussion, an injury many (if not most) Nevadans have suffered.
Just because concussions are common, however, does not make them minor injuries. A concussion can put you at risk of significant damage to your brain and can cause severe disruption in your life, even with proper care and rest.
Concussions can burden you with weeks or months of debilitating symptoms like:
- Fatigue;
- Sleep disturbances;
- Cognitive difficulties and brain fog;
- Headaches;
- Sensitivity to light and sound;
- Poor memory;
- Ringing in the ears (tinnitus);
- Loss of balance or motor coordination;
- Mental health struggles such as depression or anxiety.
A first concussion can also significantly increase your risk of sustaining a more severe second one. Repeated concussions may also increase your risk of developing dementia or degenerative brain disease.
Any concussion can keep you out of work or school and significantly interfere with your daily life.
In other words, never take a concussion lightly. Go to the doctor.
If you suffer a concussion in a Las Vegas-area accident, you may seek compensation from the at-fault party.
We encourage you to contact Edward Bernstein and Associates to learn about your legal rights after suffering a preventable concussion.
Potential Compensation for a Las Vegas Traumatic Brain Injury
Victims of TBIs in Las Vegas often need significant financial support to overcome the challenges of their injuries.
By taking legal action on their behalf, the team at Edward Bernstein and Associates can often secure compensation for their:
- Medical expenses necessary to treat a TBI and its secondary effects, including hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and medication;
- Other costs of living with or adapting to a TBI, such as paying for transportation services or in-home childcare;
- Income lost from missing work while recovering from a TBI, including the value of sick leave or vacation days used;
- Future income lost because a TBI prevents someone from returning to work or progressing in their career;
- Physical pain, emotional suffering, inconvenience, relationship struggles, and loss of quality of life.
In some cases, our team can also convince a court to award our clients punitive damages, which serve as punishment for extreme or intentional conduct that inflicts a TBI.
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We invite you to contact us at Edward Bernstein and Associates to learn about the potential range of damages you could receive for your TBI.
TBI Cases We Regularly Handle
A wide range of preventable accidents and incidents can cause traumatic brain injuries in Las Vegas.
As a storied Las Vegas personal injury law firm, Edward Bernstein and Associates possess the resources and know-how to obtain compensation for a client no matter how a TBI occurred.
However, many of our TBI cases involve the following scenarios.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injury in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Older Nevadans face the highest risk of fall-related TBIs, but it can happen to you at any age, anywhere in Las Vegas.
People suffer TBIs, for example, after slipping and falling on wet floors at restaurants and stores, tripping on the cracked pavement in shopping center or arena parking lots, stumbling on uneven or poorly lighted stairs at a hotel, or losing their balance because of a loose handrail on someone’s front porch.
No matter what kind of fall causes a TBI, Edward Bernstein and Associates knows how to hold a property owner, tenant, or insurance company accountable to the injured victim.
Car and Truck Accidents
According to Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) crash data, tens of thousands of car accidents and truck accidents occur on Las Vegas roads annually.
Many of those crashes leave innocent victims with TBIs from a blow or jolt to the head at the moment of impact.
At Edward Bernstein and Associates, we have decades of experience representing car and truck accident victims in lawsuits and insurance claims and know how to recover the maximum compensation for the impact of a TBI on someone’s life.
Motorcycle Accidents
As a popular motorcycling destination, Las Vegas sees many bike wrecks yearly. Motorcycle accidents are a leading cause of traumatic brain injury, which can occur even when riders and passengers wear helmets (as they must under Nevada law).
The Edward Bernstein and Associates team understands the dangers motorcyclists in Las Vegas face from careless, distracted motorists.
We fight for the rights of injured bikers to receive as much (if not more) compensation as any other accident victim.
Pedestrian Accidents
Las Vegas has many pedestrians, especially in heavy tourist areas like the Strip. Unfortunately, anywhere vehicles and pedestrians share the same pavement, negligent drivers will cause accidents, and pedestrians usually suffer the worst consequences.
Pedestrians struck by vehicles commonly suffer severe TBIs after a crash throws them to the ground or against a moving vehicle.
Edward Bernstein and Associates lawyers go the distance to help ensure pedestrian accident victims receive the significant financial support that is often necessary to rebound from a major TBI.
Bicycle, e-Scooter, and Other Alternative Transportation Accidents
With gas prices as high as they are, many Las Vegas residents, workers, and visitors have turned to bikes, e-scooters, and other alternative forms of transportation to get around town.
With that increase has come a rise in collisions and bicycle accidents that inflict brain trauma on vulnerable riders, many of whom do not wear helmets.
Our lawyers advocate for injured riders of all forms of self-powered and e-powered personal transportation. They deserve as much money as anyone else when someone else’s careless actions cause a devastating crash.
Construction Site Accidents
Las Vegas has hardly stopped growing since it sprouted from the desert in the early 1900s. Construction fuels the local economy but also serves as the source of numerous injuries, including TBIs, to workers.
Brain trauma can occur from falls, falling objects, or countless other mishaps on a construction site, even if a worker wears a hard hat.
At Edward Bernstein and Associates, we help workers secure workers’ compensation benefits for their TBIs suffered from construction accidents.
In some cases, we can also obtain additional money for them through lawsuits and other legal actions against the third parties who contributed to their TBIs.
Sports and Activity-Related Accidents
Las Vegas is a playground for its visitors and residents, many of whom participate in athletics and outdoor activities. But fun and games can turn disastrous when someone suffers a TBI from a hard hit or bad fall.
Sometimes, you cannot chalk those injuries up simply to the risk of sports. Instead, they happen because someone in charge—a coach, a referee, or an outdoor guide—failed to keep things safe and under control, or violated concussion protocols and allowed a participant to continue playing.
The Edward Bernstein and Associates team has the skill and reputation to obtain top-dollar compensation for athletes and others who suffer TBIs under those circumstances.
Assaults, Gun Violence, and Other Crimes
Like any big city, Las Vegas contends with violent crime. From muggings to bar fights to mass shootings, crimes of violence can inflict horrendous injuries, including brain trauma.
Crime victims frequently do not realize, however, that they may have a right to seek compensation for the harm done to them by property owners or others whose negligent security failed to prevent violence.
At Edward Bernstein and Associates, we work tirelessly to see civil justice done and damages paid when criminal conduct leaves our clients injured.
Legal Elements of a Brain Injury Claim in Las Vegas
A brain injury case in Las Vegas must have a legal basis or foundation. Most cases are based on the legal doctrine of negligence, which is the failure to use reasonable or ordinary care.
If a driver decides to drive drunk, for example, this is a type of negligence that could make the driver responsible for a related car accident that causes a brain injury.
Proving negligence takes evidence of four elements:
- Duty of care: the accused party (defendant) owed a duty of care to the injured party (plaintiff). This means a legal obligation to act in a reasonable and prudent manner to prevent injury to others.
- Breach of duty: the defendant did not meet the required duty of care. The defendant committed a negligent act or omission that violated the expectation of reasonable care.
- Causation: the defendant’s breach of duty caused or substantially contributed to the victim’s brain injury.
- Damages: the victim suffered damages, or compensable losses, because of the defendant’s breach of the duty of care.
Establishing the required elements of a brain injury claim in Las Vegas takes clear and compelling evidence. There must be enough evidence to prove that your claim is more likely to be true than not true, also known as a “preponderance of the evidence.”
Demonstrating negligence may take evidence such as witness statements, medical records and expert testimony.
Does Hiring a Lawyer Mean My Brain Injury Case Will Go to Court?
No, hiring a lawyer does not guarantee that your case will go to court or require a full trial. The majority of personal injury cases, including brain injury claims, reach settlements before ever reaching the trial stage.
Most insurance companies prefer to settle claims rather than risk going to court and being required to pay a jury verdict, which can significantly exceed the limits of an insurance policy.
However, it is still important to hire a brain injury attorney in Las Vegas with trial capabilities. The ability to go to trial (and experience in Clark County courtrooms) is often enough to motivate an insurance company to offer a fair and full settlement to avoid a trial.
A trial attorney with experience litigating brain injury cases will prepare your case as if it will go to court – optimizing your odds of achieving a positive result.
What Is the Statute of Limitations on a Brain Injury Case in Nevada?
Don’t wait to take legal action as a brain injury victim in Las Vegas. The State of Nevada has a law known as the statute of limitations that places a strict time limit on the right to file. If you miss your statute of limitations, you will typically miss out on the right to file.
Nevada’s statute of limitations gives most victims two years from the date of the accident to file injury claims:
ACTIONS OTHER THAN FOR THE RECOVERY OF REAL PROPERTY
NRS 11.190 Periods of limitation.
4. Within 2 years:
(e) Except as otherwise provided in NRS 11.215 or 11.217, an action to recover damages for injuries to a person or for the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another.
Some claims may have shortened or extended deadlines, depending on the circumstances. You will have only 180 days to file a claim against a government agency in Las Vegas, for example. This is why you should always seek advice from a traumatic brain injury attorney about your specific case as soon as possible.
Note that these time limits apply only to lawsuits; insurance claims for brain injuries should be filed much sooner – ideally, within about 72 hours of the harmful accident. Most insurance companies have tight deadlines and filing requirements for valid claims.
Contact a Las Vegas Traumatic Brain Injury Lawyer Today
If you or someone you love suffered a traumatic brain injury in a Las Vegas-area accident, you may recover significant financial compensation.
A skilled TBI lawyer at Edward Bernstein and Associates wants to help you explore your options. Contact us today online or call our Las Vegas office at (702) 508-7334 for your free case consultation.
Contact our dedicated Las Vegas personal injury attorneys now to request a no-obligation free consultation.