If you've been experienced a catastrophic injury, call our experienced catastrophic injury attorney's today at 702-745-5038.
Accidents happen daily in a major city like Las Vegas, from crashes on I-15 to falls at construction sites on the Strip and serious accidents on whitewater rafting trips or offroad ATV adventures outside the city. If they’re lucky, victims of those mishaps avoid severe trauma. But sometimes, an accident inflicts a catastrophic injury that forever changes the victim’s life.
Victims of catastrophic injuries in Las Vegas face extreme challenges and frequently need significant financial support to pay for care, rehabilitation, and adaptive services. You should not need to pay those enormous costs when someone else caused your catastrophic injuries.
At Edward Bernstein and Associates, we represent those victims in lawsuits and insurance claims seeking compensation from anyone whose wrongful actions upended their lives. When the insurance company or liable party refuses to pay you what you deserve, call us. Our Las Vegas catastrophic injury lawyers can face down powerful insurance companies and their lawyers, navigate the arduous legal process, and recover the compensation you deserve.
Our Catastrophic Injury Team
Edward Bernstein is one of the most well-respected personal injury lawyers in Nevada. For more than four decades, his law firm, Edward Bernstein and Associates, has worked tirelessly for people who suffered injuries because of someone else’s careless, reckless, or intentional actions. We deliver compassionate, individualized legal services that secure the maximum compensation available to assist our clients in healing from, adapting to, and rebuilding after a catastrophic injury.
How We Can Help You After a Catastrophic Injury in Las Vegas
If you or someone you love suffered a catastrophic injury in Las Vegas, the experienced, compassionate lawyers at Edward Bernstein and Associates want to help you explore your options for seeking compensation. We understand that hiring a lawyer may not seem like a top priority when you suddenly face the extreme medical, emotional, and financial challenges of a catastrophic injury. But it might surprise you to learn how valuable contacting us can be.
We are a team of award-winning personal injury lawyers and legal professionals with over 40 years of experience. Our sole focus is representing people who find their lives turned upside down by a severe injury.
In any given case, our team has the skills and resources to:
- Take immediate action on your case if necessary to ensure that you meet critical legal deadlines and preserve your right to compensation;
- Investigate the cause of your catastrophic injury to determine how it happened and who should owe you damages;
- Act quickly to locate and secure evidence helpful in proving your case;
- Evaluate your current and future medical and financial needs with the help of doctors, financial planners, and other experts when appropriate;
- Connect you with government programs and charitable services in the Las Vegas community that can support your recovery;
- Serve as your representative in all dealings with insurance companies so that you never have to answer calls from an adjuster again;
- Answer your questions and provide you guidance in clear, plain English (or Español);
- Prepare, submit, and pursue insurance claims for you, including workers’ comp claims;
- File lawsuits against parties at fault for your catastrophic injury;
- Negotiate favorable settlements of your claims whenever possible;
- Take your case to court in front of a Las Vegas judge and jury when needed to get you a fair result;
- Collect the money insurance companies and at-fault parties owe you under your settlement or court award.
You do not need to worry about how you will pay for your services. Our team represents catastrophically injured individuals on a contingent fee basis. That means we do not charge a flat fee or bill you by the hour for our work. Instead, we receive a percentage of any money we collect for you. If we do not win for you, in other words, you do not have to pay us anything.
Las Vegas Catastrophic Injury Guide
- What qualifies as a catastrophic injury?
- Your rights to compensation
- Catastrophic injuries to Las Vegas workers
- Contact a lawyer today
What qualifies as a catastrophic injury?
Lawyers generally use the term catastrophic injury to refer to any trauma with a major, lasting effect on someone’s health and daily life. Just about any injury, if it’s severe enough, can qualify as catastrophic. But some injuries, in particular, almost always qualify. Here’s an overview of the most common ones.
Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)
A spinal cord injury occurs when trauma disrupts the functioning of the spinal cord, which transmits signals between the brain and body.
Most spinal cord injuries qualify as catastrophic injuries because they rob the victim of movement, feeling, and function in body parts with which the spinal cord can no longer communicate. Spinal cord injuries frequently paralyze the legs (paraplegia) or arms and legs (quadriplegia or tetraplegia), confining the victim to a wheelchair or mobility device. They also tend to lead to numerous chronic and long-term health complications and saddle the victim with millions in lifetime costs.
Acquired Brain Injury
An acquired brain injury is any non-congenital damage to the brain that affects its normal functioning. It can include physical damage to brain structures, changes in brain chemistry, bleeding, pressure, and swelling in the cranium. Causes of brain injury include physical trauma (a traumatic brain injury, or TBI) and non-traumatic events like illness, stroke, cardiac arrest, drowning after a Las Vegas swimming pool accident, or disruption of oxygen or blood flow to the brain.
Brain injuries qualify as catastrophic when they result in major, lasting health and life disruptions, such as brain death, a prolonged coma, or severe cognitive, emotional, or motor deficits. Victims of catastrophic traumatic brain injury typically lose the ability to function without significant medical or social support. They may need costly around-the-clock care and services for the remainder of their lives.
Crushed or Amputated Limb or Appendage
A violent accident like a car crash or a structural collapse at a construction site can crush, pin, or sever a person's limb or appendage. The accident may separate the limb or appendage from the body (a traumatic amputation), cause a life-threatening injury that requires medical amputation of the limb or appendage, or result in a total or near total loss of function (and frequently deformity) in the limb or appendage.
These injuries permanently deprive the victim of using an arm, hand, leg, or foot, for example. The victim must adapt to a lifelong disability and often needs expensive prosthetics or mobility devices to live independently.
Major Organ Damage and Permanent Loss of a Bodily Function
An accident in Las Vegas can result in trauma that causes major organ damage or the loss of bodily function. For example, a motorcycle wreck might cause facial trauma that blinds a biker. Or taking defective medication may permanently damage someone’s kidney, liver, or reproductive organs.
Organ damage and loss of bodily function qualify as catastrophic injuries whenever permanent effects deprive the victim of significant life abilities or opportunities. These injuries often require the victim to make major, costly changes to core aspects of their lives like intimate relationships, family planning, and careers.
Severe Burn Injury
Severe burns happen in numerous ways, including exposure to fire, scalding liquid or steam, caustic chemicals, or electricity. In Las Vegas, major burn injuries can result from structure fires, faulty plumbing, industrial accidents, and contact with buried or overhead wires.
A burn injury usually qualifies as catastrophic when the degree of severity and extent on a victim's body is so significant that the burn threatens the victim's life or long-term health or causes significant disfigurement. Victims of catastrophic burns endure physical agony, lengthy, expensive hospitalizations, and often, long-lasting emotional and mental health challenges.
Your Rights to Compensation as a Las Vegas Catastrophic Injury Victim
Nevada law generally entitles you to seek compensation from anyone whose wrongful decisions or actions caused the accident that led to your catastrophic injury. At Edward Bernstein and Associates, we represent catastrophically injured people in lawsuits and insurance claims to secure that money.
Every case our firm handles differs, but we can often take legal action demanding payment for your:
- Current and future medical expenses in treating your injury and any long-term health complications, including costs of hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, therapy, medication, prosthetics, and medical equipment;
- Current and future costs of living with or adapting to your catastrophic injury, like modifying your living space or hiring services to assist you with daily activities;
- Past lost income from missing work because of your catastrophic injury, including the value of sick leave and vacation time you used;
- Future lost income due to the impact of your catastrophic injury on your earning ability or career options;
- Physical pain and discomfort;
- Inconvenience and disruption of your daily life;
- Emotional suffering and mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, or PTSD;
- Loss of consortium with a spouse or intimate partner;
- Loss of enjoyment and quality of life;
- Punitive damages if someone’s extreme or intentionally harmful conduct caused the accident.
Contact us at Edward Bernstein and Associates today to learn more about the compensation you may recover for your catastrophic injury in Las Vegas.
Catastrophic Injuries to Las Vegas Workers
If you suffered a catastrophic injury while working in Las Vegas, you may pursue Nevada workers’ compensation benefits to help pay for some of your expenses and losses. An experienced workers’ compensation lawyer at Edward Bernstein and Associates can help.
Nearly all Nevada employers must purchase workers’ compensation (or workers’ comp) insurance for their employees. It covers workers against injuries they suffer while doing their jobs. Workers’ comp generally covers you if you have an employer who directs your work tasks, regardless of the number of hours you work, your age, or immigration status. Workers’ comp generally covers even undocumented Las Vegas workers and gives them the right to receive benefits.
After a catastrophic injury at work, workers’ compensation insurance will usually cover:
- All reasonable medical expenses related to treating your injury;
- A portion of your past and future lost income if your catastrophic injury renders you partially or totally disabled;
- The cost of vocational rehabilitation or job retraining services; and
- Travel expenses and per diem associated with your medical treatment.
At Edward Bernstein and Associates, we routinely represent Las Vegas workers who have suffered on-the-job catastrophic injuries. We help them obtain full workers’ compensation benefits by serving as their representative in dealings with their employer’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier. When possible, we also work to secure additional compensation for catastrophically injured workers through insurance claims or lawsuits against third parties (someone other than their employer or co-worker) whose wrongful actions led to their injury.
Contact an Experienced Las Vegas Catastrophic Injury Lawyer Today
Do not wait to seek experienced legal guidance after a catastrophic injury upends your life in Las Vegas. You may have only a limited time to take legal action to protect your rights to compensation. If you delay too long, you could lose your ability to demand money for your injuries.
Edward Bernstein and Associates’ lawyers and legal professionals have advocated for catastrophically injured people like you for over 40 years. We know Las Vegas and how to secure maximum compensation for someone who suffers life-changing trauma here.
Let us show you what we can do for you. Contact us online or call our Las Vegas office at (702) 840-5103 to speak for free with our knowledgeable legal professionals. We’re always ready to answer your questions and explore your options.