Father Plans to Sue Police After Death of Son

On October 2, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, Personal Injury Lawyer in Las Vegas

It appears that a deadly police shooting in Summerlin will soon wind up in civil court.

On September 28, a coroner’s inquest found that Metro police’s fatal shooting of Erik Scott outside a Costco store was justified. The verdict prompted the victim’s father, Bill Scott, to declare that he would soon be filing a lawsuit against Metro Police, the Clark County Sheriff’s office, the county itself, and Costco.

A seven-member Clark County coroner’s inquest jury unanimously ruled that Metro officer Thomas Mendiola was justified in the shooting. Mendiola and other officers testified that they saw Scott reaching for his gun, which was under the back of the victim’s shirt. After Scott was shot, the officers discovered that the weapon Scott had produced was still in its holster.

It may be tempting to conclude, “Well, since the coroner’s inquest cleared the police of wrongdoing, there’s no point in filing a civil suit.” But that’s an incorrect assumption.

A coroner’s inquest is significantly different from a criminal or civil trial. At a trial, both the prosecution or plaintiff and the defense have a chance to argue their side of the story in court. At an inquest, only the district attorney is allowed to present a case before the jury renders its verdict. So the jury only hears one side of the narrative.

Bill Scott claims that his son was walking to the parking lot when he was “ambushed” by three officers who aimed their weapons at him. The elder Scott maintains that his son was simply reaching for his gun in order to surrender it to the police when he was fired upon. 

If a wrongful death lawsuit is filed and the plaintiff wins, a jury may award compensation which may include burial and funeral expenses, lost future income, damages for pain and suffering of family members, and possibly even punitive damages.

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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Child Drowning Statistics in Nevada Pools

On July 30, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, Personal Injury Lawyer in Las Vegas

Whenever a child dies, it is a gut wrenching, terrible tragedy. But when a child drowns to death in a pool, it makes the tragedy even more difficult because the death is usually preventable. In many cases, the catastrophic event could have been avoided if not for the negligence of another person or company.

Clark County has compiled statistics of drownings and related data over the last ten years. When looking at drownings and near drownings for Clark County children 14 and under in 2009 (the latest year for which data was available),

  • The number of fatal drownings was more than double the total recorded just five years earlier.
  • 77% of them happened in residential pools.
  • 90% of the fatal drownings involved children less than five years of age.

If a child drowns in a backyard swimming pool, the homeowner could be sued for wrongful death depending on the circumstances. Sometimes, parents let their kids swim at a neighbor’s pool with the understanding that they will be supervised. But this is often not the case – and it only takes about five minutes for a child to drown.

There have also been numerous stories of a child wandering into a pool and drowning. If the pool (be it residential or municipal) does not have barriers which are designed to keep young children out, then the pool owners or operators might be found liable in a wrongful death lawsuit.

A qualified child wrongful death attorney can probably answer your questions relating to child drownings and pool owners’ liability. 

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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Work Accident Deaths and the Wrongful Death Litigation Process

On June 21, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, Wrongful Death Lawyer in Las Vegas

What if a forklift operator in a Summerlin warehouse is killed when a five-story shelving unit falls on him?

What if a construction worker dies from injuries sustained during a building collapse in Green Valley?

What if a lab worker in Boulder City suffocates due to exposure to toxic fumes released during a laboratory accident?

Can any of their heirs sue their employers for wrongful death?

If any of these workers were covered under their companies’ workmen’s compensation insurance, then in most cases their families are not allowed to sue their employers for wrongful death.

However, if these individuals were contractors as opposed to full-time employees, then they may be entitled to damages from a wrongful death lawsuit.

In addition, if a third party was determined to be the cause of the accident in any of the above scenarios, then this party can be sued for wrongful death by the loved ones of the decedents.

Hopefully, you will never need to file a lawsuit for wrongful death against anyone. But if you must do so, here are some suggestions for bolstering your case:

  • Compile, preserve, and organize whatever evidence that can help your case.
  • Make sure that the workplace accident is investigated – either by a government agency or an independent party.
  • Assemble employee accounts and witness statements of what happened before, during, and after the accident.

A qualified personal injury attorney can help you not only file a wrongful death lawsuit, but also with navigating the investigatory process pertaining to the workplace accident. 

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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How are Future Damages Calculated in a Wrongful Death Lawsuit?

On June 18, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, Wrongful Death Lawyer in Las Vegas

When determining how much compensation you are entitled to in a wrongful death lawsuit in Nevada, the court examines several different factors. The hospitalization, medical care, and burial costs incurred by your loved one are computed as part of the damage award. But a large component of your ultimate payout is based on what is known as future damages.

As the name implies, future damages represent the amount of money that your family member would have been worth had the untimely death not occurred. These damages include how much wages or salary the decedent would have earned at his or her job over a lifetime of work. But future damages also take into account concepts which are harder to quantify, such as pain and suffering of family members and loss of consortium and companionship.

However, in order to come up with an accurate figure, these damages must be filtered through a present value calculation. Present value embraces the assumption that a given amount of money today would be worth more in the future (because it is assumed that it will earn interest over time).

Here are the steps to computing present value:

  • Determine the total amount of future damages involved in the case.
  • Estimate a probable rate of return as well as the number of years that the person would have lived had the accident not occurred.
  • Consult a present value table to figure out a percentage value of what the future earnings are worth today.
  • Multiply the total amount of future earnings by the percentage value.

As you can see, the calculation of future damages is complex. But your personal injury attorney has access to resources and experts who can help with this process.

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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Aspects of a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

On June 12, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, Wrongful Death Lawyer in Las Vegas

Filing a wrongful death lawsuit can be a lengthy and emotional process. It is easy to become overwhelmed while trying to figure out all of the complex moving parts that make up a wrongful death case. Here is a basic list of some of the aspects of any wrongful death lawsuit.

The only persons who can sue for wrongful death are the decedent’s spouse, parents, children, or estate executor.

The main point in these cases is whether the death was directly caused by another party.

The statute of limitations for filing a wrongful death lawsuit is usually two years from the date of the death.

The term “duty of care” is often mentioned in wrongful death cases. This pertains to whether or not the actions of the accused breached his or her obligation to the victim under the given circumstances. Some examples of duty of care include:

  • Doctor in Pahrump to his patients
  • Manufacturer in Green Valley to the customers who use its products
  • Driver in Summerlin to the general public

Even if a duty of care is present, the offending party must be shown to have been at fault due to his or her actions or inaction in order for a plaintiff to prevail in a wrongful death case.

Evidence of damages must also be presented if the plaintiff wishes to receive compensation in a wrongful death case.

Because of the complexity of these types of cases, it is vital that you engage the services of a qualified attorney who has substantial experience with wrongful death lawsuits.

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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Types of Compensation from a Wrongful Death Lawsuit

On June 11, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, Las Vegas Wrongful Death Attorney

If you are mourning the untimely death of a loved one, let me first say I’m very sorry for your loss.  The pain associated with losing someone close to you in an accident is virtually incomprehensible. You may not be thinking about who was at-fault for the accident, but if you suspect the accident was due to carelessness or negligence from another person or company, you should consider filing a wrongful death lawsuit.

Many Las Vegas-area families commonly face significant financial problems after a spouse, parent, or child passes away. Damages from a wrongful death lawsuit may help address some of those monetary concerns.

There are different types of compensation that can be awarded in a wrongful death lawsuit. Here are some:

Direct Expenses                                                                                 

These include funds to reimburse the costs associated with ambulance and emergency room expenses, hospitalization charges, and burial and funeral expenditures. Direct expenses are usually easy to compute using bills and invoices from hospitals, health care providers, and funeral homes.

Lost Wages

These are based on the future earnings of the decedent had the accident not occurred. The most basic way to calculate lost wages is to multiply the individual’s annual salary by the number of his or her estimated remaining years in the workforce. But there are other methods that can be used to determine this figure as well.

Emotional Damages

Depending on the circumstances, a judge or jury may award funds to address the emotional toll that a death takes on a family. Though emotional damages are difficult to quantify, they are generally awarded based on concepts such as mental anguish, pain and suffering, and loss of care, consortium, or companionship.

Punitive Damages

Finally, if the court wants to take measures to ensure that such an accident never happens again, it may impose punitive damages on an offending party. These monies can be awarded in instances where the accident was caused by the defendant’s reckless, wanton, malicious, willful, or extremely negligent conduct.

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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Compensatory vs. Punitive Damages: What’s the Difference?

On May 27, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, Summerlin Injury Lawyer

If someone you love has died due to the negligence of another party, then you may be entitled to wrongful death compensation. There are two different categories of damages which juries may award in Nevada wrongful death lawsuits.

The most common type of award is known as compensatory damages, which are designed to cover costs associated with your loved one’s death. These may include:

  • Burial and funeral costs
  • Medical expenses
  • Lost wages and benefits from future employment
  • Loss of consortium
  • Mental anguish
  • Pain and suffering

So while some compensatory damages are simply expenses that are reimbursable, others (like mental anguish and pain and suffering) are more subjective.

The other type is called punitive damages. Juries can award punitive damages in a wrongful death lawsuit if they feel that the person, company or group which caused the death was intentional, reckless or grossly negligent in its actions (or inaction).

The purpose of punitive damages is to incentivize a defendant to make sure that a similar occurrence never happens again. So when punitive damages are awarded it is not uncommon for the amount to be in the millions (or even billions) of dollars.

Punitive damages can be awarded in wrongful death cases where:

  • Drug companies’ medications kill individuals who took them as directed
  • Doctors, nurses, or other health care providers commit gross medical malpractice
  • Manufacturing plants introduce harmful substances into the soil or water that resulted in someone’s death
  • Drunk drivers with multiple offenses kill a motorist or pedestrian

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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Picking Up the Pieces after Losing a Loved One in an Accident

On May 13, 2010, In Nevada Personal Injury Information, By admin

By Farhan Naqvi, North Las Vegas Injury Lawyer

You and a loved one are driving down Interstate 515 (I-515), I-215, or I-15 and another car slams into your vehicle. The wreck is so severe that your companion (could be your wife, husband, or child) is killed. The impact of this loss is devastating and happens far too often on Las Vegas roads.

As the survivor of this crash, the pressure of figuring out what to do next and picking up the pieces of your life can be overwhelming. You just lost someone very close to you and you may have suffered an injury in the accident. What should you do? What can be done to pursue justice?

Well, the first step is to get proper medical treatment for any injuries you suffered from the crash. The next step is to consult with an attorney. When another driver causes an accident and winds up killing someone, this is called a wrongful death and in a court of law, the survivors of a wrongfully killed individual have a right to pursue compensation for pain and suffering, and other damages. Let an attorney handle filing the suit and deal with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. You should focus on recuperating, making funeral arrangements for your lost loved one, and trying to regain some semblance of your life before the accident.

One of my primary goals is to seek a resolution to your wrongful death case that will allow you to avoid taking the stand and having to re-live that terrible day. In many instances, if the fault of the other driver is clearly determined, we can achieve a resolution to the wrongful death suit without going to trial. This would allow you to achieve some form of justice from this tragic situation (though no amount of compensation will ever be able to replace the loss of your loved one) and allow you to stay focused on getting through the grieving process.

About the Editor: Farhan R. Naqvi is a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer who has experience representing victims injured in car accidents, drunk driver crashes, truck wrecks, slip and falls, taxi cab accidents, and bicycle crashes. He also has experience handling spine injury, product liability, underinsured/uninsured driver, and wrongful death cases. If you’ve been seriously hurt in an accident in Summerlin, North Las Vegas, Clark County, Henderson, Boulder City, Green Valley, or Pahrump, give Farhan a call at 702-553-1000 for a free, no-hassle consultation.

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