Can I Sue for Being Shot or Stabbed in Las Vegas?

Can I sue for being shot or stabbed in Las Vegas?

Often, yes. If you were shot or stabbed on a Las Vegas property — an apartment complex, bar or nightclub, parking garage, store, hotel, or transit stop — and the owner failed to provide the reasonable security a foreseeable risk called for, Nevada law may let you hold that owner financially responsible through a negligent-security claim. You are not suing for the crime itself; you are suing the property owner for the security failures that made a foreseeable attack possible. This is separate from any criminal case against the attacker.

Las Vegas negligent-security law — the short version

Las Vegas cases are governed by Nevada law. Nevada weighs the totality of the circumstances — prior crime, location, and the nature of the business (Doud) — with a stricter statutory standard for hotels and motels. A negligent-security lawsuit here is generally filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County (Clark County). For the full Nevada standard — deadlines, how fault is shared, and what you can recover — see our Nevada negligent security page.

Public safety in Las Vegas

Violent crime across the Las Vegas valley declined in 2024 and continued to fall through 2025, per the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Las Vegas is a 24-hour tourism-and-hospitality market that draws large late-night crowds into hotels, casinos, nightclubs, and event venues — the general backdrop against which a property’s security duties are judged. A negligent-security case still turns on the record of prior crime at the specific property.

Where these cases happen in Las Vegas

In the Las Vegas area, these claims commonly arise at hotels, casinos and resorts, nightclubs and bars, parking garages and lots, event and festival venues, and apartment complexes, as well as along the Strip and the downtown Fremont Street corridor. Note that most of the Strip lies in the unincorporated township of Paradise rather than the City of Las Vegas.

Good to know in Las Vegas

A Las Vegas-area negligent-security case is filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County — whether the incident happened in the City of Las Vegas, downtown, or on the Strip (which is in unincorporated Paradise). Important: for hotels, casinos, and other lodging establishments, Nevada applies a stricter statutory standard (NRS 651.015) under which the judge, not the jury, decides whether the crime was foreseeable — so those cases are handled differently from an apartment or parking-lot claim.

Deadlines for a Las Vegas case

• Negligence / personal injury: generally two years from the date of the incident from the date of the incident.
• Wrongful death: generally two years from the date of death.

Surveillance footage and other evidence disappear quickly, so it is important to act fast.

Why Las Vegas victims choose The Haggard Law Firm

The firm has handled nearly 500 negligent-security cases nationwide and secured the largest negligent-security verdict in U.S. history ($102.7 million). We help Las Vegas crime victims and their families with no fee unless we win.

How we handle a Nevada case — working with local counsel

The Haggard Law Firm is based in Coral Gables, Florida, and Michael A. Haggard is licensed to practice law in Florida. Mr. Haggard is not licensed in Nevada. Negligent security and crime-victim litigation is the firm’s core focus, and because of the national reputation the firm has built in this specific area, Mr. Haggard regularly works on Nevada cases as co-counsel with a locally licensed Nevada attorney, seeking admission pro hac vice (for the individual case) where the court’s rules permit. Any Nevada matter would be handled together with local counsel admitted in Nevada.

If you were shot, stabbed, or lost a loved one to a preventable crime in Nevada, you can still reach out to us directly. We will review your case for free and, where appropriate, associate with a qualified Nevada attorney to pursue it.

This page is attorney advertising and general information only; it is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Michael A. Haggard is licensed in Florida. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.