Slip and Fall in a Casino or Resort: What to Do Before You Leave
Before you leave the property, report the fall to security, photograph what caused it, and get the names of witnesses and the security officer. The resort will start building its own file right away, so yours should start then too.
Las Vegas resorts are built to keep you moving and looking up: lights, signs, games, shows. Floors are polished marble. Drinks spill on the casino floor. Pool decks stay wet. Escalators at the big Strip properties stay packed. Falls happen, and many of them are preventable.
What should I do in the first few minutes?
If you're hurt, ask for help and accept medical attention. Then, if you're able:
- Photograph the hazard before it's cleaned up: the spill, the broken step, the missing mat, the poor lighting
- Photograph your shoes and clothing, including any wet spots
- Ask for security and request that an incident report be made
- Get the security officer's name and the report number
- Get witness names and phone numbers, especially other guests who will be leaving town
- Note the exact location: near which bank of slots, which bar, which restaurant entrance
You may be asked to sign a statement. You can politely decline to sign anything you haven't had a chance to read carefully, and you can ask for a copy of whatever you do provide.
Why does surveillance video matter so much?
Casino floors are heavily recorded. That video may show the spill, how long it sat there, and whether staff walked past it. But the property controls that footage, and it may not keep it forever.
A written request to preserve the video, sent quickly, is one of the most important early steps. A lawyer can send a preservation letter to the property and its insurer.
What does Nevada law require of a resort?
Property owners in Nevada generally have to use reasonable care to keep their premises safe for guests. A typical fall claim asks questions like:
Did the property create the hazard, or know about it? Was it there long enough that staff should have found it? Was there a warning, like a wet-floor sign?
There's no automatic liability just because a fall happened on the property. The details make the case.
What if I was attacked, not just hurt in a fall?
Nevada has a specific statute for hotels and similar lodging when a guest is hurt by someone who isn't an employee. The owner generally isn't liable unless the wrongful act was foreseeable and the owner failed to use due care for guest safety (NRS 651.015). Foreseeability often turns on prior incidents and the property's security practices.
What if I'd been drinking?
It doesn't automatically erase a claim. Expect the resort to raise it as shared fault under Nevada's comparative fault rule (NRS 41.141); Frank's Nevada comparative fault guide covers how that works.
Nevada generally does not hold a bar or casino liable for serving alcohol to an adult who then hurts someone (NRS 41.1305). That rule is about the server's liability for the drinker's conduct. It doesn't protect a property from its own unsafe floors.
I'm a tourist and I'm flying home tomorrow. Now what?
Get seen by a doctor before you fly, even urgent care near the Strip. Keep your boarding pass and hotel folio, which help prove where you were. Your claim stays in Clark County, and a local lawyer can handle it while you recover at home. Nevada's general two-year deadline for injury claims applies (NRS 11.190(4)(e)).
New clients can also get a free simple will through our sister firm, Signature Law (signature.law).
This article is general information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Frank Stucki, Esq., MBA
Born and raised in Las Vegas. Trial lawyer for the seriously injured. Frank is licensed in California, Nevada, Washington and Utah; cases in other states are handled with local co-counsel licensed there.
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