Nevada Burn Injury Lawyer: Your Rights After a Burn

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By Michael Shemtoub, trial attorney, Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

What to do after a burn in Nevada

Your first job is treatment at the right place. The American Burn Association’s referral guidelines call for burn center consultation for full-thickness burns, chemical burns, high-voltage electrical injuries and suspected smoke inhalation, and they note that all children may benefit from referral (ABA referral guidelines). Nevada’s ABA-verified center is in Las Vegas.

If you were burned at a hotel, casino, pool or restaurant, report it to management before you leave and ask for a copy of the incident report. Take photos of the scene, including the fixture, the cup or the equipment. Get names of witnesses. Then ask in writing that surveillance video be preserved, since recordings are not kept forever.

If you were visiting Nevada and have already gone home, keep your receipts and room records with your medical files.

The deadline to file in Nevada

Most burn claims fall under the two-year period in NRS 11.190(4)(e). Nevada courts apply a discovery rule that tolls the period until the injured person discovers, or reasonably should have discovered, the facts supporting a cause of action (Petersen v. Bruen, 106 Nev. 271 (1990)).

Medical malpractice follows its own clock. For injuries on or after October 1, 2023, NRS 41A.097(3) allows 3 years after the injury or 2 years after discovery, whichever comes first.

Claims against the State or a local government are handled under NRS 41.036. A tort claim against the State is filed with the Attorney General, and one against a political subdivision is filed with its governing body, within 2 years after the claim accrues. The statute also says that filing this claim is not a condition precedent to bringing an action under NRS 41.031.

How fault works in Nevada

Nevada’s fault rule is modified comparative negligence. The statute says “the plaintiff may not recover if the plaintiff’s comparative negligence … is greater than the negligence of the defendant or the combined negligence of multiple defendants” (NRS 41.141). Up to that line, recovery is reduced by the plaintiff’s share.

Imagine a hotel guest scalded when a shower’s mixing valve fails. The hotel argues the guest turned the handle all the way to hot without testing the water. If a jury puts 20% of the fault on the guest, the guest recovers 80% of the damages. At 51%, the guest recovers nothing.

Damages and caps in Nevada

The defective-product exception matters in burn cases. When a heater, battery or pressure cooker is the cause, the statutory punitive cap does not apply to its maker or seller. For the malpractice cap, the Nevada Supreme Court publishes the yearly amounts on its website, so check the current figure for the year of your injury.

Burns at work in Nevada

Industrial insurance is the employee’s exclusive remedy for workplace accidents (NRS 616A.020). Conway v. Circus Circus Casinos, 116 Nev. 870 (2000), allows an intentional tort claim only where the employer deliberately and specifically intended to injure the employee.

An injured worker may also sue a liable third party other than the employer or a co-employee (NRS 616C.215(2)). In a kitchen or a construction site, that could be the company that serviced the gas line or made a faulty torch. Compensation is reduced by the damages recovered, and the insurer that paid benefits has its own right of action against the third party and is subrogated to the employee’s rights.

Burn centers in Nevada

The ABA directory lists two burn centers in Nevada, both in Las Vegas. Lions Burn Center is ABA-verified; the Sunrise Hospital center is listed without verification.

Source: American Burn Association, Find a Burn Center, directory checked November 2026.

Who may be liable for a burn

Responsibility follows control. A property owner, including a hotel or apartment complex, may answer for scalding water, faulty wiring or a fire with no working alarm. On a job site, a contractor brought in by the employer may have created the danger. A product maker and seller may be liable when a device overheats or explodes. A utility can be responsible for a gas leak or a downed line. A restaurant can be responsible for a burn from hot oil, a sizzling plate or a drink served too hot.

How Beverly Law helps in Nevada

Beverly Law is a California firm; its attorneys are licensed in California and Washington. For burn injuries in Nevada, the firm works with Nevada-licensed attorneys through its referral network. A free case review is the first step, and it typically connects you with a Nevada-licensed burn injury attorney within one business day.

Related pages

• Burn injury lawyer · Burn injury law by state · Burn centers · California · Arizona

This page is general information about Nevada law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws change; a lawyer licensed in Nevada can tell you how they apply to your case.

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Important: Attorney Advertising. This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Beverly Law is a California firm whose attorneys are licensed in California and Washington; for injuries in other states it works with attorneys licensed there through its referral network. Last reviewed: November 6, 2026.