Las Vegas Swimming Pool Accident Attorney

Swimming pool accidents cause thousands of injuries and deaths every year. The consequences of drowning-related injuries are often lethal for victims – especially children. Those who survive might suffer permanent brain damage from lack of oxygen. If you or a family member has been in a swimming pool accident at a public, private, hotel, or residential location, contact our Las Vegas swimming pool accident attorneys for free, confidential legal counsel. The owner of the property might be liable for your injuries. 

Between private homes and the resorts and hotels that make Las Vegas famous around the world, there are more than 200,000 swimming pools in Clark County, Nevada. When coupled with the fact that there are 11 drowning deaths per day in the United States, one can presume that a significant number of drownings and swimming pool associated injuries occur in Las Vegas every year.

Swimming pool accidents come in many different forms. Usually, we associate drowning with swimming pool accidents, and for good reason – there are more than 12,000 fatal and nonfatal drowning occurrences in the United States every year. Children are at the highest risk of drowning, as drowning is the top cause of death for children ages 1 through 4, and drowning is the second leading cause of injury-related death for children ages 5 through 14. Otherwise, males are at higher risk than females, as nearly 80 percent of drowning victims are male.

But did you know that not all drowning incidents are fatal? Nonfatal drowning, sometimes known as near-drowning, causes the body and brain to be deprived of oxygen for a significant amount of time, which can cause lifelong, permanent damage. Among the types of injuries associated with near-drowning include irreversible brain damage, cognitive and motor skills deficiencies, paralysis, respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and in some cases, a permanent vegetative state.

Otherwise, swimming pool accidents can occur beyond a drowning context. Slip and fall injuries, chemical burns from pool additives, and products liability issues from pools or pool products can all give rise to legal liability. But irrespective of how a person’s specific injury occurs at a swimming pool, the law provides that they can receive compensation for their injuries.

Measures Property Owners Can Take to Prevent Pool Accidents

Nevada law makes it every owner’s duty to ensure the safety of their swimming pools. This burden of responsibility can require a variety of actions to optimize swimmer safety. While not all pool accidents are preventable, many would not occur with due care from the owner. All owners of properties with swimming pools should routinely inspect the pool for hazards, maintain proper chemical levels, and schedule repairs as needed. Ways to improve swimming pool safety can include:

• Ensuring proper adult supervision at pool parties
• Hiring a lifeguard
• Installing a security fence, gate with a lock, and/or alarm
• Covering the pool when not in use
• Requiring a key code to access hotel pools
• Repairing or replacing broken drain covers
• Posting signs to prevent slips or diving accidents
• Installing nonslip pool deck surfaces
• Having emergency equipment close by
• Requiring someone with CPR training on hand
• Scheduling routine repairs and pool maintenance
• Checking chemical levels often 

Residential pool owners, hotel pool owners, resort or spa pools owners, and those who host pool parties all owe similar duties of care to guests and swimmers. Failure to fulfill these duties, resulting in a swimming pool accident, is negligence. Contact a Las Vegas swimming pool accident lawyer to better understand a defendant’s specific duties of care in your accident, as well as to examine ways in which he or she could have prevented your injuries. Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP can help with the investigation process in Las Vegas.

Your Rights After a Las Vegas Swimming Pool Accident

As the victim or the parent of a victim of a swimming pool accident, review your legal rights with help from Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP. It’s possible that a negligent pool owner holds or at least shares liability for your damages. Other liable parties could include negligent pool party supervisors, a school for campus pool accidents, the government for incidents at public pools, swimming pool maintenance teams, or the manufacturers of defective pools or pool products. Different entities will owe different standards of care depending on the situation.

An investigation of your swimming pool accident with Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP could uncover its proximate cause as well as the names of those responsible. From there, our lawyers will help you file claims with insurance companies and negotiate fair settlements. We’ll make sure insurance companies don’t stamp out your voice or take advantage of you. If a fair settlement is unattainable, we’ll take the defendant to trial in pursuit of a judgment. Our long history of successful case results can give you peace of mind while we handle your claim.

Who can be held responsible for my swimming pool accident?

As is the case in any lawsuit, who is held responsible for a swimming pool accident depends on the specific facts involved in each case. In most cases, responsibility falls onto the person or entity who owns the pool or the property on which the pool is located. In other cases, liability can be attributed to a person who should have been supervising the pool and surrounding areas, or to a company that manufactured a defective product, such as a pool toy, floatation device, or diving board. The most common types of parties held responsible for swimming pool accidents include the following:

Owner of the Swimming Pool

Property owners are most commonly held responsible for swimming pool drownings and accidents. In the eyes of the law, swimming pools are an “attractive nuisance,” meaning that they pose a unique threat to the safety of children. As such, the law requires that swimming pool owners take steps to prevent children from injury by taking adequate measures to ensure that their swimming pool is enclosed and appropriately supervised. These rules apply to property owners whether the property owner has children or not – for example, if a person has a pool in a neighborhood with lots of children, the pool owner is responsible for ensuring that the neighborhood children cannot access their pool unattended. If a child accesses a pool that isn’t adequately enclosed, falls in the pool and unfortunately drowns, the owner of the pool could be facing liability for the child’s death.

Failure to Supervise Swimming Pools

In addition to liability for failure to enclose pools, the law also asserts liability in some cases based on a failure to supervise. These cases arise when a property owner knows or should know that they need to be supervising children or adults using their pool. For example, if a property owner hosts a children’s birthday party at a pool, and then fails to adequately supervise the event, allowing children to engage in dangerous behavior which then results in injury, the property owner could be held liable for that injury.

Failure to Maintain Products and Equipment

Lastly, property owners can also be held responsible for injuries that occur in or around the pool, but that are associated with products or equipment. When a person has guests at their home, they generally have a duty to ensure that their property is safe for others to use and enjoy. If a pool owner fails to maintain pool equipment, such as a diving board or water slide, and that failure causes injury, the property owner could be liable for those injuries.

How long do I have to file a swimming pool accident lawsuit in Las Vegas?

A statute of limitations is a law that restricts the amount of time a plaintiff has to file a lawsuit after an injury occurs. In Nevada, the statute of limitations in personal injury cases, such as swimming pool accident cases, is two years from the date of the injury. Thus, if a swimming pool accident occurred on July 1, 2022, a lawsuit would have to be filed before July 1, 2024.

The same statute of limitations applies to swimming pool accident lawsuits resulting from any type of injury, including wrongful death cases.

While two years sounds like plenty of time, lots of background work must occur before a lawsuit is ready to be filed. For that reason, it is imperative that you consult a Las Vegas swimming pool accident attorney as soon as possible after an accident occurs.

How much is my swimming pool accident case worth?

The amount of money that a swimming pool accident lawsuit is worth depends greatly on the facts of each case. In short, lawsuits are set up to ensure that a victim is compensated fully and fairly for the injuries they sustained because of another person or entity’s wrongful acts or omissions. Among the types of damages that can be recovered in a swimming pool accident case include the following:

• Lost wages
• Medical bills and associated expenses, such as travel
• Punitive damages for reckless or intentional conduct
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Disfigurement and loss of capacity
• Funeral expenses, in death cases 
• Loss of earning potential
• Pain and suffering damages
• Psychological and mental damages

Contact a Las Vegas Swimming Pool Accident Attorney

Our team at Panish | Shea | Ravipudi LLP is ready to assist you and your family with pursuing compensation after a swimming pool injury in Las Vegas.

If a vacation at a Las Vegas hotel ended in a swimming-related tragedy, contact us. Contact us if you or your child suffered injuries on other private or public property. We understand the nuances of these types of claims as well as the most common causes of swimming pool accidents. Don’t let a pool owner get away with negligence. Take a stand and fight for your rights with our lawyers as your representation. Call our swimming pool accident attorneys today at (702) 560-5520 or contact us online to start with a free case evaluation.