Can You Sue a Corporation in Nevada?

When you’re hurt in an accident, the responsible person may not be a person at all. It may be a corporation that’s to blame for your injuries. What happens when a corporation is to blame for a personal injury accident? Can you sue a corporation? How do you sue a corporation? Our Las Vegas personal injury lawyers answer your questions.

Yes, you can sue a corporation in Nevada. A corporation is a legal entity with the capacity to sue and be sued. If you have a legal claim against a corporation, you may bring a case against them. In a lot of ways, you can sue a corporation in Nevada in much the same way that you can sue a private individual. However, there are some critical differences, like making sure you name the correct entity and knowing the requirements for the service of process to sue a corporation in Nevada.

How do I file a lawsuit against a corporation in Nevada?

To file a lawsuit against a corporation in Nevada, you name the corporation as the defendant when filing the required paperwork. You then prepare a summons and complaint that states the facts and your grounds for the lawsuit. Once you complete your summons and complaint and name the corporation as the defendant, you can file the lawsuit in court and pay the filing fee.

Can I sue a corporation in small claims court in Nevada?

As long as the company does business in the State of Nevada, you can name the corporation in small claims court in Nevada. An experienced attorney can help you determine if it makes sense to bring your case to small claims court. Next, we’ll show you how to sue a company for personal injury compensation in Las Vegas.

Suing a Corporation in Nevada

There are several essential things to keep in mind when you’re suing a corporation in Nevada.:

Naming the Right Corporation

Suing a corporation in Nevada begins with determining who you’re suing. It’s important to name the correct party or parties in your lawsuit. A corporation may have a common name and a registered name. They might have multiple companies that are all part of a business group. The first step in suing a corporation is determining who to name in the lawsuit.

Service of Process

If a corporation does business in the State of Nevada, it should be registered with the state. Each business in Nevada must have a registered address where they can accept the service of process. Serving your lawsuit on the corporation should be a matter of looking up the official address and arranging for delivery. To find an address, you can conduct an Online Entity Search.

Applying the Right Law

In many cases, the law that applies to a corporation is the same law that applies to any other business. A corporation acts like its own person for the purposes of a lawsuit. For example, if you’re injured because of the negligence of a corporation, the corporation can be liable for negligence in the same way as a person can be liable for negligence.

However, in some ways, there are more harsh standards that apply to a corporation. A corporation that’s engaged in for-profit activities may have higher standards than those that apply to individuals. For example, say you slip and fall while you’re a customer at a place of business. A business has a higher legal standard for keeping their property safe from trip and fall hazards than an individual who uses their property only for personal use. So it may be easier to win your case against a business than an individual.

In addition, product liability laws apply only to corporations. When a corporation puts a product into the stream of commerce, they’re liable if that product hurts someone. In the case of an injury that results from a product, you don’t have to prove that the corporation acted negligently. In the case of product liability, having a claim against a corporation may be the very nature of the claim. Only those entities that put products into the stream of commerce may be liable for product liability.

Reasons to Sue a Company

There are a variety of reasons to sue a company. Sometimes, you bring your case against the corporation alone. In other cases, it’s best to name both the corporation and an individual in your lawsuit. There are a few reasons that it may make practical sense to name a corporation in your claim.

For example, a corporation is likely to have liability insurance available to pay a claim. A private individual may or may not have the means to pay a claim. Most individuals don’t carry personal liability insurance. They just pay the claim out of their own pocket. Even if a corporation doesn’t have liability insurance, they’re more likely to be able to pay you for your losses than an individual person.

In addition, when you name a corporation as a party in your claim, they’re subject to the discovery process. You can ask the corporation as an entity to respond to interrogatories or questions under oath. You can discover information from their records. Although this information is accessible through other means if the corporation is not a named party, it may be easier and faster to serve discovery and build your claim with the corporation listed as a party.

Finally, a reason to sue a corporation is that it may be easier to serve process on a corporation than a private individual. Each corporation must have an official address on file with the State of Nevada. You can search for the corporation’s legal address and use it to serve process. It may be easier to sue a corporation than a private individual because you may have an easier time serving the lawsuit on the corporation.

What are the odds of winning a lawsuit?

Sometimes people are discouraged from seeking the compensation they deserve because they aren’t sure of their odds of winning a case against a company. In some ways, you have better odds of winning your case against a company than against an individual.

In many cases, the law holds corporations to a higher standard than individual persons. You’d have a better case for a slip and fall in a business than in your friend’s kitchen. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), only 4% to 5% of injury cases are resolved through the trial process.

The vast majority of injury cases are settled out of court between the plaintiff and defendant or their representatives. Truthfully, the better your case is, the lesser the chances it ever sees the inside of a Las Vegas small claims court.

To win your case, you must prove the entity named as the defendant in the lawsuit is liable for your injuries either through direct action or negligence. Evidence of liability includes:

• Video or photo evidence
• Witness statements from people who saw what occurred or are close to the situation
• Expert witness testimony testifying to the negligence of the named defendant
• A record of past events that corroborates a history of negligence on the company’s part

Ultimately, the more evidence you have on your side, the easier it will be to prove your case. Another important factor in your odds of winning your lawsuit is having a lawyer working to represent your best interests.

Insurance companies will sometimes make low, quick offers to accident victims who don’t have proper representation. They may even try to trick you into admitting you’re at fault for your injury, freeing themselves of all financial responsibility.

The main objective of the insurance company is to save money. So your best shot at getting all you deserve for your economic and general losses is hiring an experienced lawyer who knows how to file a suit against a company.

How to go about finding a personal injury attorney for suing a company

As you now know, getting what you deserve from the insurance company depends largely on having an attorney representing your cases. It’s vital that you do your due diligence to find the right attorney for your needs.

Word of mouth is still the best way to find professional services. So, the first place you should look for information about a good lawyer is within your network of family and friends. Check to see if any of the people you know can recommend someone they may have used before.

It’s also a good idea to go online and look for lawyers in your area who have experience with personal injury cases like yours. Schedule consultations with several lawyers to get a better idea of what you can expect from the case. The more qualified attorneys you speak to about your case, the more knowledgeable you’ll become and the more likely you are to find the right attorney for your case.

Here are some factors to consider when choosing a personal injury lawyer:

• Experience and record against companies with cases similar to yours
• Rates
• Location of their office (The closer to you they are, the better)
• Reputation
• Customer service

Although there are many factors you should consider when choosing a lawyer to sue a company, the most important aspect is your level of comfort with them. Trust and communication are essential to attorney/client relationships.

How are damages assessed in a personal injury case?

People sometimes take settlements from insurance companies that amount to much less than their claim is actually worth. There’s a method to the madness of assessing damages in personal injury cases. Understanding how damages are assessed will give you a relative picture of how much compensation you should expect.

There are three types of losses considered when assessing damages:

• Regular economic losses (wages)
• Special economic losses (medical bills and other expenses resulting from the injury)
• General expenses (pain and suffering)

Pain and suffering is the most difficult of the three types of losses to determine, but it’s also usually the most significant. Circumstances that factor into general losses include but are not limited to:

• Physical pain and discomfort
• Mental and emotional distress
• Loss of ability to earn a living
• Disfigurement
• Visibility of disfigurement and impairment

There are also different methods used to calculate the value of pain and suffering damages. Your economic losses are pretty straightforward. They equal the sum total of earnings you missed from being out of work, property damage, medical bills, and other bills incurred by your injury.

Pain and suffering is typically calculated by multiplying the economic losses by a multiplier ranging from 1.5% to 5%, depending on the severity of the injuries. The more severe the injuries are, the higher the multiplier will be.

Contact Our Injury Lawyers

Do you think that you might have a claim against a corporation? Our experience Las Vegas attorneys can help you bring a legal claim against a corporation. We understand all the unique issues involved in a claim against a business. It’s our goal to ensure that you get maximum compensation for your claim.

Sources:

Johnson, J. (2022). Personal Injury Settlement Amounts Examples.
Nevada Business Search. (2018).