Las Vegas Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Were you injured by a medical mistake in Las Vegas?

At The Galliher Law Firm, we help injured patients in Las Vegas pursue full recovery in medical malpractice matters.

If a doctor, surgeon, nurse, or hospital in Las Vegas caused an injury that proper care would have prevented, you may now be paying for a second course of treatment while nobody explains what went wrong during the first. We have practiced plaintiff’s injury law in Nevada since 1974, and every malpractice claim this firm accepts receives his personal attention. Our Las Vegas medical malpractice lawyer with 52 years of plaintiff-side experience can tell you whether the care you received fell short. Schedule a free consultation with our office.

Medical Malpractice Lawyer Las Vegas, NV

Medical malpractice is the legal name for professional negligence by a health care provider. Nevada defines it as the failure to use the reasonable care, skill, or knowledge that similarly trained providers ordinarily use in similar circumstances. A poor outcome after careful treatment is not malpractice. The claim arises when the care itself departed from what a competent peer would have done, and that departure caused harm that would not otherwise have occurred.

Nevada hospitals reported 238 of the 352 sentinel events logged with the state’s registry in 2024, a list that included seven retained surgical objects, six wrong-site surgeries, and five deaths during or after an operation. Approximately 4% of licensed facilities filed an individual report that year, so the true count is higher. A medical malpractice attorney in Las Vegas, NV begins by determining whether your injury belongs on that list.

Types of Medical Malpractice Cases We Handle in Las Vegas

Every malpractice claim depends on two questions: what the standard of care required, and whether the provider met it. Our Las Vegas, NV medical malpractice lawyer represents injured patients in Clark County in each of the following categories.

• Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis. Cancer, stroke, heart attack, sepsis, and pulmonary embolism are the conditions most often missed or caught late. Diagnostic error accounted for 17% of preventable errors among hospitalized patients in one landmark study. We compare what the provider knew against the tests ordered, the tests skipped, and the follow-up that never happened.
• Surgical errors. These claims involve operating on the wrong site, damaging an adjacent organ or nerve, or leaving an instrument or sponge inside the patient. Federal patient safety agencies classify wrong-site procedures as never events, and the operative report often proves the case on its own.
• Anesthesia errors. Dosing mistakes, failure to monitor oxygen levels, intubation injuries, and an inadequate review of the patient’s history before sedation all fall into this category.
• Medication errors. A patient may receive the wrong drug, the wrong dose, or a combination a pharmacist or prescriber should have caught. Nevada facilities reported 15 individual medication errors to the state registry in 2024.
• Birth injuries. A delayed response to fetal distress, improper use of delivery instruments, and failure to perform a timely cesarean section are the most common causes. Cerebral palsy and brachial plexus injuries often result.
• Emergency room negligence. Patients are sent home with an undiagnosed heart attack, stroke, appendicitis, or internal bleed. A crowded emergency department in Las Vegas, NV is held to the same standard of care as any other.
• Hospital and nursing negligence. Falls, pressure ulcers, infections from poor sterile technique, and failure to act on a change in vital signs make up most of these claims. Falls and pressure ulcers were the two most reported sentinel events in Nevada facilities in 2024.
• Head and spinal injuries. Surgical damage to the spinal cord, a missed epidural abscess, or oxygen deprivation during a procedure can leave a patient with paralysis or a traumatic brain injury.
• Wrongful death. When substandard care takes a patient’s life, Nevada law allows the surviving spouse, children, or parents to bring a wrongful death claim against the provider. We handle those claims for families throughout the Las Vegas valley.

Why Choose The Galliher Law Firm as my Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Las Vegas, NV?

The Attorney You Meet Is the Attorney Who Handles Your Case

Keith E. Galliher, Jr. opened this office in 1974 after earning his J.D. from Arizona State University and his undergraduate degree from UNLV in 1970. He was admitted to practice in Nevada and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada that same year, to the Ninth Circuit in 1976, and later to the U.S. Supreme Court. He has served the City of Las Vegas as an Alternate Municipal Judge. Martindale-Hubbell lists him in its Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, and he is a sustaining member of the Nevada Justice Association and a member of the Clark County Bar Association and the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association.

Our personal injury lawyer in Las Vegas, NV personally handles every case this firm accepts, from the first records review through trial.

Seven-Figure Results and a Fee Approved by the Nevada Supreme Court

Our firm has recovered millions of dollars for injured clients since 1974, including several seven-figure verdicts and settlements. Those results came in car crash, slip and fall, and trip and fall cases, and we bring the same preparation to every medical negligence claim we accept as a Las Vegas, NV medical malpractice attorney.

We charge a contingent fee. If there is no recovery, there is no attorney fee. Our fee agreement follows the form approved by the State Bar of Nevada and the Nevada Supreme Court. One client whose case came to us from another attorney has described patience with every question she asked and a result at the top of what her claim allowed.

What Is Important to Understand About a Medical Malpractice Case?

Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Medical Malpractice Cases

Liability depends on four elements: a provider-patient relationship, a breach of the standard of care, causation linking that breach to the injury, and damages. A Las Vegas medical malpractice attorney must prove each one, and the second and third almost always require testimony from a physician in the same field as the defendant.

Nevada recognizes three categories of compensation.

• Economic damages cover past and future medical bills, the cost of corrective treatment, lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and in-home care. There is no cap on economic damages in a Nevada malpractice case.
• Noneconomic damages cover pain and suffering, disfigurement, physical impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life. Nevada caps these damages in professional negligence cases. The cap is $590,000 for 2026, and under NRS 41A.035 it rises by $80,000 each January until it reaches $750,000 in 2028.
• Wrongful death damages cover funeral expenses, the decedent’s lost financial support, and the family’s grief and loss of companionship, subject to the same noneconomic cap.

Nevada also applies comparative fault to malpractice claims. Under NRS 41.141, you can recover as long as your share of fault is not greater than the defendants’ combined share, and the award is reduced by your percentage.

What Are Important Aspects of a Medical Malpractice Case?

Malpractice cases are won on records and on qualified medical opinion, not on the severity of the outcome alone. Before a claim can be filed, Nevada requires a supporting affidavit from a medical professional who practices in a field substantially similar to the defendant’s. A Las Vegas, NV medical malpractice lawyer should have those relationships in place. Several other features set these cases apart.

• The complete chart matters, including nursing notes, medication administration records, imaging, and the facility’s internal policies, because the error often appears in what was never documented.
• Defense counsel is typically involved within days of a complaint to the facility, long before the patient has spoken to a lawyer.
• Nevada’s noneconomic cap means economic losses have to be documented thoroughly, with life care planners and economists where the injury is permanent.

What Is the Medical Malpractice Case Timeline?

Most malpractice claims take 18 months to three years to resolve, and a catastrophic injury case can take longer when the full extent of the harm is still unfolding. The statute of limitations controls the front end. Under NRS 41A.097, a claim for an injury occurring on or after October 1, 2023 must be filed within three years of the injury or two years of the date you discovered it, whichever comes first. A medical malpractice attorney in Las Vegas will calculate the date that applies to you at the first meeting.

• Records request and review. We obtain the full chart and have it examined by a physician in the relevant field. This step usually takes four to eight weeks.
• Affidavit and filing. The supporting medical affidavit is prepared, and the complaint is filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County.
• Discovery. The providers are deposed, medical opinions are exchanged, and the facility produces its policies. Discovery often takes a year or more.
• Settlement conference. Nevada malpractice cases go through a court-supervised settlement conference before trial, and many resolve there. Any settlement offer is weighed against the documented future cost of care before we recommend accepting it.
• Trial. If no fair offer is made, the case is tried to a Clark County jury. Being an effective injury client through discovery and trial preparation strengthens the case we present.

What Should You Bring to Your Medical Malpractice Consultation?

Bring what you have of these items to your consultation, even if some information is missing. We can request the rest from the provider directly.

• Bring your discharge papers, after-visit summaries, prescriptions, and any records or imaging you were given.
• Write out a timeline of your treatment, including dates, the names of providers, and what you were told at each visit.
• Gather your bills, insurance explanations of benefits, and documentation of missed work.
• Save any letters or calls from the provider, hospital risk management, or an insurer.

The consultation is free and confidential. Keith Galliher will review your account of what happened and explain whether the facts suggest a departure from the standard of care. You’ll leave with a direct answer about whether we believe the case is worth pursuing.

Reach Out to The Galliher Law Firm to Schedule a Consultation

A medical malpractice lawyer in Las Vegas should give you an opinion before they become your representation. Your consultation is free, and there is no fee unless we recover compensation for you. We can meet at our office or by phone. Contact us today to schedule a consultation with a Las Vegas medical malpractice attorney who has handled plaintiff’s cases in Nevada since 1974.