When you send your child to school, you want to know that, in addition to receiving a good education, they will be looked after and cared for. While some bumps and bruises are normal (especially for younger kids who play on the playground), our Las Vegas slip and fall law firm knows that slipping and falling on school property is dangerous and could leave your child with stitches and a costly hospital bill. Regardless of whether your child attends a private or public school, you should always expect them to maintain school grounds and provide your child with a certain level of care and safety. Let a Las Vegas slip and fall lawyer help you understand your legal options and whether your child was injured at a private or public school. 

What Steps Can I Take to File a Claim?

You might find that filing a slip-and-fall claim is more complicated depending on the type of school your child attends. For example, if your child is enrolled in a private school, you can expect to work with us to file a lawsuit against the school itself. However, filing a lawsuit against a public school is more complicated, as these schools are part of a publicly-funded school district and are considered government entities.

Filing a Claim Against a Government Entity

While you may think you need to file a claim against your child’s school, you are instead filing a claim against your state or local government. Whenever someone files a claim like this against a government entity, they need to go through very specific steps before their claim can be accepted. Typically, we will first work to file a “notice of claim” which will then allow the entity to look over your claim and either accept or deny it before you can file a lawsuit. To make things even more difficult, if your child were to slip and fall under the same circumstances in a different location (such as a restaurant), your claim might be easily accepted under those conditions and but denied if the same thing happened at your child’s public school. This is because there are government immunity laws in place that create much higher standards that you must meet when filing a lawsuit. Thus, you should:

1. File your claim with the school district before filing a lawsuit. 
2. Include the name and information of your child and the details of what happened. 
3. Include any information from the treating doctor in your claim.
4. Allow the government agency time to accept or deny the claim.

Depending on the response from your child’s school or school district (or if none is given), you and a slip and fall lawyer Las Vegas, NV residents trust can discuss the benefits of filing a law suit to get compensation for your child’s injuries. 

Filing a slip and fall or other premises liability claim against a public school can be extremely difficult. However, our Las Vegas slip and fall law firm can make this complicated time easier for you and your family. Call  Eglet Law to see what we can do for you.