Nevada Attorneys Granted Summary Judgment in Slip and Fall Suit

Las Vegas Partner Marisa Pocci Carney, Attorney Ryan O’Malley and Attorney Lilith Xara recently prevailed on a Motion for Summary Judgment in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada. This premises liability case stemmed from an alleged slip-and-fall incident that occurred on our hotel/casino client’s property.

Plaintiff was a guest at our client’s Las Vegas hotel/casino. In his suit, Plaintiff claimed that he was exiting the shower in the bathroom of his hotel room when he slipped on water, causing him to fall and sustain serious orthopedic injuries that he claimed required surgery. Following the incident, Plaintiff sought to hold our client liable, arguing that housekeeping failed to provide a bath mat, resulting in an unreasonably slippery wet floor.

Litchfield Cavo attorneys Marisa Pocci Carney, Ryan O’Malley and Lilith Xara appeared before the Eighth Judicial District Court and moved for summary judgment, emphasizing the State of Nevada’s requirement that a plaintiff must provide actual or constructive notice of a transient condition to the property owner when the hazard at issue was not directly caused by property owner.

Our defense attorneys contended that any water on our client’s hotel bathroom tile was a transient, guest-created condition, and that our client had no pre-incident warning of a hazard in Plaintiff’s private guest bathroom. Further, our attorneys argued that there was no evidence of prior similar incidents in the room at issue or of a recurring bathroom floor problem in the room at the property.

With no genuine issue of material fact of notice, duty or breach, the Court agreed with our defense attorneys’ arguments and granted our Motion for Summary Judgment in full, and judgment was entered in our client’s favor in November 2025.

Marisa A. Pocci Carney is the managing partner of Litchfield Cavo’s Las Vegas office. She handles a variety of general liability matters and other civil matters, and has extensive experience representing major hospitality clients such as the hotel/casino in this case.

Ryan T. O’Malley focuses his practice on representing clients in business torts and commercial disputes, as well as defending against claims involving premises liability, personal injury, motor vehicle negligence and general liability.

Lilith V. Xara is a seasoned attorney with experience in civil litigation and insurance defense. Her practice encompasses a wide array of areas, including general liability, products liability and insurance coverage.