What You Are Feeling Right Now Is Real, and You Deserve the Truth About What Happened
If you were at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the night of October 1, 2017, or if you lost someone who was there, you have been carrying something that words barely cover. Fifty-nine people never came home. More than 500 others carry bullets in their bodies, or scars you cannot see, or both. The sound that started as music became something no one in that crowd of roughly 22,000 will ever unhear.
And then came the silence that followed. The first responders who carried the wounded. The hospital hallways. The hotel rooms. The funerals. The years of treatment. The nights. The questions that do not stop.
Here is what we want you to know at the very start: what happened to you was not a natural disaster, and it was not a single man acting alone in a vacuum. A human being made choices in the days and hours before that shooting. A hotel made choices about how to monitor its own building. A festival organizer made choices about how to protect a crowd sitting in the open beneath a high-rise with hundreds of windows. Security contractors made choices about what they were hired to do and how well they did it. The criminal trial ended in a conviction on dozens of counts, but the criminal courts could not — and do not — address the civil liability of the corporations that profited from that weekend and owed you a duty of care.
That is where we come in.
We are Attorney911 — The Manginello Law Firm, PLLC. We are trial lawyers. Ralph Manginello has been licensed in Texas since November 6, 1998, more than 27 years in courtrooms including federal court, and is a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association. He is a former journalist, which means he knows how to dig until the record tells its story. Lupe Peña is a former insurance-defense attorney who spent years inside the rooms where claims like yours are priced, denied, delayed, and devalued; he now uses that knowledge for the families, not against them. Lupe conducts full client consultations in Spanish without an interpreter.
This page is written for you. It is going to cover the law, the evidence, the deadlines, the money, the playbook the other side will run, and exactly what we do to counter it. If at the end of reading it you want to talk, the call is free, confidential, and we do not get paid unless we win your case.
The Law: Nevada Duty, Nevada Statutes, and Why This Case Is Different from a Random Street Shooting
The Duty Owed by MGM Resorts and Mandalay Bay
Under Nevada law, an innkeeper — and a hotel is an innkeeper — owes its guests and the public a heightened duty of care. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 651 governs innkeeper liability. NRS 651.015 limits an innkeeper’s right to exclude liability for injury or death, but the statute does the opposite of what the company wants you to believe: it preserves the innkeeper’s liability where the death or injury was caused by the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the owner. The hotel cannot hide behind a boilerplate liability disclaimer when its own conduct rose to gross negligence or worse.
The duty Mandalay Bay owed the festival crowd was not just to its registered guests. It was a duty to exercise reasonable care to the people in its vicinity — particularly when it knew, or should have known, that a mass-gathering event was being held in the open directly across Las Vegas Boulevard from a 1,100-room high-rise with floor-to-ceiling windows on every guest floor.
The Duty Owed by the Festival Organizer
Live Nation Entertainment, the promoter of the Route 91 Harvest Festival, also owed a duty of care to the attendees. That duty included selecting a venue appropriate to the foreseeable risks, designing ingress and egress that accounted for those risks, coordinating with law enforcement and venue security in advance, providing adequate medical and emergency-response resources on site, and ensuring that attendees were not placed in a position where a single shooter — from almost any high point — could inflict mass casualties before any effective response could be mounted.
The Duty Owed by Security Contractors
The festival hired private security to perform specific functions: bag checks, magnetometer screening, perimeter control, crowd monitoring, and coordination with Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Those contractors owed the attendees a duty to perform those functions with the care a reasonable, trained security professional would exercise. The history of what happened that night — the timeline of law-enforcement response, the question of whether hotel security reached the 32nd floor in time to intervene, the question of what was visible from hotel cameras in the minutes and hours before the shooting — is the heart of that contractor liability.
Nevada Wrongful Death: NRS 41.085
For families who lost a loved one, Nevada Revised Statutes 41.085 is the controlling wrongful-death statute. It allows the heirs of the deceased to bring a civil action and recover damages for the loss the family has suffered. The damages available under NRS 41.085 include:
- The pecuniary loss the family has sustained — that is, the financial support, services, and contributions the deceased would have provided.
- The loss of companionship, love, and affection the family has been deprived of.
- The pain, suffering, or disfigurement the deceased experienced between the time of injury and death, where the deceased survived for any period.
- Funeral and burial expenses.
The statute identifies who may bring the claim, beginning with the surviving spouse and children, and extending in defined order to other heirs. We will evaluate standing carefully in every case.
Nevada Survival Actions
A survival action is distinct from a wrongful-death claim. Where a victim survived for any period between injury and death, the estate may bring a claim for the conscious pain and suffering the victim endured during that time. This is a separate cause of action with its own damages category. The estate, through a personal representative, is the plaintiff in a survival action. For many victims of the Route 91 shooting who survived for hours, days, or weeks before passing, the survival action is a significant component of the overall recovery.
The Two-Year Statute of Limitations — Time Is the Enemy
Nevada’s general personal-injury statute of limitations is two years from the date of injury under NRS 11.190. Wrongful-death claims under NRS 41.085 are also generally subject to a two-year deadline, running from the date of death. Survival actions have their own accrual rules and may run from the date of injury in some circumstances.
This is a clock that runs. We cannot negotiate it. We cannot pause it. We cannot ask a judge for “just a little more time” once it has run.
For the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the two-year period for most direct injury claims expired on or about October 1, 2019, and the two-year period for most wrongful-death claims expired on or about October 1, 2019 (for those who died that night) or two years from the date of death for those who died later. If you have not already filed a claim and you believe you may still be within time, the answer requires an immediate legal review — every case has its own facts, and some tolling doctrines or special circumstances may apply. If the two-year window has closed, the merits of your story do not change, but the courthouse door may be locked. The only way to know is to have a lawyer look at the specific facts of your case today.
Even where the statute of limitations has run on direct claims, related claims — claims against third parties, claims under different legal theories, claims arising from the subsequent cover-up or spoliation of evidence — may carry different deadlines. We will examine every avenue available to you under Nevada law.
Nevada’s Modified Comparative Fault Rule
Nevada follows a modified comparative negligence rule with a 51% bar. Under NRS 41.141, a plaintiff’s recovery is reduced by the plaintiff’s percentage of fault, and a plaintiff who is found to be more than 50% at fault is barred from recovery entirely. In a premises-liability case like this, the question of comparative fault is rarely about the victim’s conduct — the victims were at a concert. But the insurance company and the corporate defendants will look for any angle to shift blame, and the rule is the legal hook on which they will hang that effort. We are prepared for that fight.
Nevada’s Punitive Damages Cap
Nevada’s punitive damages statute, NRS 42.005, places a cap on punitive awards: $300,000 if the compensatory damages are less than $100,000, or three times the compensatory damages if compensatory damages are $100,000 or more. Punitive damages are reserved for cases involving oppression, fraud, or malice, express or implied. A pattern of ignoring obvious security risks, a deliberate choice to under-resource a known threat, or an active cover-up after the fact can all support punitive exposure.
“Any person who suffers personal injury or death as a result of a violation of this chapter may bring a civil action against the perpetrator… in an appropriate district court of the United States and may recover damages and reasonable attorneys fees.” — Federal civil-remedy language illustrating the broader principle that intentional and reckless wrongdoing trigger civil liability alongside criminal exposure. The civil standard is lower than the criminal standard, and the damages are the family’s.
The Defendant Shell Game: Who Is Actually Liable, and Where the Money Lives
The corporate defendants in this case did not make it easy to figure out who owes what. That is by design.
MGM Resorts International
MGM Resorts International is the parent corporation. It owns and operates Mandalay Bay. It is the entity with the balance sheet, the insurance tower, and the decision-making authority over how security is staffed and how risks are evaluated. In 2024, MGM Resorts paid approximately $800 million in a global settlement with the majority of claimants. That settlement was a business decision, not an admission of liability. For claimants who were not part of that settlement, or whose claims were excluded, MGM Resorts remains a viable defendant for the full measure of Nevada-law damages.
Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino
Mandalay Bay is the operating entity — the hotel that hosted the shooter, the venue that shared a property line with the festival, the security operation that was supposed to be watching the building. It is a subsidiary of MGM Resorts. The case against Mandalay Bay focuses on what the hotel knew, what its cameras and guards should have seen, and what the security response was in the minutes and hours before the shooting.
Live Nation Entertainment
Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s largest live-entertainment company. It promoted the Route 91 Harvest Festival. The case against Live Nation focuses on the security plan, the venue layout, the screening procedures, the coordination with law enforcement, and the failure to account for the obvious vertical-attack risk inherent in staging an open-air concert directly across a street from a 43-story hotel.
Security Contractors
Multiple private-security contractors were on site that night. Their contracts, their training records, their deployment logs, and their incident reports are evidence of what they were hired to do and how they did it. The case against them focuses on negligent performance of the security function — failure to screen, failure to monitor, failure to communicate, failure to coordinate with LVMPD.
The Estate of the Shooter
The shooter’s estate is a nominal defendant in civil actions. His personal assets at the time of death were substantial, and the civil judgment against the estate can reach those assets. In practice, the primary recovery runs against the corporate defendants and their insurance, but the estate remains a part of the overall litigation architecture.
The Insurance-Adjuster Playbook: What They Will Do, and How We Counter It
We have lived on the other side of this fight. Lupe Peña spent years inside the rooms where adjusters, defense counsel, and claims managers price, deny, delay, and devalue claims like yours. We tell you what is coming not to scare you but to prepare you, because the counter to every play exists before the play is run.
Play 1: The Friendly “Just Checking In” Recorded Statement
The move: Within days of your contact with the company or its insurer, an adjuster calls, sounds sympathetic, and asks you to “just walk us through what happened.” The conversation is being recorded. The questions are engineered to get you to say things like “I’m feeling okay” or “I just want this resolved” or “I wasn’t really that close to the stage” or “I don’t think my injury is that serious.” Those statements are taken out of context, transcribed, and used to minimize your claim months later.
The counter: Do not give a recorded statement without your lawyer present. Period. You can be polite — “I want to cooperate, but my attorney will need to be on the call” — but you do not have to give a recorded statement to the company that is potentially liable for your injuries. We will arrange the statement, if one is needed at all, on terms that protect you.
Play 2: The Quick Check With a Release
The move: A check arrives, sometimes within weeks, sometimes within months. It is for less than the case is worth, but it is real money now. Attached to the check is a release — a legal document that, once signed, ends your right to seek any further compensation, no matter what your injuries turn out to be. The release is printed in small type, often on the back of the check or in a separate document, and it is written in language designed to be skimmed and signed without a lawyer reading it.
The counter: Do not cash a check that comes with a release until a lawyer has read both. The amount of the check is almost always a fraction of the true value, and the release is permanent. If the company is offering quick money, it is because they are worried about what your case is really worth once the full extent of your injuries is known. We will evaluate the offer against the full measure of Nevada-law damages and tell you whether it is worth taking or worth rejecting.
Play 3: The Independent Medical Examination (IME)
The move: The insurer sends you to a doctor of their choosing for an “independent medical examination.” The doctor is, in fact, a paid consultant who generates reports for insurance companies. The IME report concludes that your injury is less serious than your treating physicians believe, that your treatment has been excessive, or that your condition is pre-existing.
The counter: Nevada law gives you the right to have your own attorney present at the IME in many circumstances, and we can challenge the weight of the IME report at trial. We can also obtain your own expert medical opinions from physicians who are not paid by the insurance industry. The IME is a tool, not a verdict.
Play 4: The Delay
The move: The adjuster says they are “still investigating” or “waiting on internal review” or “need more documentation.” Months pass. A year passes. Two years pass. The statute of limitations runs. The claim dies.
The counter: Nevada has specific deadlines, and we know every one. If the company is stalling, we file suit to preserve your rights and to force the pace. Delay is a tactic, not a legitimate dispute. We do not let the clock run out on our clients.
Play 5: The Comparative-Fault Blame Shift
The move: “You knew the risks of being in a crowd.” “You chose to attend an outdoor concert.” “You didn’t get to cover fast enough.” The insurer and the defense will look for any angle to push a percentage of fault onto you, because under Nevada’s modified comparative negligence rule, every percentage point they shift to you reduces your recovery and, if they can push you past 50%, eliminates it entirely.
The counter: You did not cause the shooting. You were a concertgoer exercising a basic human right to gather for music. The responsibility for security rested on the hotel, the promoter, and the security contractors, and their failures are documented. We build the case to make that responsibility undeniable, and we are ready to fight any attempt to blame you for the harm done to you.
What We Do, and How We Get Paid
We work on contingency. That means:
- No fee unless we win. If we do not recover money for you, you owe us nothing for our time.
- Free consultation. The first call costs you nothing. We will listen, answer your questions, and give you an honest assessment of whether we can help.
- Costs are separate. Litigation costs — filing fees, expert witnesses, depositions, trial exhibits — are separate from our fee, and we advance those costs as the case proceeds. If we win, they come out of the recovery. If we do not win, you owe us nothing for the costs either, under the standard contingency arrangement.
The contingency fee is 33.33% of the recovery before trial and 40% if the case proceeds through trial. We explain the math in plain English on the first call, and the engagement letter spells out every term.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
How the Process Works, From First Call to Resolution
Step 1: The Free Consultation
You call 1-888-ATTY-911 or contact us through our website. We talk. We listen. We answer your questions. We give you an honest assessment of whether we can help, what your case is likely worth, and what the next steps are. There is no obligation, no pressure, and no charge for this call.
Step 2: The Investigation and Evidence Preservation
If you engage us, we go to work immediately. We send litigation-hold and preservation demands to every potential defendant, every security contractor, every governmental entity, and every third-party vendor. We obtain the police report, the 911 recordings, the body-worn camera footage, the LVMPD records, the MGM internal investigation records (if available), the security contractor records, and the festival security plans. We identify and interview witnesses. We retain the right expert witnesses — forensic security, life-care planning, forensic economics, medical specialists — to evaluate your case.
Step 3: The Filing and Discovery
We file your civil complaint in the appropriate Nevada court. We serve the defendants. We conduct discovery — written interrogatories, document requests, depositions — to build the evidentiary record. This is where the fight over evidence happens in earnest, and it is where our preparation pays off.
Step 4: The Negotiation and, If Necessary, the Trial
Most civil cases resolve before trial. We negotiate with the defense from a position of evidentiary strength, with the trial date on the calendar as leverage. If the company refuses to pay what your case is worth, we are ready to try it. Ralph and Lupe have tried cases. They know what a jury looks like when it is ready to award. They know what it looks like when the defense is exposed. They will not back down from a fight the insurance company forces us into.
Step 5: The Resolution
Whether the case settles or goes to verdict, we pursue the full measure of Nevada-law damages. We handle the distribution of the recovery, the resolution of any liens (medical providers, insurance subrogation), and the final accounting. You receive your net recovery and a clear explanation of every number.
The Medical Reality: What the Injuries Look Like Over Time
The injuries from a mass shooting are not like the injuries from a car accident. They are penetrating trauma, often from high-velocity rounds. The physical recovery is measured in years, not weeks. The mental-health recovery is measured in decades, if it happens at all. The financial impact compounds over a lifetime. The family impact echoes through generations.
We have seen what these injuries look like over the long arc of a life. We have seen the surgeries, the infections, the hardware that has to be removed and replaced, the chronic pain that responds to nothing, the PTSD that wakes a person at 3 a.m. for years, the marriages that do not survive, the careers that do not resume, the children who grow up with a parent who is a different person than the one who went to a concert. We have seen what lifetime care costs in cases like this, and we build the damages claim around the real numbers — not the numbers the insurance company wants us to use.
For the worst injuries — spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injury, severe internal organ damage, amputation — the lifetime medical and care costs can run into the millions. For everyone else, the costs are real and significant even if they are not catastrophic. Pain management, physical therapy, mental-health treatment, prescription medications, lost wages, diminished earning capacity — all of it is real, and all of it is recoverable under Nevada law when the proof is there.
Nevada-Specific Litigation Architecture
Nevada is a modified comparative fault state with a 51% bar. The general personal-injury statute of limitations is two years from the date of injury under NRS 11.190, and the wrongful-death deadline under NRS 41.085 runs two years from the date of death. The survival action runs on its own accrual.
Nevada’s innkeeper liability is governed by NRS Chapter 651, which preserves the innkeeper’s liability for gross negligence or willful misconduct. This is the statute that gives the Mandalay Bay case its teeth: the hotel cannot hide behind a boilerplate liability disclaimer when its own conduct rose to gross negligence or worse.
Nevada’s punitive damages cap, under NRS 42.005, is $300,000 where compensatory damages are less than $100,000, or three times compensatory damages where compensatory damages are $100,000 or more. Punitive damages are reserved for cases involving oppression, fraud, or malice, express or implied.
Nevada’s wrongful-death beneficiaries, under NRS 41.085, are defined in statutory order, beginning with the surviving spouse and children. We will evaluate standing carefully in every case.
“No action may be maintained under this chapter unless it is commenced not later than the later of: (1) 10 years after the cause of action arose; or (2) 10 years after the victim reaches 18 years of age, if the victim was a minor at the time of the alleged offense.” — This is the long-arm federal statute for trafficking and certain federal tort claims, cited to illustrate the broader principle that Nevada’s two-year window is among the tighter limitations periods in the country, which is why the 72-hour action plan above is not advice — it is necessity.
What We Promise, and What We Do Not
We promise to tell you the truth. If your case has weaknesses, we will tell you. If the statute of limitations has run, we will tell you. If the global settlement forecloses your claims, we will tell you. If we are not the right firm for your case, we will tell you, and we will try to help you find the firm that is. We do not need your case to make our numbers. We need you to be able to trust us when we tell you the truth about yours.
We promise to work the file ourselves. Ralph and Lupe are not the kind of firm that hands your case to a paralegal and a junior associate and waits for the result. They are the lawyers who take the depositions, who argue the motions, who pick the jury, who stand up in front of the box and tell the story. You will know their voices. You will know their names.
We promise to fight for the full measure of Nevada-law damages. Not the number the insurance company wants to pay. Not the number that is convenient. The full measure, as the law allows, as the evidence supports, as your case demands.
We promise that you will not owe us a fee unless we recover money for you. That is the contingency. It is how this kind of case gets litigated. It is how ordinary families take on billion-dollar corporations. It is the deal.
We do not promise outcomes. No honest lawyer does. We can tell you the law, the evidence, the precedents, the comparable cases. We can tell you what the case is likely worth. We can tell you what the defense is going to do and how we plan to counter it. We cannot guarantee a verdict. We cannot guarantee a settlement. We can guarantee that we will fight with everything we have, for as long as it takes, to get you what Nevada law says you are owed.
Past results depend on the facts of each case and do not guarantee future outcomes.
Additional Resources and Practice Areas
If you are researching this case on behalf of a family member, or if you are looking at this from a different angle — a car accident, a truck accident, a construction injury, a refinery accident, a brain injury case — we handle those cases too. Our practice is built on catastrophic injury and wrongful death across the full range of personal-injury litigation.
To see all of our practice areas, visit our practice overview.
To reach our firm directly, visit our contact page.
Final Word
We know that a web page is not the same thing as a lawyer. We know that the right words on a screen are not the same thing as the right lawyer in the room. We know that what you are going through is something no page can fix.
What we can do is this: we can tell you the truth about what happened, the law that applies, the evidence that exists, the deadlines that are running, the money your case is worth, the playbook the other side will run, and the fight we will wage on your behalf if you hire us. We can do that clearly, in English or in Spanish, for free, without obligation.
And we can do it today. 1-888-ATTY-911. The call is free. The consultation is confidential. No fee unless we win your case. Hablamos Español.
We are ready when you are.