Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

State Farm Tries To Dodge The Single Shot Fired By The Policyholder That Nevada Follows California’s Cumis Rule

The Nevada Law Blogs are documenting the drama that plays itself out on the stage of the Nevada Supreme Court.  This particular drama focuses on whether an insurance company can be obliged to pay the fees of an attorney hired by the policyholder because of an alleged conflict between the interest of the insurance company and its policyholder. We described this epic show down comparing it to an old west gunfight.  We introduced the characters and the issues HERE and HERE.  We outlined the … [Read more...]

Homebuilders, With Their Own Axe To Grind, Argue That Independent Counsel Should Be Required Upon Issuance Of Every Reservation Of Rights Letter

The Southern Nevada’s Homebuilders Association says that the insurance industry is doing its members wrong by not giving them independent counsel. They file an amicus brief with the Nevada Supreme Court and hope that amidst all this gunfire between the parties that their axe grinding will be heard too. The Homebuilders Association lobbies for Southern Nevada’s home builders. However, according to the Association’s brief, the homebuilders don’t really “build” the homes themselves. Rather, the … [Read more...]

Is It Time To Be Done With The Notion That Nevada Law Should Favor California Law When Nevada Law Is Silent?

The Nevada Law Blogs have been serializing the arguments made by the parties in the case of State Farm v. Hansen.  We had imagined the two opponents in this case standing face-to-face in an old-west gunfight.  The question to be resolved by this dual is if and under what circumstance an insurance company should be forced to give up its contractual right to select the attorney who will defend the insured and instead allow the insured to choose its own independent counsel at the expense of the … [Read more...]

Movie Mashup! “High Noon” Meets “The Three Amigos”: The Insurance Industry Weighs In On Cumis

Here at the Nevada Law Blogs we have been imaging Nevada’s Cumis dispute as an old west show-down a la “High Noon”.  But now the insurance industry wants its say regarding the dispute.  Three insurance organizations have appeared as friends of the court.  Like “The Three Amigos”, these Three Amici were hired to save the day.  Whether the industry’s arguments prevail is yet to be seen.  But in the meantime, let’s explore and evaluate the industry’s arguments. The Three Amici are the American … [Read more...]

State Farm Argues It Has No Duty To Provide Cumis Counsel In Nevada

In prior blog posts, the Nevada Law Blogs promised its readers regular updates regarding the issue of “Cumis” Counsel that is now before the Nevada Supreme Court. See HERE and HERE. Appellant State Farm recently filed its opening brief in State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Hansen, Nevada Supreme Court Case No. 64484.  You can read the entire brief HERE. In 2003, the local press widely published the facts of this case. Plaintiffs Hansen, LeFevre and Grill were at a party. They decided it was … [Read more...]