Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Nevada Court System

The Nevada Supreme Court is the court of last resort.  The court is made up of 7 justices, divided into two 3 justice panels, plus the Chief Justice.

1055704_coins_graph Nevada has no intermediate court of appeals.

District Court (Court of General Jurisdiction):
* Nine Judicial Districts broken down geographically.
* However, from a venue perspective, you can file any case in any District in Nevada.
* Civil Jurisdiction from $10,000 to unlimited.
* Two most active Districts are the Second (8 civil department in Reno) and the Eighth (24 civil departments in Las Vegas).
* All judges face popular election.
* Reno and Las Vegas have a mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution for cases with a value of $50,000 or less.  The most common ADR option is non-binding arbitration.
* Mandatory arbitration awards can be set aside by requesting a trial de novo.  Sanctions apply if you request a trial de novo and fail to improve your position at trial by more than 20%.
* In lieu of arbitration, parties can stipulate to participate in a “Short Trial” which resolves the case in less than 6 months.  Short trials are heard before a 4-6 person jury with a one-day trial.

Justice Court:
* Civil Jurisdiction from $0 – $10,000.00.
* You can request a jury trial of 6 jurors.
* Attorney’s fees awarded as costs in Justice Court.
* Appeals from Justice Court go to the district court judges.

Small Claims:
* A division of Justice Court.
* Civil Jurisdiction of $5,000.00 and under.
* Usually heard by a referee who makes recommendations of Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.

About Michael Mills

Mr. Mills practices in the area of civil litigation and appeals, with particular experience in matters involving trucking liability, insurance defense, insurance coverage, premises liability, products liability and defense of personal injury. Mr. Mills is a member of the Trucking Insurance Defense Association, the Defense Research Institute Trucking Committee and the Nevada Motor Transport Association. Mr. Mills is licensed to practice before the Nevada Supreme Court and the Utah Supreme Court. He is also licensed to appear before the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. District Courts for the Districts of Nevada and Utah, as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Mills has created 3 Blogs for the benefit of the insurance industry. He serves as editor and publisher of the Nevada Insurance Law Blog, the Nevada Coverage and Bad Faith Blog and the Nevada Trucking Law Blog.

 
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