Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Paper Experts

When Nevada courts decide whether an expert witness will be allowed to testify, they do not look to the rules set by the U.S. Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharm., Inc, 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.Ct. 2786, 125 L.Ed.2d 469 (1993).  See, Dow Chem. Co. v. Mahlum, 114 Nev. 1468, 970 P.2d 98 (1998).  Instead, the Nevada Supreme Court is developing its own set of rules to determine whether an expert can give opinion testimony to the jury. As we said in our post a few years back, HERE, the case … [Read more...]

Will The Howell Doctrine Come To Nevada?

In an earlier post HERE we reported that in Howell v. Hamilton Meats & Provisions, Inc., the California Supreme Court faced the question of what was the appropriate amount of an injured plaintiff’s recovery.  Should plaintiff recover the amount billed for the medical treatment?  Or should the Plaintiff recover the reduced amount that the health care insurance company had paid to satisfy the doctor’s bill?  In Howell, the California Supreme Court found that an injured plaintiff could recover … [Read more...]

Responding To The Anticipated Fallout Of The Haygood And Howell Decisions

No one is surprised when people who are hurt in accidents go to the doctor’s office for care.  In the past, many went to doctors who provided them care through their group health insurance programs.  These group healthcare providers usually have pre-negotiated reimbursement agreements with the group health insurance carriers.  Those insurance carriers pay the providers a sum certain for each service provided.  The pre-negotiated reimbursement agreements normally prevent the doctors from charging … [Read more...]

LexisNexis Names Nevada Insurance Law As A Top Insurance Law Blog For 2011

The Advisory Board of the LexisNexis Insurance Law Community has selected Mills & Associates' Nevada Insurance Law as one of the nation’s Top Insurance Law Blogs for 2011.  The Advisory Board described what it saw in the winning blogs. The Top Blogs contain some of the best writing out there on insurance law.  They contain a wealth of information for the insurance law community with timely news items, practical information, expert analysis, practice tips, frequent postings, and helpful … [Read more...]

Revisiting The Policy Of Adjudication Of Disputes On The Merits Under The “Moon” Case: Turning A New Leaf Or Making An Exception?

Nevada courts regularly say that they favor adjudication of disputes on the merits of the claim and not some resolution based on a technical failure by a party or his/her attorney.  See Young v. Johnny Ribeiro Building,.106 Nev. 88, 92, 787 P.2d 777 (1990).  While there are a few exceptions to that general rule [click HERE], this policy of adjudication on the merits gives most claimants the opportunity to pursue almost any potentially viable cause of action all the way to trial.  This … [Read more...]