Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Parents Are Statutorily Liable For Damages Willfully Caused By Their Minor Children Up To $10,000, But Are Those Damages Covered?

As a practice, when a minor causes damage or injury, the plaintiff will name as defendants both the minor and the parents.  There are a variety of theories under which the parents can be held liable for the minor’s acts.  See HERE for example.  If the minor’s acts appear to have been intentional, one of theory of recovery is a Nevada statute.  N.R.S. 41.470 imposes limited vicarious liability on parents whose minor children willfully cause damage to others.  The statute reads: NRS 41.470 … [Read more...]

Replacement Value Not ACV Is The Proper Measure Of Damages In A Homeowner’s Theft Claim Where Policy Provides For Same

Victor and Arlene Havas took issue with the way their homeowner’s insurance company, Atlantic Insurance Company valued the property that they lost because of a theft at their home.  Mr. & Mrs. Havas submitted their claim to the insurance company seeking recovery of the value of the lost property.  The Havas’s insurance policy provided that recovery would be limited to an amount not exceeding either the cost of repair or replacement of the property with material of like kind and … [Read more...]

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...]

The Time Clock On Statutes Of Limitation For Contribution And Indemnity Claims Does Not Start Running Until After Judgment Is Entered

Nevada law provides generally that a negligent defendant should pay only that share the of damage that he or she caused. That legal concept, known as several liability, is codified in NRS 41.141. However, the Nevada Supreme Court has interpreted that statute to provide a number of exceptions to the general rule of several liability. [See HERE for example] If a plaintiff falls into one of those exceptions, he or she will enjoy the benefit of joint and several liability. The end result is that a … [Read more...]