Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Can Anyone Find A Reported Nevada Case That Deals With Examinations Under Oath?

Examinations Under OathAn insured’s obligation to give an Examinations Under Oath in conjunction with an insurance claim has been around a long time.  Take for example the case of Claflin v. Commonwealth Ins. Co., 110 U.S. 81, 3 S. Ct. 507, 28 L. Ed. 76 (1884). There, the U.S. Supreme Court explained that the purpose behind an Examination Under Oath was “to enable the [insurance] company to possess itself of all knowledge and all information as to other sources and means of knowledge, in regard to the facts, material to their rights, to enable them to decide upon their obligations, and to protect them against false claims.” Id. 110 U.S. 94-95.  In fact, a number of cases have straight out said that Examinations Under Oath are meant at least in part to detect fraud.  Cruz v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 466 Mich. 588, 605, 648 N.E.2d 591, 599 (2002) (Kelly, J., dissenting) and Gordon v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 197 Mich. 226, 230, 163 N.W. 956, 957 (1917).

I know that Nevada is not immune from false claims.  Over my years of practice,  I’ve handled a number of cases where the evidence in support of the claim did not appear to be on the up-and-up.  I’ve taken many Examinations Under Oath over the years.  Plus there some states with a multitude of precedent setting EUO cases.

So one would think that there would be some legal precedent coming out of at least one Nevada court that would give further enlightenment on what Nevada’s position might be on the law related to Examinations Under Oath.  However, after an extensive search, I have not found even one reported case from either the Nevada Supreme Court or the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on this topic.

Perhaps one of the reasons why there are no Nevada precedents on EUOs is because Nevada has no intermediate court of appeals.  With only one state appeals court, there are a number of areas of law where there is no Nevada precedent at all.

So if you run across any Nevada EUO precedents, please forward the opinions or citations to mike@mcmillslaw.com.  If you have questions about Examinations Under Oath in Nevada, please give us a call.  We’d be happy to answer your questions and give you our best educated guess on what the Nevada Supreme Court might do with this topic.

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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