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Put Up Or Shut Up! Making An Effective Demand For A Non-Resident Cost Security

October 22, 2008 by
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When Plaintiffs live outside the state of Nevada, the defense attorney can utter the litigation equivalent to these fighting words by filing a Demand for Security of Costs.  If the Demand is properly and timely filed, the Plaintiffs are forced to either post up the security or shut up by having their case dismissed.  The authority to demand that non-residents post a security for costs is found in N.R.S. 18.130.

901673_boxing_gloves The statute provides that where a plaintiff resides out of the state or is a foreign corporation the Defendant may require Plaintiff to post security for costs and charges which may be awarded against that Plaintiff.  The Demand must be filed within the time allowed for the filing of the complaint.  Once the Demand is filed, the proceedings must cease until the Plaintiff secures the costs of the Defendant.  The security can be a cost bond or a cash deposit to the court for an amount not exceeding $500.00.  When the Plaintiff posts the security, he then must notify the Defendant, who has ten days from that notice to answer or otherwise plead to the complaint.

Plaintiff is allowed 30 days to post security.  If the Plaintiff hasn’t posted security 30 days from the date of service of the Demand, the court or judge may dismiss the action.  Although this Demand will not eliminate the claims of the persistent Plaintiffs, it will in fact buy the Defendants a little more time to prepare their defense.

Filed Under: Court System, Fee Shifting, Jurisdiction, Strategies to Consider
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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