Mills & Associates maintains active membership in the Trucking Industry Defense Association, also known as TIDA. TIDA, which was founded in 1993, is a non profit association whose members share knowledge and resources in defense of the trucking industry. TIDA members include motor carriers, trucking insurers, defense attorneys and claims servicing companies. This year, the TIDA held its 19th Annual Industry Seminar in Las Vegas, Nevada from October 12, 2011 through October14, 2011. … [Read more...]
The Burden On Apportionment Of Damages Shifts To The Defendant Where Two Separate Accidents Cause An Inseparable Injury
October 12, 2011 by
The Plaintiff usually has the burden to prove that the Defendant was negligent and that the Defendant’s negligence caused him injury. However, in cases where two accidents happen so close together that one cannot tell which accident caused which injury, what is a Plaintiff to do? This was the question posed to the Nevada Supreme Court in the case of Kleitz v. Raskin, 103 Nev. 325, 728 P.2d 508 (1987). In Kleitz, the Plaintiff sustained injury in two successive automobile accidents, one … [Read more...]
An Insurance Company Must Respond To A Subpoena Involving Ongoing Third-Party Litigation.
October 4, 2011 by
With escalating frequency, we at Mills & Associates are seeing aggressive plaintiffs serve subpoenas directly on the defendant’s insurance carriers. These subpoenas often request records that the retained defense attorney has already produced. Sometimes they will request a particular claims adjuster appear and testify about those records. By doing so, plaintiffs are hoping to identify documents or information that the retained defense attorney has improperly withheld. We thought our … [Read more...]
Auto Insurance Carriers Cannot Compel Arbitration, But It Never Hurts To Ask
September 22, 2011 by
Most auto insurance policies include a provision that allows the insurance company and the insured to arbitrate first party disputes. However, attempts to compel arbitration under auto insurance contracts are forbidden in Nevada: NRS 690B.017 provides: NRS 690B.017 Provisions for arbitration not binding. No provision for arbitration contained in an automobile liability or motor vehicle liability insurance policy delivered, issued for delivery or renewed in this State is binding upon the … [Read more...]
Mills & Associates Thinks Insurance Companies Should Hire Two Different Firms To Handle Their Third-Party Defense VS. Their First-Party Coverage And Bad Faith Matters
August 25, 2011 by
Periodically, we like to interview our clients to find out how we can better serve them. I conducted one of those “pulse taking” interviews last week with the representative of a client that sends me coverage and bad faith work. After discussing with him how we might improve our relationship, I was ending the conversation as I usually do by asking: “Is there anything else on your desk that I can help you with today?” He paused for a second and said he was sure that his company had a number of … [Read more...]
