Strategies, Challenges, and Answers

Evidentiary Inferences Allowed At The Court’s Discretion

In the case of Johnson v. Watkins, 70 Nev. 156, 262 P.2d 237 (1953) a truck driver tried to invoke the rule regarding evidentiary inferences in his favor.  According the Nevada Supreme Court an evidentiary inference is: a logical and reasonable conclusion of a fact not presented by direct evidence but which, by process of logic and reason, a trier of fact may conclude exists from the established facts. Although an inference may give rise to a rebuttable presumption in appropriate cases, an … [Read more...]

More Subrogation?

During these economically troubled times, this office is seeing an upswing in cases that we defend where our opponent is an insurance company seeking subrogation.  In the past, these defense cases were few and far between.  With intercompany arbitrations resolving many of these disputes, it appears to us that where such agreements are not controlling, more and more carriers are opting to file small property damage claims that previously may have just gone uncollected. In addition, we have … [Read more...]

Every Case Is Different

In an earlier post HERE, we described some of the things an attorney must consider in deciding whether a case filed in state court must or should be removed to federal court.  Having just completed a trial in federal court I wanted to give my impressions about that experience. Unlike most of my recent trials, in this particular case, I represented an insurance carrier seeking subrogation recovery of a worker’s compensation payout.  My client was a Plaintiff-Intervenor, working in conjunction … [Read more...]