BLWM Blog
Aug 10, 2023
In the case of Bish v. Guaranty Nat’l Ins. Co., 109 Nev. 133; 848 P.2d 1057; 1993 Nev. LEXIS 26, the Nevada Supreme Court examined the question of what is an “occurrence”. The facts are these.
Four-year-old Christina Rose was playing on the sidewalk near the driveway of the neighbor, Ms. Alderson. At that moment, Ms. Alderson chose to back her vehicle out of the drive. Ms. Alderson…
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Jul 31, 2023
Nevada Trucking Law reported HERE that the Ninth Circuit has refused to apply FAAAA preemption to allegations of negligence against freight brokers. Recently, in the case of Aspen Am. Ins. Co. v. Landstar Ranger, Inc., 65 F.4th 1261, 2023 U.S. App. LEXIS 8845, 29 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 2391, 2023 WL 2920451 (11th Cir. Apr. 13, 2023), the Eleventh Circuit has now disagreed with the Ninth Circuit.
Tessco…
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Jul 28, 2023
Regular readers of this blog may want to jump in and immediately answer that an insurance company cannot rescind auto coverage post-accident. We learned that principle in the blog post HERE about Torres v. Nev. Direct Ins. Co., 131 Nev. 531, 353 P.3d 1203, 2015 Nev. LEXIS 61 (2015). That is because Nevada's Financial Responsibility Law , NRS 485.3091 imposes compulsory coverage after the accident…
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Jul 12, 2023
Gregory Lioce was involved in a multi-vehicle traffic crash. Identifying the at-fault driver was difficult. Gregory Lioce argued that Dana Cohen changed lanes into him. Dana Cohen said Mr. Lioce turned left into her. Mr. Lioce was then rear-ended by John Wilson, who argued that he was not negligent because he had been cut off.
In closing at trial, counsel for Wilson argued in favor…
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Jun 27, 2023
In the case of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Hansen, 131 Nev. 743, 357 P.3d 338 (2015), the Nevada Supreme Court determined that where the assigned insurance defense attorney encountered a conflict of interest between the duties owed to the insured and to the insurance company, the insured had the right to request independent counsel who, going forward, would be allowed to control the defense.
But…
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Jun 23, 2023
Sergio Mitchell worked at a local elementary school as a janitor. One of the students kicked Mr. Mitchell’s mop bucket, breaking it. When Mr. Mitchell got after the student, the student started cursing him out. Mr. Mitchell grabbed the student by the neck. The student said that Mr. Mitchell was choking him. The School District Police intervened.
Ultimately, the student’s parent…
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Jun 16, 2023
Costco needed some goods shipped. Costco turned to transportation broker C.H. Robinson to find a trucking company that could haul the load. Kuwar Singh, dba RT Service was one of the motor carriers in C.H. Robinson’s network.
Mr. Singh and RT Service were properly licensed. RT was a properly authorized motor carrier with an active motor carrier registration at the time of the accident.
On…
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Jun 12, 2023
In 2019, Nevada Coverage Law asked whether Nevada would follow the California case of Buss v. Superior Court, 16 Cal. 4th 35, 49, 939 P.2d 766 (1997) and allow Nevada insurance companies the right to seek reimbursement for uncovered defense cost. We said that Nevada often looks to California for direction on topics of law not yet addressed in Nevada. See Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Coeur Rochester,…
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May 18, 2023
In civil cases, a Nevada Plaintiff has the burden of proof. But what standard of proof must that Plaintiff meet to prevail? In a civil case, the standard of proof in Nevada is “by a preponderance of evidence”.
The case of Deiss v. S. Pac. Co., 56 Nev. 169, 53 P.2d 332 (1936) provides a great explanation as to what it means to prove something “by a preponderance of evidence”.
This…
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May 10, 2023
Does anyone else have a favorite Rule of Civil Procedure? I do. It is Rule 1, particularly the last sentence which says that the Rules of Civil Procedure “should be construed, administered, and employed by the court and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.”
I find myself turning to this rule more and more as I prepare papers…
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