Handling Accident

If a lawsuit needs to be filed in a personal injury case, your injury attorney will be doing much of the work. Your job is get the medical care you need and recover from your injuries.  However, there are three main times in a lawsuit where the client’s involvement is critical. Prior to any lawsuit being filed, you will have initially met with your injury attorney and had many interactions prior to any lawsuit being filed. These three times of client involvement are what happens after a lawsuit has been filed. Interrogatories. Soon after a lawsuit is filed, you "the client", will need to answer and sign written questions that the at-fault party’s attorney has submitted in your case. These are called interrogatories. Your answers to the at-fault party’s written questions will be based upon your medical history, medical records and the facts of the case. Your injury attorney will go over the questions with you, so you fully understand what is being asked of you. You will make...

A common question your personal injury attorney gets asked, is what happens after a case is successfully exempted from Nevada’s arbitration program? Today’s blog sheds light on the start of the general litigation process and what clients can expect during this process.   Once a case is successfully taken out of Nevada’s mandatory arbitration program (which is designed for smaller personal injury cases), then the larger, non-arbitration cases, must comply with the strict requirements of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure. The first thing that happens, is that your injury attorney and the attorney for the at-fault party, will schedule a meeting to discuss the case in person and develop a timetable for discovery (discovery = the exchange of documents and witness lists). This meeting is called the “Early Case Conference”.  After the Early Case Conference is held, the attorneys will prepare what is called a “Joint Case Conference Report.” This report outlines the attorney’s time...

The law governing how to file an exemption from the Nevada’s mandated arbitration program, is set forth in the Nevada Arbitration Rules (“NAR”), Rules 3 and 5. In personal injury cases, if your case has a case value of $50,000 or more, then your injury attorney will file a petition for exemption from arbitration (“petition”). This is done so your case is funneled into southern Nevada’s regular litigation channels and where there is no cap on the amount of damages that you can claim.  This petition must be prepared and filed within 20 days after the at-fault party files its answer to the complaint (aka your initial lawsuit paperwork). The petition will included a brief summary of the accident and your injuries, together with a quick synopsis of your medical treatment and the amount of your medical bills.   Your injury attorney will have to set forth in the petition that your case fits into one of the categories for exemption. Once the petition is signed and filed by your...

  If you have read my prior posts, you know that Las Vegas personal injury cases with a value of $50,000.00 or less, must go into Nevada’s court mandated arbitration program. The initial purpose of the program was to provide a speedy and cost-effective option for smaller personal injury cases. To further that end, once the case has been accepted into the program, the general strict rules of discovery as set forth in Nevada Rule of Civil Procedure, Rule 16.1, do not apply. See Nevada Arbitration Rules (“NAR”), Rule 4.  Instead, NAR, Rule 11 applies. According to NAR Rule 11, within 30 days from the appointment of the arbitrator, the parties’ attorneys will usually have a telephone conference with the arbitrator, to create a streamlined discovery plan. Because NAR Rule 11 says that discovery cannot be costly or burdensome, the written discovery is typically limited, as is the length of time a deposition can last.   During the actual arbitration hearing, the arbitrator wil...

Las Vegas car accident cases that are valued at $50,000.00 or less, are funneled through Clark County, Nevada’s mandatory arbitration program. In this special arbitration program, a private judge is assigned to your case. What qualifies someone to act as the private judge in your personal injury case? First, the arbitrator must have a minimum of 8 years of experience as a licensed Nevada attorney, a member of the American Arbitration Association, or a professional with a law degree who has been working in their field for the minimum time requirement of 8 years.   Once this threshold minimum of 8 years of legal or arbitration experience is established, the potential arbitrator will then undergo a thorough background check. The background check is done to ensure that no one with a serious criminal history or questionable disciplinary record is on the panel. If selected, the potential arbitrator must also complete an arbitration training program, to fully prepare them to act as arbitr...