On May 5, 2015, the parties made their final arguments to the Nevada Supreme Court on the issues of independent counsel in Nevada. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Hansen, Nevada Supreme Court Case No. 64484. Neither attorney strayed far from his script. The justices asked only a few questions leaving us to guess at what the final decision may be.State Farm’s attorney acknowledged that since insurance panel counsel represents both the insured and the insurance company that conflicts can … [Read more...]
Nevada Law Blogs See Lots Of Insightful Comments On Nevada’s Cumis Counsel Case
March 24, 2015 by
Regular readers of the Nevada Law Blogs have followed our summaries of all of the briefs filed in the Nevada case of State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Hansen, Nevada Supreme Court Case No. 64484. Hopefully, the Hansen case will tell us if Nevada will follow California’s Cumis decision, if it will adopt a standard used by another state or if it will await a legislative solution to the situation.Like the briefs themselves, comments on social media have run the gamut. State Farm’s brief … [Read more...]
State Farm Tries To Dodge The Single Shot Fired By The Policyholder That Nevada Follows California’s Cumis Rule
February 11, 2015 by
The Nevada Law Blogs are documenting the drama that plays itself out on the stage of the Nevada Supreme Court. This particular drama focuses on whether an insurance company can be obliged to pay the fees of an attorney hired by the policyholder because of an alleged conflict between the interest of the insurance company and its policyholder.We described this epic show down comparing it to an old west gunfight. We introduced the characters and the issues HERE and HERE. We outlined the … [Read more...]
Homebuilders, With Their Own Axe To Grind, Argue That Independent Counsel Should Be Required Upon Issuance Of Every Reservation Of Rights Letter
January 26, 2015 by
The Southern Nevada’s Homebuilders Association says that the insurance industry is doing its members wrong by not giving them independent counsel. They file an amicus brief with the Nevada Supreme Court and hope that amidst all this gunfire between the parties that their axe grinding will be heard too. The Homebuilders Association lobbies for Southern Nevada’s home builders. However, according to the Association’s brief, the homebuilders don’t really “build” the homes themselves. Rather, the … [Read more...]
Is It Time To Be Done With The Notion That Nevada Law Should Favor California Law When Nevada Law Is Silent?
December 29, 2014 by
The Nevada Law Blogs have been serializing the arguments made by the parties in the case of State Farm v. Hansen. We had imagined the two opponents in this case standing face-to-face in an old-west gunfight. The question to be resolved by this dual is if and under what circumstance an insurance company should be forced to give up its contractual right to select the attorney who will defend the insured and instead allow the insured to choose its own independent counsel at the expense of the … [Read more...]
