Justia Nevada Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

At a foreclosure mediation, Homeowners and representatives of Lender agreed that foreclosure proceedings would be halted while Homeowners were being considered for a loan modification. Several months later, Homeowners petitioned for judicial review, asserting that Lender breached the parties' agreement. The district court granted the petition, finding Lender had violated the agreement and directing Lender to participate in and pay for further mediation. The Supreme Court dismissed Lender's appeal, holding (1) to preserve and promote the interests of judicial economy and efficiency, an order remanding for further mediation generally is not final and appealable; and (2) the Court lacked jurisdiction to hear this appeal because, given the remand for additional mediation, the district court's order was not final and appealable. View " Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. O'Brien" on Justia Law

Sha'Kayla St. Mary and Veronica Damon became romantically involved and decided to have a child together. The couple subsequently drafted a co-parenting agreement. Using Damon's egg and an anonymous donor's sperm, St. Mary gave birth to a child through in vitro fertilization. After their relationship ended, the parties disputed who had custodial rights over the child. The district court (1) concluded that St. Mary was a mere surrogate and therefore not a parent entitled to any custodial rights; and (2) refused to uphold the parties' co-parenting agreement. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) the district court erred in determining that St. Mary was a surrogate lacking any legal rights to parent the child without holding an evidentiary hearing on that issue; and (2) the parties' co-parenting agreement was not void as unlawful or against public policy, and therefore, the district court abused its discretion in deeming the agreement unenforceable. View " St. Mary v. Damon" on Justia Law

Because Petitioner tested positive for drugs prior to a hearing in the juvenile drug court, the judge held Petitioner in contempt of court. Petitioner moved to stay the contempt order, contending that she could not be held in direct contempt because she did not not cause any disturbance in the presence of the court or violate any court order. The juvenile court refused to change its contempt ruling. One month after Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the Supreme Court, the juvenile court vacated its order finding Petitioner in direct contempt. The Supreme Court denied Petitioner's petition as moot, holding that because the district court vacated its contempt order, the proceeding was moot, and no exception to the mootness doctrine applied. View "Paley v. Second Judicial Dist. Court" on Justia Law

Respondent purchased a luxury motor home manufactured by Appellant and took possession of the motor home despite noticing problems with the motor home during inspection. The motor home subsequently experienced significant electrical problems, and Respondent attempted to revoke her acceptance of the motor home from Appellant. Appellant rejected the revocation. Respondent filed suit against Appellant, asserting causes of action for revocation of acceptance under the Uniform Commercial Code, breach of contract, and breach of warranty. The district court found in favor of Respondent and awarded her damages that included the purchase price of the motor home. The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment but reversed the award of attorney fees, holding (1) Respondent was entitled to revoke acceptance of the motor home where privity existed between Respondent and Appellant because Appellant interjected himself into the sales process and had direct dealings with Respondent to ensure completion of the transaction; and (2) the district court did not err in awarding incidental and consequential damages but abused its discretion in awarding attorney fees. View " Newmar Corp. v. McCrary" on Justia Law

Saxon Special Servicing serviced a promissory note that secured a home loan for Appellants. After Appellants stopped making payments to Saxon, a notice of default was recorded. Appellants elected to mediate in Nevada's Foreclosure Mediation Program (FMP). Saxon provided all of the required documents for the mediation, including an eighty-three-day-old broker's price opinion (BPO). The mediator ultimately determined that Saxon failed to provide "an appraisal within sixty days of mediation" because the BPO was not prepared within sixty days of the mediation. The district court concluded that the parties had negotiated in good faith with valid authority and that there was no reason to withhold the FMP certificate. The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's order denying the petition for judicial review, holding (1) the mediation rule requiring an appraisal or broker's price opinion that is no more than sixty days old at the time of the mediation requires substantial, rather than strict, compliance; and (2) Saxon substantially complied with the foreclosure mediation rule requiring a current appraisal. View " Markowitz v. Saxon Special Servicing" on Justia Law

Real party in interest, a homeowner's association (HOA), filed construction defect actions against Petitioners. During discovery, Petitioners disclosed some of their primary insurance agreements to the HOA pursuant to Nev. R. Civ. P. 16.1(a)(1)(D). Petitioner refused to disclose additional undisclosed policies covering it that may have been purchased by its parent companies. A special master ordered Petitioner to disclose those agreements. Petitioner objected to the order and filed this writ petition, contending that the disclosed insurance policies were more than sufficient to satisfy any judgment that may be entered against them. The Supreme Court denied the petition, holding that section 16.1(a)(1)(D) requires disclosure of any insurance agreement that may be liable to pay a portion of a judgment. View "Vanguard Piping v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court" on Justia Law

Respondent was hired as an expert witness in two Nevada civil court cases. To prepare for the cases, Respondent inspected the crime scenes, took measurements and photographs, and reviewed security measures and devices. Respondent did not hold a Nevada private investigator's license. The State Private Investigator's Licensing Board cited Respondent for engaging in the business of a private investigator with a Nevada license in violation of Nev. Rev. Stat. 648.060. The district court dismissed the citation, holding that Respondent's investigative activities were incidental to his formation of expert testimony and therefore fell outside chapter 648's licensing scheme. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that Respondent's actions fell outside the Nevada licensing requirement. View "State v. Tatalovich" on Justia Law

Petitioner brought a shareholder derivative suit on behalf of real party in interest Universal Travel Group (UTG) against the officers and directors of the UTG (collectively, the Jiang parties). The Jiang parties all resided in China. When Petitioner was unable to locate the Jiang parties' addresses, Petitioner moved the district court pursuant to Nev. R. Civ. P. 4(e)(1) to permit service by publication. UTG opposed the motion, arguing that Petitioner was required to comply with the terms of the Hague Convention (Convention). UTG later provided Petitioner with the Jiang parties' addresses in China. The district court denied Petitioner's motion to permit service of publication, concluding that such service was not allowed by the Convention when a defendant's address is known. The district court then ordered to serve the Jiang parties in compliance with the terms of the Convention. Petitioner filed this petition for a writ of mandamus or prohibition, arguing that the terms of the Convention did not apply in this case. The Supreme Court denied the petition, holding that, based on the plain language of Rule 4(e)(1), a party residing outside of the United States whose address is known must be served according to the terms of the Convention. View "Loeb v. First Judicial Dist. Court" on Justia Law

Geanie and Kevin were married by newly elected district court judge Bryce Duckworth. Although Duckworth had sworn his oath of office four days earlier, he was not authorized to take the bench for another several days. After Geanie filed for divorce from Kevin three years later, the district court dismissed the divorce complaint as moot, concluding there was no valid marriage because Duckworth did not have the authority to solemnize the marriage until his term actually started. Geanie did not appeal the district court's dismissal order. One year later, Geanie filed this original petition for a writ of mandamus or prohibition challenging the district court's order. The Supreme Court denied the petition, holding that Geanie's failure to timely challenge the district court's order by appeal or otherwise precluded writ relief. View "Bradford v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Court" on Justia Law

After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery. The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions, holding (1) the district court did not err in admitting inflammatory lyrics to a rap song Defendant wrote in jail awaiting extradition to Nevada; (2) the district court did not plainly err in admitting a coconspirator's out-of-court statement that Defendant "went off" and "just started shooting"; (3) the district court did not err in failing to suppress a statement Defendant made to Nevada detectives during a non-custodial interrogation; and (4) Defendant's remaining assignments of error also failed. View " Holmes v. State" on Justia Law