Senate Bill No. 315–Committee on Judiciary
March 4, 1999
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Referred to Committee on Judiciary
SUMMARY—Requires certain information concerning arbitration to be presented at trial de novo before jury. (BDR 3-1642)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: No.
Effect on the State or on Industrial Insurance: No.
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EXPLANATION – Matter in
bolded italics is new; matter between brackets
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
1-1
Section 1. Chapter 38 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a1-2
new section to read as follows:1-3
1. If an action is submitted to arbitration in accordance with the1-4
provisions of NRS 38.250 to 38.258, inclusive, the arbitrator or panel of1-5
arbitrators shall, in addition to any other written findings of fact or1-6
conclusions of law, make written findings in accordance with this1-7
subsection concerning each cause of action. The written findings must be1-8
in substantially the following form, with "panel of arbitrators" being1-9
substituted for "arbitrator" when appropriate:1-10
Based upon the evidence presented at the arbitration hearing1-11
concerning the cause of action for ................, the arbitrator finds1-12
in favor of ................(name of the party) and ................("awards1-13
damages in the amount of $................" or "does not award any1-14
damages on that cause of action").2-1
2. If an action is submitted to arbitration in accordance with the2-2
provisions of NRS 38.250 to 38.258, inclusive, and, after2-3
arbitration, a party requests a trial anew before a jury:2-4
(a) The written findings made by the arbitrator or the panel of2-5
arbitrators pursuant to subsection 1 must be admitted at trial. The2-6
testimony of the arbitrator or arbitrators, whenever taken, must not be2-7
admitted at trial, and the arbitrator or arbitrators must not be deposed or2-8
called to testify concerning the arbitration. Any other evidence2-9
concerning the arbitration must not be admitted at trial, unless the2-10
admission of such evidence is required by the constitution of this state or2-11
the Constitution of the United States.2-12
(b) The court shall give the following instruction to the jury2-13
concerning the action, substituting "panel of arbitrators" for2-14
"arbitrator" when appropriate:2-15
During the course of this trial, certain evidence was admitted2-16
concerning the findings of an arbitrator. On the cause of action2-17
for ................, the arbitrator found in favor of ................(name of2-18
the party) and ................("awarded damages in the amount of2-19
$................" or "did not award any damages on that cause of2-20
action"). The findings of the arbitrator may be given the same2-21
weight as other evidence or may be disregarded. However, you2-22
must not give those findings undue weight because they were2-23
made by an arbitrator, and you must not use the findings of the2-24
arbitrator as a substitute for your independent judgment. You2-25
must weigh all the evidence that was presented at trial and arrive2-26
at a conclusion based upon your own determination of the cause2-27
of action.2-28
3. The court shall give a separate instruction pursuant to paragraph2-29
(b) of subsection 2 for each such cause of action that is tried before a2-30
jury.2-31
Sec. 2. NRS 38.250 is hereby amended to read as follows: 38.250 Except as otherwise provided in NRS 38.310:2-33
1. All civil actions filed in district court for damages, if the cause of2-34
action arises in the State of Nevada and the amount in issue does not2-35
exceed $40,000 must be submitted to nonbinding arbitration in accordance2-36
with the provisions of NRS2-37
inclusive, and section 1 of this act.2-38
2. A civil action for damages filed in justice’s court may be submitted2-39
to arbitration if the parties agree, orally or in writing, to the submission.~