CHAPTER........
AN ACT relating to civil actions; requiring arbitrators to make certain findings in certain
civil actions; requiring such findings to be introduced into evidence at a trial de
novo before a jury; requiring the court to give certain jury instructions concerning
arbitration at a trial de novo before a jury; and providing other matters properly
relating thereto.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Chapter 38 of NRS is hereby amended by adding thereto a
new section to read as follows:
1. If an action is submitted to arbitration in accordance with the
provisions of NRS 38.250 to 38.258, inclusive, the arbitrator or panel of
arbitrators shall, in addition to any other written findings of fact or
conclusions of law, make written findings in accordance with this
subsection concerning each cause of action. The written findings must be
in substantially the following form, with "panel of arbitrators" being
substituted for "arbitrator" when appropriate:
Based upon the evidence presented at the arbitration hearing
concerning the cause of action for ................, the arbitrator finds
in favor of ................(name of the party) and ................("awards
damages in the amount of $................" or "does not award any
damages on that cause of action").
2. If an action is submitted to arbitration in accordance with the
provisions of NRS 38.250 to 38.258, inclusive, and, after arbitration, a
party requests a trial anew before a jury:
(a) The written findings made by the arbitrator or the panel of
arbitrators pursuant to subsection 1 must be admitted at trial. The
testimony of the arbitrator or arbitrators, whenever taken, must not be
admitted at trial, and the arbitrator or arbitrators must not be deposed or
called to testify concerning the arbitration. Any other evidence
concerning the arbitration must not be admitted at trial, unless the
admission of such evidence is required by the constitution of this state or
the Constitution of the United States.
(b) The court shall give the following instruction to the jury
concerning the action, substituting "panel of arbitrators" for
"arbitrator" when appropriate:
During the course of this trial, certain evidence was admitted
concerning the findings of an arbitrator. On the cause of action
for ................, the arbitrator found in favor of ................(name of
the party) and ................("awarded damages in the amount of
$................" or "did not award any damages on that cause of
action"). The findings of the arbitrator may be given the same
weight as other evidence or may be disregarded. However, you
must not give those findings undue weight because they were
made by an arbitrator, and you must not use the findings of the
arbitrator as a substitute for your independent judgment. You
must weigh all the evidence that was presented at trial and arrive
at a conclusion based upon your own determination of the cause
of action.
3. The court shall give a separate instruction pursuant to paragraph
(b) of subsection 2 for each such cause of action that is tried before a
jury.
NRS 38.250 is hereby amended to read as follows: