Contracts Commons^™

Summary Of Khan V. Bakhsh, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 57, Sara Stephan

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Appeal of the district court’s order excluding the use of extrinsic evidence under the statute of frauds. The Court held that the statute of frauds does not apply to a writing that is subsequently lost or destroyed, and oral evidence is admissible to prove the existence and terms of that lost or destroyed writing. The Court reversed and remanded the lower court’s decision for further proceedings.

Summary Of Galardi V. Naples Polaris, Llc, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. 33, A. J. Hames

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This dispute arose out of a written option contract. Under the contract, respondent Naples Polaris (Naples) had the right to purchase Las Vegas real property from appellants Jack Galardi and Birdie, LLC (together, Galardi), for $8 million “cash.” The property was subject to a deed of trust securing approximately $1.3 million in debt. The issue was whether the option contract required Galardi to deliver clear title, or whether Naples would take title subject to the $1.3 million debt. Trade usage and industry custom were used to interpret the contract, even though it was unambiguous.

Summary Of Holcomb Condo. Hoa V. Stewart Venture, 129 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 18, Drew Wheaton

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered whether statutory limitation periods for constructional defects may be contractually modified by parties to residential unit purchase agreements. The Court examined if the district court’s dismissal of Holcomb Condominium Homeowners’ Association’s (HCHA) negligence-based claims was proper under NRS 116.4116. The Court also analyzed if a contractual reduction of the six-year limitations period of a warranty claim, as found within an arbitration agreement attached to and incorporated by a purchase contract, satisfied the “separate instrument” requirement of NRS 116.4116. Lastly, the Court looked at whether the district court erred in denying HCHA’s repeated requests to amend its complaint.

Mandating Precontractual Disclosure, Eric H. Franklin

Scholarly Works

Parties negotiating an arm's-length contract are generally not required to disclose facts to one another. Although this default rule is supported by both centuries of common law and freedom of contract principles, courts and legislatures treat certain transactions differently. This is particularly true in circumstances in which the default rule results in an unacceptable harm suffered by a broad group of persons. In such cases, lawmakers have acted to impose precontractual disclosure obligations. These decisions and statutes are largely reactive: A harm is identified in a certain transaction's precontractual period and disclosure is mandated to rectify the harm. These reactive …

Effective Contract Drafting: Indentifying The Building Blocks Of Contracts, Lori D. Johnson

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Grisham V. Grisham, 128 Nev. Adv. Op. 60, Timothy A. Wiseman

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The court considered whether a written, but unsigned property settlement agreement draft, which had been entered into evidence, can be considered binding.

Summary Of United Rentals Highway V. Wells Cargo, 128 Nev. Adv. Op. 59, Joseph Sakai

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal regarding contract language’s effect on an indemnitor’s duty to indemnify and defend an indemnitee in a personal injury action where the language provides that indemnification will occur “to the extent” that any injury or damage is “caused” by the indemintor.

Summary Of Certified Fire Protection, Inc. V. Precision Construction, Inc., Et. Al., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 35, Travis Akin

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Consolidated appeal from a district court judgment on partial findings and an appeal and cross-appeal from a post-judgment order awarding costs and denying a motion for attorney fees.

Summary Of Road & Highway Builders, Llc. V. Northern Nevada Rebar, Inc., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 36, Matthew Vantusko

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

This is a consolidated appeal in a contract action from a district court judgment on a jury verdict, and an order by the district court denying a new trial. The Court addressed whether a fraudulent inducement claim is available when the language of the underlying contract contradicts the required elements of the inducement claim; the propriety of compensatory damages awarded by the jury for lost profits in a contract claim; and the availability of punitive damages without a finding of fraud.

Summary Of Rolf Jensen & Assoc., Inc. V. Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. 42, Amanda Ireland

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

On petition for writ of mandamus challenging a denial of summary judgment, the Court considered whether the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) preempts state law claims for indemnification brought by an admitted violator of the ADA.

Contract Law Walks The Plank: Carnival Cruise Lines, Inc. V. Shute, Charles L. Knapp

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Summary Of Schettler V. Ralron Capital Corp., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 20, Jason L. Deforest

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court considered whether the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) divests a court of jurisdiction to consider any defenses or affirmative defenses not first adjudicated through FIRREA’s claims process. The Court also considered, as a matter of first impression, whether FIRREA’s jurisdictional bar extends to successors in interest to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).

Summary Of Finkel V. Cashman Professional, Inc., 128 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 6, Travis Akin

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The court considered consolidated appeals from two district court orders in a contract action, the first granting a preliminary injunction and the second refusing to dissolve the preliminary injunction.

Stoney Road Out Of Eden: The Struggle To Recover Insurance For Armenian Genocide Deaths And Its Implications For The Future Of State Authority, Contract Rights, And Human Rights, Jeffrey W. Stempel, Sarig Armenian, David Mcclure

Scholarly Works

The Armenian Genocide during the waning days of the Ottoman Empire continues to represent one of history’s underappreciated atrocities. Comparatively few people even know about the 1.5 million deaths or the government-sponsored extermination attempt that provided Hitler with a blueprint for the Nazi Holocaust. Unlike the Holocaust, however, there was never any accounting demanded of those responsible for the Armenian Genocide. In the aftermath of both tragedies, insurers seized upon the resulting disarray and victimization to deny life insurance benefits owed as a result of the killings. American-based litigation to vindicate rights under the Armenian polices faced substantial legal and …

Summary Of Fourth St. Place V. Travelers Indem. Co., 127 Nev. Adv. Op. 86, Daniella Labounty

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Court reviewed a district court grant of summary judgment in favor of the insurer in an insurance coverage action.

Summary Of Pacificare Of Nev., Inc. V. Rogers, 127 Nev. Adv. Op. 71, Jason Deforest

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from a district court order denying a motion to compel arbitration in a tort and contract action.

Cross Purposes & Unintended Consequences: Karl Llewellyn, Article 2, And The Limits Of Social Transformation, Danielle Kie Hart

Nevada Law Journal

Despite attempts to reform the law to eliminate hierarchies that subordinate groups of people, the law usually ends up re-instantiating those hierarchies. This “preservation through transformation” phenomenon occurs consistently, over time and across legal disciplines. Karl Llewellyn’s efforts at drafting Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code are no different. Llewellyn attempted a paradigm shift in contract formation when he sought to decouple contract law from its formalistic roots and bring it back in touch with reality. But in so doing, the law-in-action strand of Legal Realism ended up working at cross purposes with the other, critical strand of Realism. …

Summary Of Dynalectric Co. Of Nev. V. Clark & Sullivan Constructors, Inc., 127 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 41, Brian L. Blaylock

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from an Eighth Judicial District Court judgment awarding expectation damages to Clark & Sullivan Constructors, Inc. (“C&S”) for its promissory estoppel claim against Dynalectric Co. of Nevada (“Dynalectric”).

Summary Of Reyburn Lawn & Landscape Designers, Inc. V. Plaster Dev. Co., 127 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 26, Meredith Still

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal of the district court’s judgment regarding an indemnity clause between the general contractor and subcontractor in a construction defect action.

Summary Of Picardi V. Eighth Judicial District Court, 127 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 9, Cristen Thayer

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

Petition for writ of mandamus challenging Eighth Judicial District Court’s order compelling arbitration in a contract action.

Thoughts On The Divergence Of Promise And Contract, Ian C. Bartrum

Scholarly Works

This essay offers some brief thoughts on Seana Shiffrin‘s recent work regarding the divergence of contractual and promissory norms. The author conclude that Shiffrin does not do enough to separate and account for the different consequentalist and deontological justifications underlying each institution, and does not do enough to explain how promises give rise to the “moral” duties she posits. The author suggest, instead, that the divergence between contract and promise is justified by the different roles each institution plays in our lives, and that, in fact, keeping strictly promissory duties outside the scope of state coercion actually facilitates a strong …

Summary Of Gonski V. Dist. Ct., 126 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 51, Ryan Johnson

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

The Second Judicial District Court entered an order compelling arbitration in a construction defect dispute. Petitioners asked for a writ of mandamus vacating the order compelling arbitration.

Summary Of Brown Insurance Agency, Inc. V. Star Insurance Co., 126 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 31, Ammon Francom

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from a district court order granting summary judgment.

Summary Of Easton Business Opportunities, Inc. V. Town Executive Suites - E. Marketplace, Llc, 126 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 13, Kimberly Duque

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

A multi-faceted appeal involving interpretion of a real estate brokerage agreement that included an “extender” clause.

Misclassifying The Insurance Policy: The Unforced Errors Of Unilateral Contract Characterization, Hazel G. Beh, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Insurance policies are traditionally classified as unilateral or “reverse-unilateral” contracts, a characterization we find largely incorrect, with problematic consequences for adjudication of insurance coverage disputes. In addition to the general difficulties attending the unilateral classification, the concept as applied to insurance policies is not only unhelpful but incorrect. Insurance policies are more accurately viewed as bilateral contracts. In addition, the unilateral characterization of insurance policies introduces error and inconsistency into the litigation of insurance controversies. In particular, the unilateral view tends toward excessive formalism and focus on so-called “conditions” precedent to coverage, eschewing material breach analysis and encouraging needless forfeitures …

The Insurance Policy As Statute, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Insurance policies are classified as a subspecies of contract. Although the taxonomy is correct, rigid adherence to this classification system limits the legal system's ability to deal with some of the most problematic and frequently litigated questions of insurance coverage. Restricting conception of insurance policies to the contract model unduly limits analysis of the meaning and function of the policies. In addition, restricting characterization of insurance as a matter of “contract” does not necessarily produce swift, inexpensive, efficient, or uniform decisions (to say nothing about accuracy, justice, or fairness). Within contract law, scholars, and courts differ over the respective primacy …

The Insurance Policy As Social Instrument And Social Institution, Jeffrey W. Stempel

Scholarly Works

Insurance policies are classified as a species of contract. Although this characterization is correct, it is unduly narrow if used as the exclusive lens for assessing insurance policies, which are not merely contracts but also are designed to perform particular risk management, deterrence, and compensation functions important to economic and social ordering. Recognizing this has significant implications regarding the manner in which insurance policies are construed in coverage disputes and suggests that policy construction can be improved by not only performing traditional contract analysis of disputed policies but also by appreciating the particular function of the insurance policy in question …

Economic Value, Equal Dignity And The Future Of Sweepstakes, Anthony N. Cabot, Glenn J. Light, Karl F. Rutledge

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

The three basic forms of prize gaming are gambling, sweepstakes, and contests. Most states have a common approach to determining the legality of prize gaming. In general, states analyze if an activity includes three factors associated with gambling: (1) opportunity to win a prize, (2) winning based on chance, and (3) consideration paid to take that chance. If you take away any one of the three elements of gambling—consideration, prize, or chance—you have an activity that is lawful in most states. A contest, for example, differs from gambling because the winner is determined by skill. Determination of whether a (pay-for-play) …

Rewarding Trespass & Other Enigmas: The Strange World Of Self-Exclusion & Casino Liability, Emir Aly Crowne-Mohammed, Meredith A. Harper

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

In this paper, the authors address many of the tortious and contractual issues associated with the liability of casinos to problem gamblers. The issues in tort are analyzed through the traditional elements of the action – duty of care, standard of care, proximity, and recognizable loss. Under contract law, the authors examine the problems associated with consideration and mental capacity when problem gamblers sign a contractual undertaking to be excluded from casinos and other gaming venues.

Many of the references cited in this work relate to the Province of Ontario because an earlier article (and report) on the issue of …

Summary Of Dobron V. Bunch, 125 Nev. Adv. Op. No. 36, Kathleen Wilde

Nevada Supreme Court Summaries

An appeal from an Eighth Judicial District Court award of attorney fees stemming from a guaranty agreement.