Researching Nevada Business Cases

Researching Nevada business cases presents some challenges. There is not one publicly-available statewide database for business cases. Making business cases and records more easily available will contribute to the development of a body of business case law, which can contribute to predictabilty and consistency.



Second Judicial District Court (Northern Nevada)

It is possible to search online for cases in the Second Judicial District Court, which is located in Washoe County. One way to do this is to use Contexte CourtConnect. However, some specific information about the case such as the last name or company name is necessary to run this type of search. It is also possible to search for Judge Adams's cases by searching the calendar for cases in his department, Department 6. Unfortunately, this list does not indicate whether the cases are business cases or other types of civil cases.

For current cases on the calendar, the Second Judicial District Court has links to business cases for Judge Adams and business cases for Judge Flanagan. With a case number, it is possible to search for information about a specific case here.

Eighth Judicial District Court (Southern Nevada)
It is possible to search online for case summaries and information for the Eighth Judicial District Court, which is located in Clark County. However, business cases are grouped together with other civil cases so it is not possible to initiate a search for only business cases. Business Court judges dockets include non-business civil matters in addition to business matters. This means that it is not possible to search for business cases using the judges names alone.
There are a variety of ways to search for business cases in the Eighth Judicial District. One way to search for case summaries is to search the District Court Civil Calendar for Clark County by "Judicial Officer," the name of the judge, and "Case Category," in this case civil. Then the results list should be sorted by "Hearing Type," in this case business court. This sorts the list of results so that all Business Court cases are listed first. Then this list can be used to identify the case numbers for business cases for that particular judge.
To access case and case summaries, it is necessary to return to the District Civil Records search page and use the a case number (or parties or attorneys) to pull up a register of actions with links to the minutes, which give a brief procedural summary of the case. Records for civil cases are only available at present through requests at the Las Vegas Justice Court Clerk's Office.


Hat tip to:

• the research librarians at the Wiener-Rogers Law Library and Shana Brouwers (Boyd '11), a research assistant at the Law Library, for providing information on researching Nevada Business Courts, and
• Cindy Fladagar in the technology department of the Second Judicial District for clarifying the process for confirming the process for researching business cases in the Second Judicial District Court.

Nevada Business Courts

Nevada is one of fifteen states, including Delaware, that have specialized courts for business and complex litigation. The number of judges hearing business matters in Nevada is growing, which will allow the business courts to handle more cases. One of the benefits of business courts is that they can contribute to the development of a body of case law on business issues. Over time, the existence of a body of case law tends to contribute to increased predictability and consistency. However, to achieve these benefits, the body of case law must be accessible to business decision-makers and the lawyers who advise them. At present, as I will discuss in a future post, researching Nevada business cases is still an arduous and time consuming process compared to the ease of researching business cases in states with a longer history of business courts such as Delaware. Nevada has taken important steps in developing specialty business courts but there is still room for improvement when it comes to the ease of researching and access to case records and documents.



Southern Nevada
There are currently three business judges on the Eighth Judicial District Court, Judge Mark R. Denton (Dept. 13), Judge Elizabeth Gonzalez (Dept. 11), and Judge Kathleen Delaney (Dept. 25). Pursuant to Rule 1.61(c)(1) of the Eighth Judicial District's Rules of Practice, business court judges are designated by the Chief Judge. Business matters are randomly assigned to one of the business court judges. The business docket may include matters relating to Title 7 of the Nevada Revised Statutes (excluding Ch. 77) and matters where the amount in controversy exceeds $500,000 and relates to the Uniform Commercial Code, business torts, business franchises, or sale and purchase of businesses. (Rule 1.61(a))

The Eighth Judicial District Court is handling an increasing number of business cases. According to the Eighth Judicial District Annual Activity Reports:

Year....... Business Cases Filed .....% of All Civil Cases Filed
2008...................609.......................................2.2
2007...................404.......................................1.7
2006...................281........................................1.3
2005...................173........................................0.8
2004...................155........................................0.7
2003...................203........................................1.0
2002...................152........................................0.8
2001...................165........................................0.9

Northern Nevada
There are currently two business court judges on the Second Judicial District Court, Judge Brent Adams (Dept. 6) and Judge Patrick Flanagan (Dept. 7). Pursuant to Rule 2.1.5 of the Second Judicial District's Rules of Practice, business court judges are appointed for two-year terms by the Chief Judge and must have experience in business matters. If Judge Adams or Judge Flanagan is unable to preside over a matter for some reason, then the case may be assigned to one of the other business court judges on the Second Judicial District Court, Judge Steven P. Elliott (Dept. 10) or Judge Robert H. Perry (Dept. 9). Business matters are randomly assigned to one of the business court judges. The business docket may include corporate governance, trademark, and securities issues; shareholder suits, and disputes among business entities. (Rule 2.1.1)

I have not included statistics for Northern Nevada because the statistics section of the Second Judicial District Court's website, which includes the Annual Report of the Nevada Judiciary, is currently under construction.


Hat tip to:

• Michael Sommermeyer, the Court Information Officer for the Clark County Courts, for confirming the appointment of the newest business court judge in the Eighth Judicial District, Judge Kathleen Delaney, and
• Cindy Fladagar in the technology department of the Second Judicial District for clarifying the process for assigning cases to the business court judges.