Republicans take on trial lawyers

By Kyle Roerink

Monday, March 16, 2015 | 2 a.m.

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A lawyer and rancher stood face-to-face in a hallway of the Legislature engaged in a heated debate about tort reform.

Walt Gardner wore a plaid shirt, cowboy hat and spoke with the twang of someone who knows the open range. Bill Bradley tossed out legal terminology and wore the Legislature’s sartorial standard: a suit.

“We don’t trust those legal words,” Gardner told Bradley, a top trial attorney.

As the discussion waned, Bradley offered Gardner his hand for a parting shake. Gardner refused.

“You have to respect a man to shake his hand,” he said, storming toward an elevator.

Trial lawyers are coming under fire this session as never before, a faceoff many say has been long in the making.

There are at least 15 legislative proposals that proponents say will decrease the number of civil lawsuits and diminish the influence of trial attorneys in Nevada. The bills are supported by conservatives and business owners.

Trial lawyers and Democrats say the Republican-backed effort would block middle-class residents from accessing courts and create an environment where companies aren’t held accountable for accidents, defective products or negligence.

“Once you lose your rights, you don’t get them back,” said Herb Santos Jr., president of the Nevada Justice Association, which represents trial lawyers. “It is scary to wonder which constitutional right is next.”

The legislative push is a result of the Republican sweep in the November elections which put GOP leaders in charge of both legislative chambers. Gov. Brian Sandoval recently signed a construction defect bill into law that limits lawsuits by homeowners against homebuilders. It had been a conservative priority since 1996.

For years, and in some cases decades, proposed legal reforms never received hearings because Democrats with close ties to trial lawyers killed the bills, Republicans said.

The tussle between Bradley and Gardner stemmed from legislation aiming to protect backcountry outfitters, ranchers and rodeo operators from lawsuits if someone is injured on their property. It’s likely to pass in the coming weeks. Trial lawyers were able to kill it five times previously.

But the new proposals have backing from leadership, meaning bills likely will end up on Sandoval’s desk. If that happens, the governor will need to weigh in on the debate over “innocent victims” and “frivolous lawsuits.”

Among the legislation being considered:

■ A bill to prevent uninsured drivers from winning damages for pain and suffering caused by a car crash.

■ A bill to protect businesses that sell wholesale products that injure or harm consumers.

■ A bill to limit how employees receive compensation for on-the-job injuries.

■ A bill that mandates lawyers pay all court fees for cases thrown out of court.

Republican Ira Hansen, chairman of the Assembly judiciary committee, said the legislation would benefit middle-class Nevadans.

“The sympathy of Nevadans is not with wealthy trial lawyers,” he said. “It’s with the rank-and-file people who, in too many cases, are taken advantage of by these folks.”

Sen. Tick Segerblom, a Democrat, panned the Republican rhetoric, saying the legislation benefits only a small group of business leaders.

“It’s a solution without a problem,” Segerblom said.