Court rejects plea of casino vendor

Thursday, April 18, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- In a 4-3 decision, the Nevada Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to grant another exemption to the rule that civil suits must be brought to trial within five years or they will be dismissed.

The court rejected the appeal of David Morgan, who sued the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas in April 1994, claiming he was owed money for supplying roadside billboard advertisement for the resort.

The case was assigned to mandatory arbitration that took one year. The arbitrator recommended a settlement of $11,200 plus interest and attorney fees for Morgan.

The Sands demanded a trial instead, and the case languished until a trial was set for January 2000, or eight months past the mandatory five-year deadline.

District Judge Gene Porter dismissed the case on grounds it had not been brought to trial within the time limit. Morgan, in his appeal, said the time the case was in mandatory arbitration should extend the five-year limitation.

The court, in the majority opinion written by Justice Deborah Agosti, said it has recognized only two exceptions in the past to the five-year rule -- a medical malpractice case that is pending before a medical screening panel and a court-ordered stay by a district judge.

Agosti said that after the Sands requested a trial, Morgan made no effort in the following 2 1/2 years to bring the case to trial. The majority opinion said the burden was still on Morgan to get the trial started, not the Sands, though it requested the trial.

The court also rejected Morgan's claim that he should be entitled to the arbitrator's finding of $11,200 plus interest and attorney fees. It said once a request for a trial is filed, it supersedes the arbitration award.

Justice Myron Leavitt, who wrote the dissent, said once the case is referred to mandatory arbitration, there is nothing that can be done until the process is ended.

"A plaintiff is bound by the five-year limitation period, yet can do nothing to expedite the case while it is still in the court-annexed arbitration program," Leavitt wrote. The time for arbitration should be added on to the five-year period to avoid "the harsh result" of having the case dismissed, he said.

Joining Leavitt in the dissent were Chief Justice Bill Maupin and Justice Bob Rose. Those in the majority were Agosti, Justices Miriam Shearing and Nancy Becker and District Judge Peter Breen of Reno, who sat in place of Justice Cliff Young.