Bill would bar secret settlements in hazard cases

Friday, March 21, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, urged a Senate Committee on Thursday to "lift the veil of secrecy" that permits courts to keep the existence of public hazards confidential.

Titus, joined by the Nevada Press Association and the Nevada Trial Lawyers, said court records involving cases in which products could have crippled or killed people should be open to public inspection.

But drug companies, retailers, manufacturers and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the current system works fine, and that courts issue confidentiality orders only when good cause is shown.

"The system is not broken," said Reno attorney John Sande III, representing the drug manufacturer Pfizer. "The courts can address this on a case-by-case basis.

"There is no right for the average person to have all access to discovery" used in getting information in processing lawsuits, Sande said.

Senate Bill 251 states that a District Court judge shall "not knowingly enter an order or a judgment" that conceals a public hazard. A hazard is defined as a product or a condition that has caused or is likely to cause physical injury or death.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, the chairman of the committee, noted that no one from the judges' association appeared to testify for or against the bill. The committee did not take action on the proposed legislation.

Kent Lauer, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, testified that in cases such as defective tires and asbestos, the public was left in the dark by the confidential nature of the court cases.

"Nevada needs to join the movement of barring secret settlement," Lauer said. "(The) principle is to protect the public."

Seventeen states have these types of laws.

Matthew Sharp of the trial lawyers association argued that the public has a right to know about defective products. The documents that reveal the problems are found during discovery when the lawyers for each side exchange information.

Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, a lawyer, noted that when a defective products suit is filed, it becomes public record and the press is free to report on it.

Sharp said the proposed law would apply only to a limited number of suits.

But Sam McMullen, representing the retailers association and the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, said the bill was too far-reaching and could affect every business. It could include cases that involve allegations of minor slip-and- fall injuries, he said.

"A chair can fall apart. It is not just like Firestone," McMullen said, referring to the defective-tire case against that company.

McMullen contended that public hazard cases generate adequate publicity when they are filed.

"There is no public right of access to private litigants," McMullen argued.

Titus said she has been trying unsuccessfully since 1991 to get similar legislation passed.