Litigation Law in Las Vegas

ARBITRATION

Arbitration can be either voluntary or mandatory. In voluntary, it can be held pursuant to whatever procedures and rules that the contracting parties have agreed to, and can be held pursuant to a particular company’s format such as the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, or Advanced Resolution Management. In addition to private arbitration, in the State of Nevada in Clark County and Washoe County there is a mandatory non-binding arbitration process for all cases that are in dispute for amounts less than $50,000.00. Either in private or court mandated arbitrations, the case is normally handled by one but could be handled by more than one arbitrator who will issue an award and decision. At McCullough & Associates, Ltd. we not only have attorneys who are experienced in both the private and the court mandated arbitration process, but also have attorneys who act as arbitrators in both voluntary and mandatory arbitrations.

CIVIL LITIGATION

Civil law includes virtually everything that is not a criminal matter. McCullough & Associates, Ltd. handles a variety of litigations concerning businesses, contracts, estates, family law, accident, negligence, administrative, and legal questions.

The civil litigation area of law is broken down into a variety of different subcategories such as the follows:

  • Appellate work;
  • Arbitration;
  • Breach of Contract;
  • Collections;
  • Commercial litigation;
  • Foreclosures;
  • Fraud;
  • Garnishments;
  • Injunctions;
  • Leases;
  • Mediation;
  • Probate;
  • Record sealing;
  • Repossessions;
  • Restraining orders; and
  • Writs of Execution/Attachments.

APPELLATE WORK

Appellate law involves high courts’ review the judgment of a lower court. Appeals are presented to a multi-judge panel. The decision is usually based on written briefs only, since there is no discovery in appellate law, the record is limited to what was previously presented at the lower court. The appellate court does not hear new evidence or retry cases. It only reviews what happened in the lower court to determine whether the law was applied correctly and proper procedures were followed. The last word on what the law is belongs to the appellate court. An appellate court will only strike down a judgment only if it appears the trial court made prejudicial errors, meaning there was a reasonable chance the error affected the outcome of the case.

In the State of Nevada there is a three member intermediary appellate court, and there is a seven member Supreme Court.

BREACH OF CONTRACT

A contract creates certain legal obligations that must be met by the parties who made the agreement. Under the law, one party’s failure to fulfill a material part of the contract, written or oral, without legitimate legal excuse is a “breach” of the contract. Breach of contract can include such things as non-performance, failure to perform on time, failure to perform according to the terms of the contract, plus incomplete or late payments. When there has been a breach of contract, an injured party may sue the breaching party for not only monetary damages, but also may seek equitable relief such as specific performance of the contract by the breaching party.

COLLECTIONS

Collections are based on debtor-creditor law and come into play when one party fails to pay a monetary debt to another. Creditors can be grouped into three categories:

  1. Secured–Creditors’ with a lien against a piece of real or personal property, which must be used to pay creditor’s debt before others. A lien may come from an agreement between the parties, statute or court ruling;
  2. Priority-Creditors’ with a priority interest who through statutory law, when the debtor becomes insolvent, creditors’ with priority must be paid first; and
  3. Unsecured – Creditors without a lien priority and are unsecured.

COMPLEX LITIGATION

Any lawsuit can be complicated. Complex litigation as a category involves common features such as large numbers of documents, depositions, has many witnesses, large quantities of data, complex calculations and issues, complex timelines, class action claims, various expert witnesses on technical concepts, large number of attorneys, large numbers of parties, as well as the use of technology to present the case.

CORPORATE LAW

Corporate law is related to commercial and contract law and deals with the formation and operations of corporations. A corporation as well as a limited liability company can be defined as an association of shareholders or members created under law and considered as an artificial person by courts – a legal entity separate from the individuals who comprise it. The law treats a corporation or a limited liability company as a legal person, with standing to sue and be sued, distinct from its stockholders or members. State laws regulate the creation, organization and dissolution of corporations and limited liability companies. A corporation or limited liability company can live on after its founders have left the company.

There are a variety of areas that fall within business and commercial area of law such as:

  • C-Corporations;
  • Contracts;
  • Contract negotiations;
  • Complex litigation;
  • Corporate governess;
  • Equipment financing;
  • Franchise;
  • General partnerships;
  • Joint ventures;
  • Lease issues;
  • Limited liability companies;
  • Limited partnership;
  • Mergers and acquisitions;
  • Power of Attorney
  • Professional corporations;
  • Resident Agent service;
  • S-Corporations;
  • Security agreements;
  • Sole proprietorships;
  • Stockholder derivative actions;
  • Uniform Commercial Code; and
  • Various transactional agreements.

CONTRACT DISPUTES

A contract is when you have two parties who have made an offer and there has been acceptance of that offer and there has been some consideration exchanged between the parties and there has been mutual assent as to the terms and conditions of the offer. Once you have a contract you need to understand what the terms are and whether your contract is actually enforceable. If a dispute arises, please consult one of our business law attorneys before agreeing to any contract.

During business contract negotiations the parties should avoid entering into a binding agreement until all the elements are clear and agreed upon. Complex negotiations may involve the exchange of letters of intent, which usually attempts to avoid binding agreements. However, some non-binding agreements can in fact be evidence of a contract. Disputes can arise if the parties do not take into account all key factors during their negotiations. At McCullough & Associates, Ltd. we will provide counsel to help protect your interests and assure an equitable contract is agreed upon and enforceable.

FRAUD

Fraud falls under both criminal and civil law. It involves intentional deception or misrepresentation made for personal gain or harm to another. Fraud typically involves the purchase or sale of personal or real property, as well as financial and intellectual property. Fraud generally must be proved by showing a defendant’s actions included five elements:

  1. A false statement of any material fact;
  2. Knowledge that the statement was untrue;
  3. Intent to deceive the alleged victim;
  4. Justifiable reliance on the statements by the alleged victim; and
  5. Resulting in injury to the alleged victim.

GARNISHMENT

Wage garnishment involves obtaining a court order that instructs an employer to set money aside, instead of paying wages to an alleged debtor, until a court can decide how much is owed to the creditor. Wage garnishment is often used to collect child support payments, alimony or monetary judgments.

INJUNCTIONS

This is a court order that requires an individual to perform or refrain from performing, a particular act. An injunction necessarily arises from other proceedings and is considered an extraordinary remedy not lightly taken by the courts. It is generally saved for special situations in which it is important to maintain the status quo with a time certain.

TRANSACTIONAL

The two basic kinds of attorneys in the United States are “transactional” (those who write contracts) and “litigators” (those who go to court). At McCullough & Associates, Ltd. we have both transactional and litigators that can help address any issue that is brought to us.

WRITS OF EXECUTION/ATTACHMENT

Writs are issued to give force to a court judgment. A writ of execution is a court order to enforce a judgment of possession by a plaintiff. The court will usually order a sheriff to take possession of property owned by the debtor, which is then sold to satisfy the judgment and to pay the plaintiff. A writ of attachment is a court order to attach or confiscate an asset in order to satisfy a debt.