2020 September Writ

September 2020. Vol. 42, No. 8 The OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WASHOE COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION Join us on September 9, 2020 on Zoom for the Judicial Forum with the candidates for the Second Judicial District Court CBA is pleased to present DEPARTMENT 11 DEPARTMENT 13 the upcoming candidates' Paige Dollinger currently serves Judge Bridget Robb is a 4th forum for the Second as Washoe County's generation Nevadan. JudicialW District Court. juvenile delinquency She attended the court master. In this University of Nevada DEPARTMENT 10 role, she has presided and received her Judge Elliott Sattler has been the over more than 8,000 juris doctorate, cum presiding judge in hearings. Prior to her laude, from Santa Department 10 since appointment as a court Clara University. 2013. He has participated master, Paige worked for more than Judge Robb has been as a judge or attorney a decade as a deputy public defender, elected twice to Department 13 and has in over 100 jury trials. and for four years as a deputy district served as the Family Division Presiding Judge Sattler received the attorney in Washoe County. Judge for most of the last five years. highest average score of Greg Shannon was a deputy Aaron Bushur practices primarily all General Jurisdiction district attorney family law in all Judges twice in the 2018 & 2020 for Washoe County Northern Nevada WCBA surveys, and his retention rate in for 25 years, with courts. Aaron 2020 was 97%. substantial experience operates his own The Reno personal injury law firm of in child support, office and is the sole Kathleen A. Sigurdson child protection, employee. Aaron is represents injured people, and civil litigation. married with three both those hurt on the He was chief deputy of the child sons and has resided job and those injured protection team. Greg has been a full- in the area in excess of twenty years since through the neglect of time family court master for nearly six leaving the military. Aaron intends others. Kathleen was years, primarily hearing child support to bring much needed change to the admitted to the State Bar cases but experienced in all aspects of Department. of Nevada in 1998 and the State Bar of family court. Arizona in 1999. `` RANDOM CONVERSATIONS ACROSS THE COURTS JUDICIAL APPELLATE LAW LIBRARY/ MILLENNIAL PEOPLE THOUGHTS ON DISCOVERY LINE SURVEY BRIEFS PRO BONO MINUTE PG 2 PG 3 PG 6 PG 8 10 PG 12 PG 14 PG 15 PG 16 Random Thoughts Chandeni Sendall President 2020: Election Season Begins s fall approaches, the sun The Nevada Legislature has already the third branch of government is an begins to set earlier each attempted to address certain aspects important check on the legislative and day, the new school year of criminal justice reform during the executive branch, which are representative rollsA ahead, and many of us still find recent Special Session, and it appears the of the people but often politically ourselves in the same “new” COVID-19 topic will continue to be evaluated and influenced by their electorate base. pandemic-laden routine. Yet, aside debated both at the lawmaking level in The judiciary on the other hand, while from the pandemic and smoke filling Carson City and the law enforcement elected, is intended to be nonpartisan, our skies, a lot has changed over the past level. Certainly, the outcome of our and is tasked with even-handedly few months. As we head into a tense upcoming election in November is likely relying on the Constitution and sound and quickly approaching November to influence our elected representatives’ jurisprudence for guidance in interpreting presidential election, calls for criminal positions regarding the recent protests and determining whether laws challenged justice reform within our community and calls for criminal justice reform. are constitutional. It is an important role and nationally are taking center stage After this election is over, if any that arguably is one of the most important and largely influencing the political additional bills reforming the current checks on the power of the legislative and rhetoric of elected officials from local criminal justice system are passed, it will executive branches. candidates all the way to the presidency. be in large part due to the representative In that regard, here in Northern Our fundamental structure of make up of those elected officials that Nevada, the WCBA is holding a live government plays a crucial role in remain in office, and those that are virtual Judicial Candidate Forum on the implementation of new laws and newly elected. Wednesday, September 9, 2020. The the amendment of existing laws. The Fourteenth Amendment judicial candidates running for Second American system of representative jurisprudence requires that equal justice Judicial District Court Departments governance relies on those elected to under the law be afforded to all people. 10, 11 and 13 will be providing brief hold office to reflect the interests of The very words, “EQUAL JUSTICE statements and answering pre-submitted their constituents. Our government is UNDER LAW,” are engraved above questions from WCBA members. Please made up of representatives who seek the front entrance of the United States consider participating in this free Zoom election based upon party principles Supreme Court building in Washington webinar event to hear from the judicial and ideologies. These representative D.C. As attorneys representing the candidates directly. No registration is legislators and executive officeholders interests of our clients, it is our duty to required, the link has been sent via email are of course motivated by furthering ensure that we do our part so that the law to all WCBA members. If you would like the interests of those that elected them is indeed equally and justly applied to all. to submit a question for the candidates, into office. However, as the interests In Nevada, the judiciary is elected please email Executive Director Gina and viewpoints of the American people to interpret those laws passed by our MacLellan at [email protected]. change, so should the representative legislators and enforced by our executive I wish you all a healthy beginning to actions of their elected officials. branch. The role of the judiciary as the fall season. JENNA GARCIA, EDITOR PRESIDENT CHANDENI SENDALL The GINA MACLELLAN, MANAGING EDITOR VICE PRESIDENT JACEY PRUPAS ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATE FOR NON-MEMBERS OF WCBA: $36 SECRETARY RYAN LEARY TREASURER THERESE SHANKS THE WRIT IS THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE WASHOE COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION WCBA, P.O. BOX 1548, RENO NV 89505 SERGEANT-AT-ARMS JENNA GARCIA TEL: 775-786-4494 FAX: 775-324-6116 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GINA MACLELLAN ARTICLES APPEARING IN THE WRIT EXPRESS THE VIEWS OF THE AUTHORS AND NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF THE WCBA. FOR ADVERTISING CALL THE WRIT AT 775-786- WWW.WCBAR.ORG E-MAIL: GINA @WCBAR.ORG 4494. WCBA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ACCEPT OR DENY ANY ADVERTISING. 2 September 2020, Vol. 42 No. 8 CONVERSATIONS ON DISCOVERY By Wesley M. Ayres, Discovery Commissioner he fiduciary exception to current trustees. Mr. Lubbers resigned then sought extraordinary relief to the attorney-client privilege from his role as trustee in 2017, and protect the disputed documents and to was addressed in a previous died six months later. See id. at 3-4, 464 require their return or destruction. See article.T When that article was written, P.3d at 117-18. id. at 4-6, 464 P.3d at 118. the Nevada Supreme Court had not yet During discovery proceedings, the Because the district court order was considered this subject. But our high former trustees inadvertently disclosed to compel the disclosure of allegedly court recently analyzed this issue for the documents containing Mr. Lubbers’ privileged information and the case first time inCanarelli v. Dist. Court, 136 notes. One group of documents was presented issues in need of clarification, Nev. Adv. Op. 29, 464 P.3d 114 (2020). comprised of his notes pertaining to a the supreme court exercised its discretion Unfortunately for me, the court came to telephone call with counsel to discuss to consider the petition. See id. at 7-8, the opposite conclusion that I reached in the beneficiary’s petitions, his responses 464 P.3d at 119; see also Diaz v. Dist. my analysis. The decision also discusses to those petitions, and potential Court, 116 Nev. 88, 93, 993 P.2d 50, application of the common-interest strategies for defending against certain 54 (2000) (noting that “the opportunity exception to the attorney-client privilege allegations. These documents included to define the precise parameters of and the work-product doctrine in the his typed notes in preparation for the [a] privilege conferred by a statute fiduciary context. Trustees and attorneys call as well as his handwritten notes that this court has never interpreted” should familiarize themselves with the contemporaneously memorializing the is a circumstance warranting writ court’s conclusions and analysis so they call. A second group contained his notes relief) (alteration in original) (internal fully understand the extent to which contemporaneously memorializing a quotation marks omitted). The court their communications are confidential. subsequent meeting he attended in late then stated the standard of review The decision concerned a dispute 2013 with the other trustees, counsel, for discovery matters, explaining that between the beneficiary and trustees the beneficiary, and an independent appellate courts will not disturb a of an irrevocable trust. The trustees trust appraiser. The trustees argued discovery ruling unless the district were the beneficiary’s parents and their that both groups of documents were court clearly abused its discretion. See attorney, Edward Lubbers. Among protected from disclosure by the Canarelli, 136 Nev. Adv. Op. 29 at 8, other property, the trust owned interests attorney-client privilege and the work- 464 P.3d at 119 (quoting Club Vista in the parents’ business entities.

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