Defendant Not Negligent for Causing Auto Accident

Plaintiffs alleged Defendant negligently operated her motor vehicle causing an accident. Defendant denied liability and filed a Third-Party Complaint against Stanley Steemer and its driver for having caused the accident by striking Defendant’s vehicle and pushing it into Plaintiffs’ vehicle. Matter submitted to arbitration and Defendant found to have no negligence in causing the accident. The arbitrator was unable to make an award to Plaintiffs despite finding Third-Party Defendants caused the accident because Plaintiffs failed to amend their Complaint to add them as direct defendants. In post-arbitration filings, Third-Party Defendants, represented by a national law firm and claiming to be a prevailing party, stated attorneys’ fees of $24,000 while Defendant’s attorneys’ fees were $7,700 in successfully defending the matter. No fees were awarded to Third-Party Defendants who were deemed to not be prevailing parties.

Hayden, et al. v. Rodillon,, Nevada Eighth Judicial District Case Number A597634.
Reported by: Ryan M. Venci, February 2011