The court-annexed mandatory arbitration program has been around for 32 years. In 2023, the program boasted a 92.02 percent resolve rate. The arbitration program success eases the immense District Court caseload and gets litigants faster case resolution that saves time and money.

In 1995, the Nevada Legislature increased the monetary limits for arbitration from $25,000 to $40,000, and to $50,000 in 2005. The amount has been the same since then. Enter inflation – and the need to get arbitration limits on pace with current trends. A proposed bill is in the works for the next Nevada legislative session that will raise the arbitration limit to $100,000.  At the October Civil Bench-Bar Meeting, Discovery Commissioners Erin Lee Truman and Adam Ganz compared the arbitration limit to the inflation rate from 2005 to 2024: a cumulative price increase of 60.87 percent, and noted that healthcare costs have risen faster than the general economy. Over the years, civil lawsuits have also ticked up:  $50,000 in 2005, is the equivalent of well over $80,000 today.

It is anticipated that raising the arbitration limit to $100,000, will encourage attorneys to take advantage of the many benefits of arbitration to free up more resources and valuable time for larger cases, to ultimately achieve a win-win-win-win across the board for the litigants, the lawyers, the courts and the community.