Nevada Court of Appeals hears arguments at UNLV

Dozens of Boyd Law School students got a firsthand look at their futures Tuesday.

The Nevada Court of Appeals took its operation on the road to a small moot courtroom on the UNLV campus to hold oral arguments in two civil cases: one involving a complicated divorce and another involving a fall at Harrah’s.

Nada Ramadan filed for divorce from her husband, Firas Hajibi, in early 2013. Clark County Family Court Judge Jennifer Elliot ruled in Ramadan’s favor, giving the woman full custody of the couple’s three children, the family’s home and financial support.

Elliot called the case one of the top five domestic abuse cases she had seen in her 15 years on the bench, according to court documents. Records show that Hajibi pleaded no contest in August 2013 to a misdemeanor battery charge.

Hajibi appealed the Family Court ruling, arguing that Elliott made multiple procedural errors.

Las Vegas attorney Eric Walther argued on Hajibi’s behalf that the no-contest plea was used against him in Elliot’s ruling, even though state law says no-contest pleas are inadmissible. Walther also argued that the judge broke protocol in giving Ramadan the home and other property.

Appeals Court judges Abbi Silver and Michael Gibbons showered both sides with tough questions.

Silver asked Walther how the custody decision could be based on the no-contest plea when the judge referenced “pages and pages of incidences of abuse.” She also asked Ramadan’s lawyer, Fred Page, how the home was awarded to Ramadan when there was no evidence presented about it.

Gibbons said the presumption is that property bought during a marriage is shared.

The court also heard arguments in the appeal of Connie Sweet, who slipped and fell on a spill at Harrah’s in March 2009. In December 2013, a jury ruled against Sweet, who claimed that the resort was liable for failing to ensure that its marble floor was slip-resistant.

Las Vegas attorney Donald Haight argued on Sweet’s behalf that the resort’s lawyers won by ambushing Sweet with evidence that was not disclosed during discovery.

“Discovery in Nevada has become a game of clever lawyering,” Haight said.

Appeals Court Judge Jerome Tao asked why Sweet’s legal team did not act when it first suspected misconduct had occurred during the discovery process.

Silver later grilled Michael K. Wall, who represented the resort, about jury instructions used in the trial.

Each side was given 15 minutes to make their cases, and afterward the judges and lawyers answered questions from the law students in the gallery.

Walther, a 2014 Boyd Law School graduate, encouraged students to get involved in pro bono work. Not all appeals will make it to the oral arguments stage, but cases in which the court must assign a pro bono attorney are scheduled automatically for oral arguments.

Contact Wesley Juhl at wjuhl@reviewjournal.com and 702-383-0391. Follow @WesJuhl on Twitter.