Before the Court en banc (Justice Parraguirre recused). Opinion by Justice Hardesty.
In this original petition for writ of mandamus or prohibition, petitioners Vanguard Piping Systems, Inc., Viega, LLC, Industries, Inc., and Viega, Inc. (collectively, Vanguard) challenged a district court order compelling Vanguard to produce all insurance policies that might be used to satisfy a judgment against Vanguard in a construction defect action brought by Aventine-Tramonti Homeowners Association (the HOA). Vanguard contended that it was not required to disclose insurance policies purchased by its German parent companies, Viega GmbH and Viega International GmbH, because Vanguard’s primary insurance policies were sufficient to cover any judgment that might be entered against Vanguard. Following the plain language of the rule and applying the federal courts’ interpretation of the similar federal rule, the Court held that NRCP 16.1(a)(1)(D) requires parties to disclose any insurance agreement that may be used to satisfy a judgment; “[t]he rule does not mention agreements with policy limits sufficient to satisfy a judgment, nor does it distinguish between primary and secondary insurance policies.” Moreover, permitting parties to determine which insurance agreements are relevant “overlooks the fact that it is impossible to foresee all possible circumstances in which the primary insurance policies will be subject to liability and potentially exhausted by other judgments.” Thus, pursuant to NRCP 16.1(a)(1)(D), a party is required to disclose all insurance policies that may be liable to pay a portion of a judgment, regardless of whether it has already disclosed policies with limits that exceed its potential liability. Petition denied. (Patrick J. Murch, Associate in the Las Vegas office of McDonald Carano Wilson.)
