Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company v. Edward Y. Kim; Victoria

Opinion

1 Sheri Thome, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 008657 2 Nicholas F. Adams, Esq. Nevada Bar No. 014813 3 WILSON, ELSER, MOSKOWITZ, 6689 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Suite 200 5 Las Vegas, NV 89119 Telephone: (702) 727-1400 6 Facsimile: (702) 727-1401 7 sheri.thome@wilsonelser.com nicholas.adams@wilsonelser.com 8 Attorneys for Plaintiff Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company 9 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 10 DISTRICT OF NEVADA 11 NATIONWIDE MUTUAL INSURANCE Case No.: 2:24-cv-00830-APG-BNW 12 COMPANY, an Ohio company, 13 Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING 14 v. JOINT STATUS REPORT 15 EDWARD Y. KIM, an individual; VICTORIA LEAVITT, an individual, 16 Defendants. 17 18 Plaintiff Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (“Nationwide”) and Defendant 19 Victoria Leavitt (“Leavitt”) by and through their respective counsel, submit this joint status report in 20 response to the Court’s January 8, 2026 Order. [ECF No. 35.] The parties represent that they have 21 conferred about whether Nationwide can appoint Edward Kim’s state court counsel in this case. 22 Nationwide states that it cannot do this. First, Kim’s policy imposes no duty to assign counsel for 23 Kim to defend a coverage action Nationwide initiated. [ECF No. 21-4.] Second, a direct conflict 24 exists regarding state court counsel’s representation in this matter, and Nationwide will not waive it. 25 Nevada is a dual-representation state, and since Nationwide retained state court counsel to defend 26 Kim, state court counsel represents both Nationwide and Kim. See Nev. Yellow Cab Corp. v. Eighth 27 Judicial Dist. Court of Nev., 123 Nev. 44, 52, 152 P.3d 737, 742 (2007). Because of this dual- 1 Given Nationwide’s concerns about waiving the conflict and providing a defense to an action 2 || it commenced, the parties discussed alternatives, including having Leavitt’s counsel represent both 3 || Leavitt and Kim. That option also would require conflict waivers and further discussion with Leavitt. 4 || The parties also discussed reaching out to an independent party to see if that party is willing to step 5 || forward and begin guardian proceedings. The parties respectfully request an additional 30 days to 6 || determine whether these alternatives will work. The parties propose filing another joint status report 7 || by March 2, 2026, to update the Court on their efforts. 8 || DATED this 30" day of January, 2026. DATED this 30" day of January, 2026. 9 WILSON, ELSER, MOSKOWITZ, LAW OFFICES OF KEVIN R. HANSEN 11 || By: 4/Nicholas F. Adams BY: /s/Amanda A. Harmon Sheri M. Thome, Esq. Kevin R. Hansen, Esq. 12 Nevada Bar No. 008657 Nevada Bar No. 006336 Nicholas F. Adams, Esq. Amanda A. Harmon, Esq. 13 Nevada Bar No. 014813 Nevada Bar No. 015930 6689 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Suite 200 2625 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite C-106 14 Las Vegas, Nevada 89119 Las Vegas, NV 89146 Telephone: (702) 727-1400 Telephone: (702) 478-7777 IS Facsimile: (702) 727-1401 Facsimile: (702) 728-2484 sheri.thome @ wilsonelser.com amandah @kevinrhansen.com 16 nicholas.adams @ wilsonelser.com Attorneys for Defendant Attorneys for Plaintiff Victoria Leavitt 17 Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company 18 19 0 IT |S SO ORDERED: 21 Dated: February 2, 2026

ANDREW P. GORDON 23 CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 24 25 26 27 28