NEVADA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Nevada Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
Snapshot: Nevada is a community-property state and is not a UBE jurisdiction—it administers its own exam (transitioning to the Nevada Plan), so Nevada law is tested directly. The marquee topic is community property; other headline departures are the two-year tort SOL, a strong anti-SLAPP statute, race-notice recording, five-year-plus-taxes adverse possession, deed-of-trust nonjudicial foreclosure with anti-deficiency protection, modified 51% comparative negligence with several liability, no adult dram-shop liability, and no elective share (community property protects the spouse).
1. EXAM FORMAT
NOT a UBE state · Nevada administers its own bar exam (MBE + Nevada-specific essays/performance), transitioning to the Nevada Plan licensure framework · Nevada law IS tested—write Nevada rules expressly · a UBE score from another state does NOT transfer in · plus MPRE and character/fitness · confirm current components/weighting at registration during the transition.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE
Personal-injury/tort SOL two years (§11.190(4)(e)) · written contract six years, oral 4 yrs · med-mal: earlier of 3 yrs from injury / 1 yr from discovery (§41A.097) · defamation 2 yrs · fraud 3 yrs from discovery · action commences by filing · district courts general jurisdiction, justice courts smaller civil · strong anti-SLAPP special motion to dismiss with fee-shifting (§§41.635–41.670) · long-arm reaches the due-process limit.
3. EVIDENCE
Own Nevada Evidence Code (chs. 48–51), parallel to but predating/differing from the FRE · expert reliability under the Nevada Hallmark framework—NOT a formal Daubert adoption · statutory physician-patient privilege (no FRE analog); attorney-client, spousal, clergy privileges (ch. 49) · state rules in state court, FRE in federal.
4. COMMUNITY PROPERTY (marquee topic)
Property acquired by labor/effort during marriage = community, owned one-half each regardless of title · separate = premarital, or by gift/devise/bequest/descent/inheritance · everything held during marriage is presumed community; rebut by clear-and-convincing tracing; commingling without records transmutes to community · earnings from labor are community even if enhancing separate property · appreciation of separate property from community effort apportioned under Pereira (fair return to capital, excess community) or Van Camp (value community services, rest separate); passive market appreciation stays separate · equal management, but joinder of both spouses required to convey/encumber community REALTY · community property liable for marital debts · equal (½) division at divorce absent a compelling written reason (§125.150) · quasi-community property (assets acquired elsewhere that would be community) divided like community · spouses may opt out via a valid UPAA premarital agreement (ch. 123A) · at death the decedent devises only his/her one-half; survivor keeps the other half.
5. FAMILY LAW
No-fault—ground is incompatibility (or 1-yr separation; insanity) · famously short six-week residency · property divided under community-property rules (equal) · child support on Nevada income-based guidelines · alimony on statutory factors.
6. WILLS / TRUSTS / ESTATES
Attested will = writing + testator signature + two witnesses in testator's presence (§133.040) · holographic wills valid (signature/date/material provisions in testator's hand, §133.090) · electronic wills authorized (early adopter) · NO elective share—community-property half protects the surviving spouse · intestacy: spouse takes decedent's community half (gets all of it); separate property split with descendants (1 child → split; 2+ → spouse ⅓) · generous homestead (ch. 115) · leading asset-protection-trust state (self-settled spendthrift/dynasty trusts).
7. REAL PROPERTY
Race-notice recording act (§111.325)—later BFP wins only if without notice AND records first · adverse possession five years PLUS payment of taxes for the period (§§11.070, 11.150)—tax element defeats most claims · large recorded homestead exemption · lending uses deeds of trust; dominant remedy is nonjudicial foreclosure by trustee's power of sale (ch. 107) · strong anti-deficiency + one-action protections, esp. purchase-money residential loans.
8. TORTS
Modified comparative negligence — 51% bar (§41.141): recover only if NOT GREATER than defendants' combined fault—50% recovers, 51% barred · joint-and-several liability largely abolished—several liability for proportionate share (exceptions: concerted action, certain products/hazardous-waste/intentional torts) · NO adult dram-shop / social-host liability (§41.1305; narrow minor exception) · med-mal noneconomic cap (§41A.035) · punitive-damages multiplier cap; governmental-liability cap.
9. CONTRACTS / UCC
UCC adopted (tit. 8) · standard Statute of Frauds (§111.220): land, one-year, suretyship, marriage consideration, goods ≥$500 · essentially no Nevada departures—apply majority/Restatement (Second)/UCC straight · Article 9 filing with the Secretary of State · watch community-property characterization of collateral for married debtors.
10. BUSINESS ENTITIES
Leading incorporation/LLC state (with Delaware) · management-protective ch. 78 (corps) / ch. 86 (LLCs) · broad indemnification; directors/officers shielded from personal liability absent fraud/knowing violation · no state corporate income tax · strong charging-order-exclusive remedy for LLC/LP interests (creditor can't foreclose the interest) · not a verbatim MBCA adoption.
11. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Nevada Rules of Professional Conduct based on the ABA Model Rules with state modifications, enforced by the State Bar of Nevada · MPRE tests the ABA Model Rules · Nevada IOLTA/trust-account and advertising rules actively enforced and can be tested on a Nevada essay.
12. CRIMINAL
Statutory offense grading (tit. 15)—homicide/theft differ from common-law/MBE labels · death penalty retained · distinctive gaming-related offenses given the regulated gaming industry · Fourth/Fifth Amendment analysis generally tracks the federal floor · MBE tests common-law/MPC principles.
KEY FLAGS
⚑ NOT UBE — Nevada law tested directly (Nevada Plan) · ⚑ COMMUNITY PROPERTY (presumption, tracing, Pereira/Van Camp, quasi-community, equal division) · ⚑ NO elective share · ⚑ 2-yr tort / 6-yr written-contract SOL · ⚑ strong anti-SLAPP · ⚑ Hallmark not Daubert · ⚑ race-notice · ⚑ adverse possession 5 yrs + PAY TAXES · ⚑ deed-of-trust nonjudicial foreclosure + anti-deficiency · ⚑ modified 51% comparative negligence + several liability · ⚑ NO adult dram-shop · ⚑ holographic + electronic wills · ⚑ asset-protection-trust haven.