Mark C. Severino

Mark C. Severino (Partner-Las Vegas) and Elisa Wyatt (Of Counsel-Las Vegas) secured dismissal in the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada, for Wilson Elser’s client, an aviation services company. This case involves a catastrophic accident that occurred in Mexico in 2019. On the day of the accident, the aircraft involved was en route from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Monterrey, Mexico, with ten passengers and three crew members on board. Prior to departure, the plane received services from our aviation client, a fixed base operator. After encountering severe thunderstorms in a municipality in the state of Coahuila, Mexico, the aircraft departed coordinated flight, flew completely out of control, suffered dual engine flameouts, and crashed in a flat descent altitude. All thirteen people on board died in the crash. Plaintiffs alleged that fuel supplied by our client or other services provided by the client caused or contributed to the engine flameouts that led to the crash. Following five years of extensive discovery conducted in the United States and Mexico, Mark and Elisa affirmatively proved that the aviation services company did not cause or contribute to the accident, leading to a negotiated, complete dismissal of all claims against the client. 

Mark Severino (Partner-Las Vegas, NV) and Las Vegas associates Brandon Verde and I-Che Lai were granted their motion to dismiss in District Court, Clark County, Nevada, on behalf of an insured client in an automobile accident case. The plaintiff filed his complaint claiming independent causes of action for attorneys’ fees, and pain and suffering. Mark, Brandon and I-Che filed a motion to dismiss regarding the plaintiff's independent causes of action for attorneys' fees and pain and suffering as not cognizable independent claims for relief and inappropriate vehicles for relief in Nevada. The court agreed and granted our motion to dismiss.

Mark Severino (Partner-Las Vegas, NV) and Jason Wigg (Associate-Las Vegas, NV) defended a Homeowners’ Association against a lawsuit alleging slander of title for liens placed on the subject property by the HOA as a result of prior lawsuits. Simultaneously with filing the suit, the plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment. On behalf of the HOA, Mark and Jason filed a joint opposition to the motion for summary judgment and motion to dismiss asserting defects in the pleadings. The Clark County District Court found the pleadings were fatally defective and the motion to dismiss was granted without hearing. 

Mark Severino (Partner-Las Vegas) and Shirley Foster (Associate-Las Vegas) successfully moved to dismiss all allegations in a third-party complaint set forth against the firm’s client, a roadway traffic control services vendor, maintaining that the client had zero involvement in causing plaintiff’s peril or personal injuries. Mark and Shirley’s motion to dismiss was granted and the client was expeditiously dismissed from the civil matter. They persuasively briefed and successfully defended the client within one month after assignment, even though the case had already been proceeding against other parties for more than two years.

Las Vegas partners Karen Bashor and Mark Severino and associate Taylor Buono obtained dismissal of a lawsuit brought one year after a pre-suit settlement was agreed and a release had been signed in a motor vehicle accident matter. Immediately after suit was filed, Karen, Mark and Taylor filed a motion to dismiss, or alternatively, a motion for summary judgment, asserting the release was binding and not void. The plaintiff opposed the motion contending the release was void under a new Nevada statute allowing a plaintiff to void a release signed within 30 days of an incident and without the advice of counsel. However, while plaintiff admitted she “consulted” with a law firm, she claimed she only spoke to a case manager rather than an attorney and never actually retained the law firm. Karen, Mark and Taylor argued that the statute did not require retention of counsel, and that plaintiff admitted she received legal advice at the time of signing the release. In the alternative, they argued that if plaintiff did not receive legal advice, she should be estopped from voiding the release because she intentionally misrepresented to the client that she had sought legal advice, which she used to negotiate a higher settlement. The Eighth Judicial District Court for Clark County agreed, finding that plaintiff received legal advice and/or that she misrepresented that she received legal advice to the client in order to induce a higher settlement. Therefore, the release remained enforceable and plaintiff's suit was dismissed.

Karen L. Bashor (Partner-Las Vegas) and Mark C. Severino (Of Counsel-Las Vegas) settled a premises liability case in Clark County District Court on behalf of a Las Vegas restaurant for slightly more than 1 percent of the plaintiff's last demand. The plaintiff tripped and fell down a small flight of concrete stairs while exiting the client restaurant, resulting in severe fractures of her ankle/lower leg in four places. The fractures required three separate surgical repairs and the use of a bone growth stimulator to heal. The plaintiff alleged negligence with respect to the lighting conditions, claimed negligent design of the staircase and argued notice with other incidences. Using a grainy, low-quality surveillance video and still images pulled from it, Karen and Mark were able to show that the plaintiff turned her head and looked right immediately before tripping and falling. With the use of the video and still images, Mark got the plaintiff to admit during her deposition that she was not watching where she was walking, which was dangerous and could have caused her to fall. The plaintiff subsequently accepted a nominal offer of judgment to resolve the case before dispositive motions were filed.