Ties to Trial Lawyers:

BACKERS NOT NAMED FOR BALLOT EFFORTS

Report Made on Insurance Rate Rollback, Frivolous Lawsuit Measures

CARSON CITY -- A group with ties to the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association does not have to reveal the individuals who contributed to its campaign to put two questions on the November ballot, one of its leaders said Wednesday.

The group Yes on Questions 4 and 5 reported to the secretary of state that it received no cash contributions, but spent $326,000 in qualifying its petitions for the Nov.  2 ballot.  Questions 4 and 5 are the so-called insurance rate rollback and frivolous lawsuit measures favored by trial lawyers.

Instead of money, the group reported the nonprofit organization People for a Better Nevada paid all of its bills, including $276,000 to the Southwest Group for collecting signatures on petitions.

Gail Tuzzolo, the secretary to Yes on Questions 4 and 5 and a consultant to People for a Better Nevada, said the source of money to nonprofit organizations does not have to be disclosed.

"It doesn't have to be reported," she said.  "If I did something wrong, I will fix it, but it has been done this way in the past."

The Nevada Trial Lawyers Association called on its members in March to make contributions to the insurance rate rollback petition.

Besides calling for a 20 percent cut in insurance rates, the ballot question would nullify moves by the Keep Our Doctors in Nevada organization to place a $350,000 limit on the amount of pain and suffering damages patients can collect in medical malpractice cases.

Although the other ballot question calls for outlawing frivolous lawsuits, it also would prevent limits being placed on what lawyers can earn for representing their clients.

"Considering what the opposition is going to spend against us, our little amount of money is not going to concern anybody," Tuzzolo said.  "Nobody is trying to hide anything.  The insurance companies and medical association are doing it the same way."

But state Sen.  Sandra Tiffany, who worked on the Keep Our Doctors in Nevada petition, said the failure to identify the source of contributions "is another dirty trick by lawyers."

"Nobody ever said that attorneys are dumb," added Tiffany, R-Henderson.  "They are very clever people.  They were clever when they created disingenuous petitions and clever in finding a way to hide their contributions."

Tiffany said Keep Our Doctors in Nevada identified its contributors in a 2002 petition drive to limit medical malpractice payoffs to $350,000.  That question also appears on November ballots.

Las Vegas political consultant Jim Denton, spokesman for a group that opposes questions 4 and 5, said the trial lawyers consistently have tried to hide their involvement in the petition effort.  He said Yes on Questions 4 and 5 this week purchased $1 million in TV advertising time for its fall campaign.

"People have a right to know who is paying for campaigns," he added.  "If there is a loophole in the law, it should be changed."

Ronda Moore, deputy secretary of state for elections, said Nevada law does not exempt nonprofit organizations from reporting contributions.  State law requires the identification of the source of all contributions of more than $100.

Moore said anyone who feels the Yes on Questions 4 and 5 violated the law can file a complaint with the secretary of state's office.

"They should write me a letter and I will correct it," Tuzzolo said of state officials.  "But I don't think I did anything wrong."

Tuzzolo pointed out that two years ago the group seeking to legalize marijuana in Nevada reported its contributions came from the Marijuana Policy Project of Washington, D.C.  The Marijuana Policy Project was not required to identify its contributors.

Tuzzolo on Monday registered Yes on Questions 4 and 5 as a political action committee and ballot advocacy group with the secretary of state.  Previously People for a Better Nevada had been spearheading the petition effort.

Las Vegas lawyer Beverly Salhanick is listed as the resident agent for both People for a Better Nevada and Yes on Questions 4 and 5.  She also is treasurer of the Nevada Trial Lawyers Association.

In a March 8 letter to its members, NTLA President Andrew Thomas asked them to commit $10,000 to $25,000 to meet the funding needs of the insurance petition drive and campaign effort.