Nevada Doubled Its Arbitration Case Limit to $100,000 in 2026, What It Changes for Injury Claims

A new jurisdictional threshold now routes many more Nevada injury cases into mandatory arbitration, while carving product liability and other serious claims out of that process entirely.

What Changed and Why

Nevada's court-annexed arbitration and short-trial programs exist to resolve mid-value civil disputes, including many personal injury and property damage claims, without a full jury trial. For nearly two decades, any case valued at $50,000 or less was funneled into that faster, less expensive process.

Assembly Bill 3 raised that threshold to $100,000, effective January 1, 2026. Lawmakers pointed to the outdated nature of the old figure: medical costs, vehicle repair costs, and overall case values had climbed steadily since the cap was last set, meaning far more claims than intended were ending up in full jury trials the program was designed to divert.

What This Means If You Are Filing a Claim Today

A car accident or slip-and-fall claim valued between roughly $50,000 and $100,000 that would previously have gone straight toward a jury trial track may now be assigned to mandatory arbitration first. That generally means a faster resolution timeline and lower litigation costs, but it also means a neutral arbitrator, not a jury, hears the case first.

Either side can still request a trial after an arbitration award, so arbitration is rarely the final word. It is better understood as an added, faster step earlier in the process for cases that fall within the new $100,000 window.

Which Cases Are Carved Out Entirely

Not every claim within that dollar range gets routed to arbitration. The updated program automatically exempts several categories regardless of case value: claims that an insurer acted in bad faith when punitive damages are on the table, cases stemming from sexual assault or battery, and product liability lawsuits.

That product liability carve-out matters for anyone injured by a defective vehicle part, medical device, or consumer product. Those cases can proceed directly through the standard litigation track rather than being funneled into arbitration first, preserving a more traditional path to a jury.

A Practical Note on Fees

Alongside the jurisdictional change, the law raised the cap on attorney's fees recoverable in an arbitration proceeding from $3,000 to $15,000, bringing it closer in line with the fee structure already used in the short-trial program. That adjustment reduces one of the disincentives attorneys previously had for taking mid-value cases through arbitration.

For claimants, the practical effect is that mid-range injury cases, once seen as too small to litigate efficiently, now have a clearer and better-compensated path through the system. A car accident claim worth $70,000, for example, that might once have struggled to attract serious attorney attention now sits comfortably within a system built to move it forward quickly and fairly.

What to Do Before Your Case Gets Assigned

None of these procedural changes affect the underlying facts an injury victim still needs to prove: that another party was negligent, that the negligence caused the harm, and that the harm has a real dollar value. Medical records, wage documentation, and a clear account of how the injury happened remain just as important under the new $100,000 arbitration threshold as they were under the old one.

Anyone with a pending or upcoming injury claim in Nevada should ask their attorney whether the case is likely to fall inside the new arbitration window, and if so, how that changes the timeline and strategy for pursuing full compensation.

5 Things Injury Claimants Should Know About the New Arbitration Rule

The threshold change affects how a mid-value Nevada injury claim moves through the system. Here is what to expect.

1. More cases now qualify for arbitration: Claims valued up to $100,000, not just $50,000, can be routed into the faster arbitration track.
2. Arbitration is not always the final step: Either side can request a trial after an arbitration award, so it functions as an earlier stage, not a replacement for court.
3. Product liability cases are exempt: Claims involving a defective product proceed through standard litigation regardless of case value.
4. Bad-faith insurance and sexual assault claims are exempt too: These categories are automatically carved out of the mandatory arbitration process.
5. Attorney's fees in arbitration are higher now: The recoverable fee cap rose from $3,000 to $15,000, changing the economics of taking on mid-value cases.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nevada's new arbitration limit for 2026?

Assembly Bill 3 raised the jurisdictional threshold for mandatory court-annexed arbitration from $50,000 to $100,000, effective January 1, 2026.

Does this mean my injury case will never see a jury?

Not necessarily. A party who disagrees with an arbitration award can typically request a trial afterward, so arbitration is usually an earlier step rather than a final outcome.

Are all case types subject to the new arbitration threshold?

No. Product liability lawsuits, cases involving sexual assault or battery, and bad-faith insurance claims seeking punitive damages fall outside the mandatory arbitration program entirely.

Why did Nevada raise the arbitration limit now?

The previous $50,000 cap had gone unchanged for roughly two decades while medical costs and case values rose, pushing more cases than intended into full jury trials.