CHAMBER OF COMMERCE WON'T APPEAL COURT RULING

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce has decided against appealing a
court ruling that put an initiative that purports to stop frivolous
lawsuits on the ballot.

The chamber said this week it wanted to work against the initiative,
which representatives said also would undermine efforts to curb
medical malpractice insurance costs.

A judge ruled on Tuesday that 10,331 signatures thrown out by the
Secretary of State should be reinstated, meaning the petition has
enough signatures to make the ballot.

Instead of appealing the ruling, the chamber will focus on educating
its members about the implications the initiative could have for
Nevada doctors, Government Affairs Director Christina Dugan said.

The frivolous lawsuits initiative would force attorneys to pay legal
fees if they have "willfully encouraged, initiated or pursued
litigation or defended litigation in a manner which is vexatious and
frivolous."

But it also is designed to curb another initiative, the Keep Our
Doctors in Nevada ballot measure, which would cap the pain and
suffering amount a patient could win against a doctor at $350,000.

The chamber supports that ballot measure.

Also on Wednesday proponents of an initiative to legalize up to one
ounce of marijuana said they are still unsure what they will do with
their signatures.

Proponents of the initiative were not involved in the court case that
reinstated signatures for the frivolous lawsuit petition. But Jennifer
Knight, a spokeswoman for the Committee to Regulate and Control
Marijuana, said she thinks the group could easily have about 15,141
signatures reinstated because they were thrown out for the same reason.

That would leave the initiative with just 50,088 signatures, short of
the 51,337 signatures needed to make the ballot.

The group will decide what to do with the signatures by the end of the
week, she said. They could ask for a full recount or potentially
pursue court action, she said.

"We're just looking at our options," she said. "We will try our best
to get this on the ballot because we know we had initially 70,000
people who wanted to see this on the ballot."