NU Online News Service, Sept. 7, 1:33 p.m.EDT

The National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) expressed dismayat the State of Nevada's appeal of a federal court's summaryjudgment in favor of a risk retention group.

After a year-long battle with Nevada regulators, the UnitedStates District Court for the District of Nevada in Las Vegasconcluded that the Nevada Division of Insurance (NDI) oversteppedits legal bounds by ordering the Alliance of Nonprofits forInsurance Risk Retention Group (ANI) to cease writing automobile-liability insurance policies for itsnonprofit association members.

"It's very discouraging that Nevada would take this position,"Robert H. Myers Jr., general counsel for the National RiskRetention Association (NRRA) and a partner with Morris, Manning& Martin LLP tells NU Online News Service. "We think theirappeal is baseless. The judge is clear in his order. The precedentis very clear in the ninth-circuit, where Nevada is."

Myers adds that NRRA will "fight the appeal" and take whateveraction is necessary.

A spokesman for the NDI says the department had no comment atthis time.

In August, Myers explained that the case was generated by theNevada Department of Motor Vehicles, which obtained "a list of'authorized insurers' from the Department of Insurance."

Len Crouse, partner with the Towner Management Group, a memberof the Government Affairs Committee of the NRRA and a formercaptive insurance regulator for Vermont, says in a statement, "Onceagain, we see an example why modernization of the federal LiabilityRisk Retention Act (LRRA) of 1986 is so important."

In early June, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced HR2126, which was referred to the House Committee on FinancialServices. The bill would modernize the LRRA '86, providing afederal dispute resolution mechanism for cases such as these, amongother features.