TORRES VS. TORRES (FAMILY)

Key holdings

Practitioner summary

The court issued a clerk's order dismissing the appeal as a sanction for failure to file a docketing statement. Pursuant to NRAP 14(b), the court's August 21, 2024 referral notice required appellant to file the docketing statement within 21 days. After noncompliance, the court issued a second notice on September 12, 2024, directing counsel to file within 7 days and warning that sanctions, including dismissal, could follow under NRAP 14(c). The docketing statement was not filed, and the court dismissed the appeal.

In plain language

This is a short procedural order, not a ruling on the merits of any family-law dispute. When someone appeals to the Nevada Supreme Court, they must file paperwork called a "docketing statement" that gives the court basic information about the case. The rules give a deadline for filing it. In this case, the court referred the appeal to its settlement program on August 21, 2024, and told appellant Cesar Ivan Torres that he had 21 days to file the docketing statement. He did not. On September 12, 2024, the court sent a second notice giving him 7 more days and warning that not complying could lead to sanctions, including throwing out the appeal. He still did not file the statement. As a result, the court dismissed the appeal. The underlying family-court decision therefore stands, because the appeal never moved forward.