Nevada Supreme Court Potentially Cripples Psychological Examinations

A defendant’s ability to obtain a psychological examination of a personal injury plaintiff alleging a psychological injury has been under attack in Nevada since 2018. Nevada’s Supreme Court has now decided the latest battle, Davis v. Dist. Ct., 142 Adv. Op. 58 (2026).

The plaintiff in Davis alleged physical and psychological injuries. The defendant retained a local neuropsychologist to perform a neuropsychological evaluation. The plaintiff then requested the examiner produce the raw testing data generated during the evaluation, and the court ordered the examiner to produce the data to the plaintiff’s psychological expert and plaintiff’s counsel. The defendant and the examiner produced the data to the psychological expert, but not counsel. They asserted NAC 641.234(3) barred disclosing it to counsel. The Supreme Court disagreed, concluding NAC 641.234(3) “cannot direct the district court’s discovery decisions.” If a court orders the raw testing data produced under a protective order and the psychologist declines to produce it per NAC 641.234(3), then the psychologist risks exclusion from trial.

This ruling may significantly complicate psychological examinations in Nevada. Nevada-licensed psychologists are bound by NAC 641.234(3), regardless of their status as a treater or forensic examiner. Davis may place both sides in an impossible conundrum in that defense counsel will want the treater’s raw data just as the plaintiff’s counsel will want the forensic examiner’s raw data. Yet NAC 641.234(3) bars both the treater and the examiner from producing it. Nevada’s psychological community has submitted public comments to the legislature noting the risks from public disclosure of the information. Psychological professional organizations have repeatedly adopted codes concerning testing security. Davis places psychologists with the choice to either comply with a court order and violate their professional obligations or comply with their professional obligations and risk being excluded from trial.

The number of psychologists willing to perform forensic examinations, whether for a plaintiff or defendant, seemed to drop after the Powers decision earlier in 2026. That pool may shrink further after Davis. The best hope for a compromise that allows all sides access to the data they need to litigate a case while protecting testing security might be action from the Nevada legislature during the 2027 general session.

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