Riley Clayton

OF COUNSEL

Knowing the other side’s playbook… is the key to success of a client’s catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death or insurance bad faith claim. Riley Clayton not only knows the other’s playbook, but he has been the one writing it for nearly 30 years.

Prior to joining Cloward Trial Lawyers, Riley formerly represented the country’s largest and most sophisticated insurance companies and many of the state’s biggest businesses in complex personal injury, wrongful death and insurance bad faith claims/lawsuits as their lead trial counsel. Yet for Riley, the pendulum seemed to have swung too far, prompting him to change his career path to make things right for those who most deserve it — normal folks. Believing that individuals and their families often obtained insufficient financial compensation from insurance companies and big businesses because they received advice from lawyers with limited knowledge and familiarity with insurance and injury law, Riley now levels the playing field by representing individuals and families in these tough situations.

Riley knows how insurance companies and large corporations operate and value cases. Riley knows what “dirt” they will attempt to dig up to minimize payouts on legitimate claims. He knows of the unfair, misguided, and improper tactics utilized by insurance companies during the claims handling process, which violate Nevada’s insurance bad faith and unfair claims practice laws yet go unpunished because the lawyers lack the expertise and skill to uncover them. Riley has seen millions of dollars left on the settlement table to the detriment of the injured parties because their lawyers left the complicated legal work to untrained paralegals and inexperienced lawyers. For Riley, the secret to the successful outcome of any case, whether it resolves at the settlement table or needs to be tried to a Nevada jury, is personal, tireless, relentless, and unmatched effort to obtain justice for the client. This has been Riley’s mantra throughout his career.

Riley was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, the son of a WW2 vet who made ends meet by working in his upholstery shop, and a stay-at-home mom who raised eight children, never telling them that she did not graduate from high school until she obtained her GED when she was 59. Riley graduated from the University of Utah in 1991 in finance, and then wanting to couple his business degree with a law degree, Riley graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University School of Law in 1994. After a one-year stint in San Francisco working for a large accounting firm, Riley moved to Las Vegas to practice law here and he has been going non-stop in the catastrophic injury/bad faith arena ever since.

Riley has successfully tried numerous personal injury, wrongful death, and insurance bad faith cases to verdict. He has successfully argued many personal injury and bad faith cases to the Nevada Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. He has been on the cutting edge of leading insurance and personal injury legal opinions, as confirmed by dozens of published and non-published judicial decisions. His first-hand litigation experience includes shootings, stabbings and other premises liability cases, severe automobile crashes, amusement park/rollercoaster malfunctions, boating and motorcycle accidents, crowd stampedes at sporting venues, drownings at swimming pools, elevator/escalator malfunctions, serious slip/trip/falls, and serious animal mauling incidents. He has handled significant fire and other property damage insurance claims, as well as insurance and coverage issues arising out of injuries and wrongful death, and the list goes on. In fact, Riley has repeatedly been retained as an “expert” in insurance bad faith cases by both plaintiffs and defense lawyers. What this means is that Riley has been hired to provide expert witness testimony to jurors regarding complex insurance issues and he has been hired by both sides. This demonstrates the depth of his knowledge in this area of law as well as the respect he has in the legal community by being hired by both sides. He is using that knowledge now to solely focus on helping people who are being taken advantage of by the insurance industry. Frankly, there may be no one else in Nevada representing individuals and their family members with the depth of experience and knowledge than Riley, given his 30 years’ experience working for “the other side.” This unparalleled experience translates into greater financial payouts and ensures that insurance companies and big businesses pay what they owe.

For over 30 years, Riley has raised his family in Las Vegas. He has been married for over 30 years to a former high school teacher who, after raising their four fantastic daughters, volunteers her time in Clark County’s TIP program (Trauma Intervention Program). Riley loves all things sports, anything to do with the ocean (boogie boarding, surfing, sand sculptures, fishing), playing music, and attending “Broadway” musicals/plays with his family. He, too, is active in his church and other community endeavors.

EDUCATION

• University of Utah, B.S. (1991)
• Brigham Young University School of Law (1994)