Kym Samuel Cushing

Kym has been a trial lawyer for over 30 years. He has tried over 110 civil jury trials in both state and federal court in Southern Nevada and enjoys an impressive record of only two losses. He has successfully defended Fortune 500 companies at trial including PepsiCo, Costco, Target, Wynn Resorts, MGM, 7-Eleven, Inc., Xerox, Siemens AG, Sysco, Lufthansa, McDonald’s Corp., NCR Corp., Forest City Enterprises, Best Buy and ConAm Management.

He has defended national trucking companies at trial for Sysco, U.S. Foods, Inc., U.S. Foodservice, Inc., New Bern Transportation, Knight Transportation, Mattheson Trucking, and Interstate Plumbing Co. He has also represented national insurance carriers and their insureds in both third-party and first-party actions, including AIG, AON, State Farm, Chubb, GEICO, Sentry Ins., and California Casualty.

Kym’s trials have dealt with claims for wrongful death, personal injury, premises liability, products liability, insurance bad faith, and claims for punitive damages. He has handled numerous complex litigation cases and difficult catastrophic injury cases with high sympathy factors.

Kym has been asked by clients and carriers to take over the defense of an existing case and try the case at the last minute – all with successful results. Kym’s approach to a trial, once the decision has been made to try the case, is simply to aggressively try the case before the jury – no further negotiations, and no settling on the courthouse steps. He’s willing to “parachute in” a case at a moment’s notice or monitor a case at the request of a client or insurance carrier.

Work Experience

Kym began his legal career in Southern California working for a large litigation firm whose clients included major Hollywood studios, movie, and television production companies. Two years later, Kym moved to Las Vegas, joined a local insurance defense firm and soon was trying personal injury cases for State Farm and premises liability cases for Kemper Ins. Co. It was during these early trials that Kym honed his trial skills.

In 2005, Kym’s Las Vegas firm merged with a large multinational law firm. Kym was instrumental in opening the firm’s new Las Vegas office. Three years later, Kym became an equity partner. Kym developed and successfully managed a multimillion-dollar book of business, the largest in the office and employed one-third of its attorneys and staff. After leaving the national firm Kym decided to join Dobberstein Law Group to provide more personal service from a small boutique law firm, while also providing more time to spend with his family.

Kym has argued cases before the Nevada Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Education

J.D. Southwestern University School of Law
- Los Angeles, CA
- Moot Court Honors Program
- Internship, Migros Aktiengesellschaft, Zürich-Langenthal, Switzerland
B.A. Political Science
- Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
- Congressional Intern, House Committee on Foreign Affairs
- U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Achievements and Recognition

Clark County Justice Court Judge pro tem, 2022-present
Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge pro tem, 2005-2013
Eighth Judicial District Court-Appointed Arbitrator, 2008-present
State Bar of Nevada CLE Committee, 2018
National General Liability Committee, 2005-2018 (law firm)
National Transportation Committee, 2008-2018 (law firm)
National Products Liability Committee, 2010-2018 (law firm)
National CLE Committee, 2011-2018 (law firm)
Member, 7-Eleven, Inc.’s National Convenience Store Safety Committee, 2009-2016
Member, Target Corp.’s National Senior Defense Counsel, 2010-2018
Member, Costco’s Preferred Team of Trial Attorneys, 2014-2018
CLE Presenter and Lecturer, National Business Institute, 2013-present
- How to Win Your First Jury Trial
- Successful Trial Strategies
- Civil Discovery101 for Paralegals
- Legal Issues Facing Paralegals

Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year, 2014
Golden Triangle National Award for Diversity & Inclusion, 2016
Top 100 Lawyers in Las Vegas 2015-2019 – MyVegas Magazine