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Faced with this tension between state and federal law, the Bart Street court tried to navigate a very narrow middle ground by severing illegal parts of the agreement from those that were legal. The doctrine of severance is a cousin of the illegal contract defense and widely recognized in Nevada state law. If a contract calls for an illegal purpose, the doctrine allows courts to sever illegal parts of a contract where they are “collateral to the main transaction” and the remainder of the contract’s language shows that “severability will preserve the parties’ intent in making the contract.”7 Excise the illegal provisions, keep those that are legal.
7 Vincent v. Santa Cruz, 98 Nev. 338, 341, 647 P.2d 379, 381 (1982).
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