- law dawg
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- Three candidates (Terry Coffing, Alexandra McLeod, and Erika Mendoza) vie for seat in Department 27. [Nevada Current]
- RJ Editorial: Our recommendation for District Court, Department 27.
- RJ Editorial: Our recommendation for District Court, Department 14.
- RJ Editorial: The best choice in Family Court, Department N.
Love how short the RJ came to its “recommendations.” RJ: “Eh, they’ve been on the bench and nothing wrong with them, they should stay.” SMH. Must’ve been paid and bought by the “incumbent” judges. At least the NV Current has meat of information to come to some “informed” choice.
#bringbackthecivilbench
Vote for Coffing in Department 27 and Lefebvre in Department 14
Gaudet for Dept N. He’s doing good things in family court. His interview on ONJ was insightful and he’s got my support. His position on the scourge of out sourced providers in family court is enough of a reason to vote for him.
He has a quick temper. I’ve been in his court when he shouted at a lawyer “shut up.” Deserved or not, that conduct is unacceptable from the bench. Potter version 2.0
100% agree. One time he yelled at opposing counsel and said he only had a donut and a coffee today and today is not the day to get sassy as he was yelling at opposing counsel. It is Judge Potter 2.0.
While probably not admirable conduct, I don’t find that particularly damning. I’ve been yelled at by probably every family court judge on the bench over the many years I’ve been practicing down there. Everyone has a bad day. Equating telling someone to shut up with Potter’s behavior is apples to oranges. Potter literally threatened the prosecutor in front of the Commission on Judicial Discipline in an act that was described as “a visceral display of rage.” That guy couldn’t hold it together even when his career was on the line.
I am more interested in the big picture. Gaudet’s judicial philosophy is a nice break from the rest of family court. He makes decisions and gets orders out, often from the bench. He veers away from out sourced providers and the cottage industry of vampires preying on family court litigants and he takes responsibility for his role as the judge. He also has never opposed having cameras in the courtroom which tells me he’s not trying to hide anything. Meanwhile we’ve got the old school cabal being bench slapped for repeatedly trying to keep cameras out of the courtroom despite being clearly directed to do so, repeatedly.
Also his opponent has almost no domestic law experience. We’ve Already got that situAtion in severAl other depArtments. No thank you. Gaudet is getting my vote.
The way I’m not even from Vegas and was not in the legal field when Potter was on the bench but still know exactly what this means is crazy.
Absolutely not. Worst family court judge by far. He consistently makes incorrect and confusing orders.
Vote Lefebvre over Talim. Hes one of the finest trial lawyers to ever enter a Nevada courtroom. He will be fair to both sides and we need more civil experience on the bench.
Lefebvre is a democrat running against a republican so I will be voting Lefebvre. Also a fine lawyer.
He’s a democrat? He is a member of the NRA and endorsed by the crazies over at Veterans in Politics. He also donated to Republican National Lawyers Association in 2017. That doesn’t scream democrat to me. Where are you getting your info?
Most be a different Lefebvre you are talking about. Alan has been campaigning for democrats and the unions practically his whole legal career. Talim is very conservative.
The records at VoteRef seem to show Lefebvre is a registered Republican.
The campaign contribution reports at the Secretary of State’s website show that he has a very long history of donating to conservative republicans.
He donated to Adam Laxalt (Domenici). That alone is singularly disqualifying.
Dept 14 is all in for the MAGA crowd https://nevadarepublicanclubaction.com/2024-slate-card/
Wow……But right after the endorsement kiss, 14 switched party affliciation.
You know Cole, Cooper, and Sciscento are all Dems, right? They’re all on that card. Try reading. Dummy.
Alan is a long time conservative Republican.
We’re supposed to be literal professionals at like… establishing facts. This is honestly sad
Veterans in Politics is legit. If you have a conversation with him, he can be middle of the road even with his NRA membership. Also, he didn’t break judicial cannon while running for judge. Talim has. Screaming support by the MAGA club for her events.
They are the most non-legit organization in town and I’m including Fiore’s dumpster fire in that analysis.
“Veterans in Politics is legit.” Haha. Tell me more.
Law Dawg, would you put a laughing emoji as an option.
🤣
I have Talim in a few cases. She refuses to rule on clear and simple issues. I need rulings from the bench, even if they are bad ones.
14 is just running up your client’s fees. The only explanation you can make to the client is “she is new to civil law.” She practiced law with Alverson from March 2004 till August. She couldn’t hack civil practice, but she now has a civil docket.
Working for the government is comfortable.
0 cases under advisement.
Lefebvre is a former state bar president and very even tempered. A little too liberal for my taste but will be much better than Talim. I heard he recently came into a huge fortune which is why he is running.
He has run previously and always wanted to be a judge. A lot like Crockett. At the end of his practice career and would like to end with judicial service.
I disagree. I found Crockett to be an exceptional judge. I particularly liked that he read everything submitted.
I don’t know if he was terrible exactly, but certainly difficult and I definitely made sure I followed the rules particularly close when in his department. I have many great stories of him coming down hard on opposing counsel for not taking their MIL affidavits and meet and confer seriously, which I always appreciated.
Did Lefebvre used to date Talim?
I don’t like either. Talim is too conservative and doesn’t have a proven record in the courtroom. The Daskas connection to Lombardo as the means of getting the appointment also reeks. But LeFebvre is also very problematic. His homophobic column in the Nevada Lawyer in 2014 remains as a low-point in the State Bar’s history. The column may be scrubbed from in the internet, but responses to it are not: https://nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/Nevlawyer_June_2014_Letters_to_the_Editor.pdf. He is far from a liberal Democrat and has shown that his personal religious beliefs interfere with his legal judgment. There is no way that I can vote for him.
https://nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/May-2014_Presidents-Message.pdf Here it is. Thank you for posting about this. I had no idea this was his position.
So basically this is another judicial race where you get to choose between two candidates no one wants? Hurray.
That article is such a smarmy and annoying read, on top of the other very obvious problems with it. Ew.
Good lord, whatever anyone thinks about the substance of the issue, his column reads like unhinged gibberish.
He’s been in the courtroom far more times and has experience than Talim has. All she did was manage the deputies as a chief and never made any appearances because of her fiancée boss until recently before her appointment.
At this point, I don’t care. That article has made the decision for me. If he came out and admitted he was wrong and genuinely apologized, I might reconsider. But he hasn’t and likely won’t. I’m tired of people/politicians arguing that taking away rights or restricting rights from minority groups. I am just sick and tired of it. No. He cannot have my vote until he apologizes loudly and publicly. And before you say what you’re thinking, I’m not a minority and I’m not one of the rainbow alphabets. I’m very white and privileged. I’m also of the opinion that our country has only ever been great when we expand rights and expand freedom and acknowledge our past wrongs.
Her application to the selection gods says she hasn’t tried a case in 5 years. The Daskas connection led to easy street.
It’s more than that lol.
She was too busy executing her personal vendettas in family court on government’s dime and taxpayer dollars.
No wiping of the internet https://nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/May-2014_Presidents-Message.pdf
Sounds like I need to decide which is the lesser of two evils.
Don’t forget that this Lefebvre is the same Lefebvre who railed against gay marriage, the then AG CCM refusing to defend the constitutionality of Nevada’s gay marriage ban, and legailziation of medical marijuana.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/uncategorized/nevada-bar-prez-so-sorry-about-that/
Now that recreational marijuana is legal in Nevada, maybe he should get his own strain: the Lefebvre Fever.
He can’t be all bad then.
You keep saying he’s a liberal, but where’s the proof? It’s not consistent with his voter registration, campaign contributions, or written columns as the state bar president. Smoking a cigar, drinking bourbon, and chasing skirts 30 years ago doesn’t quite cut it and could easily be said of many conservatives. What demonstrable evidence is there to support the liberal claim?
I’ve known LeFebvre for many years. He is a conservative Republican but a very good lawyer
The State Bar’s website shows only one Lefebvre – https://nvbar.org/for-the-public/find-a-lawyer/?usearch=Lefebvre
Isn’t Lefebvre the guy who wrote the opinion piece taking the position that if gay marriage is okay then polygamy should be okay too? Several years ago when he was a honcho at Kolesar & Leatham.
It’s definitely the same guy – The candidate promotes his term as state bar president. https://alanfordep14judge.com/about/. He’s the conservative we think he is. The big question is why are you trying to pretend he’s a liberal?
I might have to hold my nose and vote for him because #bringbackthecivilbench
Maybe generally, but I would expect it would backfire on this blog where your audience is more suspicious and critical. You would have to know that Lefebvre’s history would come out if you claim he’s some bleeding heart.
It is sad you guys are trying to figure out his partisan position rather overall experience and resume? You guys are going to really let his past thoughts and whatever party affiliation get in the way of continuing to hand down the position to a lazy DA with fiancée boss and hand-me-down DEI appointment?
Hope you hold your noses and #bringbackthecivilbench
Also, Alan made an appearance today on here…have the guts to ask your questions directly to him…
How many trials has he taken to verdict since he began practicing in 1978? He says none.
Frankly, the obsession over Talim’s relationship is boring. She has done well on the bench. She has the support of the civil lawyers in town. Including those Alan used to work with. Alan is an extreme conservative but more concerning is his diminishing facilities. Saw him two weeks ago lead the prayer at the Clark County Republican Party meeting. Then he went off on a tangent and no one could understand what he was saying. Not sure he understood. I’ve seen it happen several times now. It’s sad.
Guess you don’t care about conflicts of interests?
Of course I care about conflicts. But let me explain this in a way I hope makes sense. She’s married to the current Assistant DA of the criminal division. So she doesn’t hear criminal cases right now. If she did, then there would be a conflict. But that’s why it’s structured this way where she has a civil docket right now.
Her husband is retiring in the next two months. AFTER — not before, but AFTER — he retires, she gets a split docket. No conflict because he is gone. Get it?
Nothing is guaranteed. What’s your source for his retirement?
Seems so corruptly planned since the onset of the governor only having 1 candidate to choose from supposedly instead of 3.
It sure would be funny if she loses *insert laughing emoji*
#bringbackthecivilbench
” She has done well on the bench. She has the support of the civil lawyers in town. Including those Alan used to work with.” Pray tell who would that be because every civil attorney I know of has had a Halvorson-esque experience that you can get a favorable ruling 50% of the time because she has no idea what she is doing
Your boss.
I am the managing partner of my firm. We are not supporting Talim and would never support her.
All managing partners who spend hours on this blog typing unintelligible gibberish, please raise your hand!!!
“Mr. Coffing and Ms. McLeod might both make fine jurists, but Judge Mendoza deserves a chance to thrive after her appointment. Erika Mendoza is our preference.” Such great insight from the RJ.
It’s too bad we will probably never get Judge Coffing.
#bringbackthecivilbench
Vote for Coffing in Department 27
Coffing’s experience versus Mendoza’s experience is all that one would really need to know. They actually do not evaluate her credentials or performance at all.
Because then their recommendation wouldn’t make sense, duh.
Mendoza is unprepared for her civil docket. Lombardo’s insistence on appointing only DAs is killing us in the civil bar. Coffing’s got my vote.
To make matters worse, they gave Mendoza Escobar’s old civil cases which Escobar had been mailing in for about 9 months so it is the blind taking over the blind on many of these civil cases.
Completely disagree. I like Coffing and wish he were running for a different department, but I’ve been before Mendoza on civil matters. She’s good. She reads everything, which already puts her in rarified air. And she isn’t afraid to make a call from the bench. As a civil attorney, I don’t love that most of the new judges all have a criminal background, but she’s one of the good ones.
Not with that attitude. Go vote for Coffing and Lefebvre then. RJ showed their whackness. Not surprising since they are Republican leaning publication anyways.
The RJ is in the bag for the Nevada Republican MAGA crowd: https://nevadarepublicanclubaction.com/2024-slate-card/ I have never seen this interference in judicial elections by partisans before.
The Nevada Republican Club, formerly the Nevada Republican Mens Club, has been putting these judicial slates together for years. I used to go to their luncheons at Bali Hai. There were quite a few judges in attendance usually. This is nothing new.
lol! Let me tell you next about unions
It’s like the same uninformed person is writing all these comments.
Re Family Court. Who will fight against the cabal of judges, larger family law firms, out sourced providers, OBC, and LACSN? It’s an industry preying mostly on children. I did it for almost 20 years and couldn’t take it anymore. At this point I just Pray for someone to at least try to fight the cabal. What candidate will do that? Thank you.
Not sure how you’re lumping LACSN in with OBC and the cabal. They sided with ONJ against the cabal. That aside, Gaudet has already gone on record saying he does not agree with appointing our sourced providers.
Op back. I would agree lacsn least culpable in that group n texting not time to develop argument but lacsn injection into cases changes dynamics for example in many cases both parents have problems drugs etc but whoever gets to lacsn first can get free lawyer with no NONE incentive to settle and the other parent can’t fight at all. Add to that the pressures from the other cabal members on any lawyer that might want to help the unrep parent and bad outcomes everyday. It’s like when biologists well meaning put new species in first and destroys forest. Sorry texting
LASCN should consider a different system for accepting clients rather than a “first to seek help” policy. If they are helping Mom, they should outsource Dad to an attorney. They have funds to compensate an attorney for this type of work, don’t they?
Great idea
LACSN relies on donors. If you were a donor would you donate to an organization that served clients that were addicts, criminals, or child abusers? I think not. Remember, LACSN is a private law firm; it is not funded by tax dollars.
Technically true, not funded directly by tax dollars, but substantially funded by tax-dollar proxies, such as court filing fees, interest from IOLTA accounts, and grants and contracts (there are several government grants lumped in there). https://www.lacsn.org/images/annual-reports/lacsn_annual_report_2023.pdf#page=15 So while there might not be a direct spend via a direct governmental appropriation, there are lots of public funds among their revenues which amount to indirect public spends.
It’s a 501c3, which is legally different from a private firm. Please at least try
What is the point of outsourced providers when judges don’t follow recommendations and cost litigants monies to bleed and children to suffer? Seems like money wheelhouse against best interests of the children. This happened often when Lisa Brown was on the bench.
Rant: Can’t we get a Nevada Supreme Court website public search that works all of the time, and down time is the exception? It was working fine for almost a month and now it is down for almost 100% of the time. Something is fundamentally wrong with either the website or the person running it.
The endorsements are f***ing ridiculous and show ZERO EFFORT or understanding of the issues and personalities, RJ. What this is quite clearly is the RJ suckling anything that LVMPD and the Governor want. Preposterous and lazy RJ.
Looks like the law enforcement cabal—> RJ–>Republicans–>Governor–>LVMPD and DA’s office trying to take over the EJDC.
#bringbackthecivilbench FFS.
Ohh please! The sky is falling said chicken little.
Is that why there’s a rush on toilet paper?
NO, the TP rush is because it is needed by reason of the BS here today.
Fiore’s daughter’s testimony stricken. It was a Feces Fest from the stand.
https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/courts/jury-cannot-consider-testimony-of-fiores-daughter-judge-rules-3181690/?utm_campaign=widget&utm_medium=topnews&utm_source=homepage&utm_term=Jury%20cannot%20consider%20testimony%20of%20Fiore%E2%80%99s%20daughter%2C%20judge%20rules
Probably a dumb question – why would the judge strike the testimony that was already given? Can you plead the fifth and retroactively have your testimony stricken?
She was called on direct exam by the defense but then refused to answer prosecution questions on cross-examination. If the witness won’t be cross-examined, then the party who put up the witness can’t benefit from a one-sided examination.
Thanks for the explanation!
Do you know that the deal was with her immunity grant? The articles I have read about it don’t make any sense.
From what I could piece together, she was give immunity for campaign finance crimes but then admitted to check fraud or misappropriation while on the stand, and gave inconsistent testimony to her grand jury testimony, leading to the implication that she perjured herself in front of the grand jury or at trial.
NEVER FORGET the RJ FULLY endorsed Halverson and championed her, saying people didn’t like her because of her handicap.