- Quickdraw McLaw
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Today we finish up our Family Court polling by taking a look at the last four departments. In Department N, we have Judge Matthew Harter (who got press earlier this for losing an endorsement because of his son’s involvement in a burglary) seeking reelection against Monti Jordana Levy. In Department P, Nathan Gibbs is challenging Judge Sandra L. Pomrenze (in the 2013 RJ Judicial Evaluation, 53% said she should not be retained). For Department S, Judge Vincent Ochoa is defending his spot on the bench against Jason Patrick Stoffel. Finally, Department T features a contest between Maria Maskall and former-Judge Lisa Kent who changed her name and is running as Lisa M. Brown (she has run under both names previously). The polls are below–you know the drill.
Also, as the discussion in the comments recently indicated, it seems that some judges might be taking advantage of the senior judges program to get a few days off to campaign. If you have specific information about this, please let us know.
Who should be elected in Department N?
Who should be elected in Department P?
Who should be elected in Department S?
Who should be elected in Department T?
Area of practice – Construction Defect (yea depo cookies!)
Time served – 2d-year associate
Salary – $75k
Billable requirement- 2000
I just want to put my 2 cents in about Judge Pomrenze. In the past two years, I have seen her 1) give unsupervised overnight visitation to an admitted meth user because "everybody deserves a second chance", 2) order a mother to return back to Las Vegas with a child after she fled the state because the father tried to kill her (this was all documented in evidence provided to her), and 3) completely disregard the grandparents' rights statute because she felt the grandparents should "mind their own business."
During her hearings it becomes nothing but listening to her long and rambling diatribes about her own personal philosophies, which makes it clear that she hasn't read the pleadings or considered the law, but will be applying her own messed up rules to the situation. I'll end my rant here, but let's just say I will be letting everyone I know that they should be voting against her.
And no, I am not Nathan Gibbs.
and you never know which philosophies she is going to use. It all depends on her mood — and the big factor- If she likes you, great. If she doesn't like you? You will never never win.
11:11 speaks (writes) the truth. Listen to him/her. If Sandy doesn't like you, you are forever doomed. And if you are against one of the big 10, pack up your briefcase and just tell your client they lost. She must go. And, no I'm not Nathan Gibbs, but I'm voting for him.
Pomrenze needs to go. I had a client with a parenting coordinator attached to the case. The child in common reported sexual abuse by a step-sibling in the other parent's home. The coordinator did not report the abuse for nearly a month and, following a motion to suspend visitation and a psychosexual eval of the sibling (proving at least two other victims by self-admission), Pomrenze sanctioned my client for being "litigious" and refused to remove the parenting coordinator even though a complaint had been filed with her board. Why? Because she was tight with the other attorney, a former judge who has been permanently removed from ever sitting as a judge. The woman is an abomination as a professional and as a humanbeing.
I had her recently call me "litigious." I filed 1 motion to modify custody and the other counsel filed 5, including a MSJ (on custody) seeking the matter be dismissed "with prejudice" in less than 7 months. She will embarrass you in front of your client. One time she said I should not be allowed to proceed because an FDF wasn't on file. I produced a conformed copy. Did I get an apology after I was embarrassed in front of my client? No. Not a word. Another time, I heard her call a litigant "uncandid" "not forthcoming" and said that she had no veracity. When the attorney objected to client being called a liar, Judge proceeded to say she did not call the client a liar. Really? It walked like a duck, acted like a duck, quacked like a duck. Let her go, please, please, please make her go away. And the playing favorites is true. There is nothing judicial about this woman except her robe.
The issue of Senior Judges covering for certain Departments is not new because of the election but has been going on for years. There is one Judge that missed one third of their calendar. It is not limited to Family Court and needs to be explored with all Departments.
Not naming any names, but I have a case with one particular judge that has been ongoing for over a year, and I have yet to see him/her despite moderate motion work in the matter.
Department Number?
L
Nothing new there. She has been absent most of the time. Lisa Kent a/k/a Lisa Brown has the same track record. She had the worst attendance of any judge and is now running as Lisa Brown. There are other judges including downtown with numbers who have senior judges covering their calendar quite regularly.
Holy Heck, 2000 hours for 75k? Please tell me you get bonuses throughout the year.
Area of practice – Commercial Lit
Time served – 4th-year associate
Salary – $125K
Billable requirement- 2000
We'll try and do something like that in the near future using Surveymonkey or something like that so people can anonymously contribute the information–because these stats are a lot more interesting when you know what firm they're describing.
I'm voting for Monti Levy just so I don't have to ever see her lazy, condescending ass in criminal court. The fact that she's about as intellectually challenged as a stone doesn't matter, addition by subtraction.
Monti Levy lacks maturity and people skills, not to mention appropriate temperament, for the bench. She is not the best choice in this race.
All the above are accurate. Levy has no business being on the bench
I haven't had an issue with Judge Harter. Overall I think he's a pretty decent judge.
Pomrenze – what 9:38 said and then some. I've had her butcher basic 1L legal principles in court. She's also made some incredibility offensive comments about counsel. She has to go.
Ochoa strikes me as a little lazy and I don't appreciate that he announces he doesn't like to award fees and costs, but I'm leery of Stoffel so Ochoa's prob got my vote.
Lisa Brown seems shady w the name changes and perennial candidacy. I'll prob vote for Maskall even though I don't know either of them.
Perennial Candidates = Family Court Judges. Maria Maskall a/k/a Aurora Maskall has run 5 times already (and racked up an ETHICS VIOLATION in 2008 race) -I think that meets the definition of "perennial." Running over and over again seems to work in family court, look at Harter ,Pomrenze, Del Vecchio, Nathan, Steel, Henderson,to name a few. Hoskin ran a number of times and finally got appointed. At least they're persistent.
Nice post, Lisa Kent…………….or is it Brown? Aren't you wearing a judicial robe in campaign ads without being a sitting Judge and weren't you voted out in 2008 for having one of the worst scores ever in the RJ's polls?
Ochoa has a miserable demeanor. Voting for Stoffel. Harter gets my vote over Monti Levy. She is mostly a criminal defense attorney. Nathan Gibbs hands down over Pomrenze. Maria Maskal over Lisa Brown. Lisa Brown (Kent) got voted off the bench and was beaten by Ken Pollock. Her attendance was the issue in that race in 2008.
NOchoa has lost an endorsement of a respected local union and a Judge took away a case that he was on because NOchoa was not fit to handle it. Most recently a Judge slapped NOchoa in the face by ruling totally opposite in a case that he once handled. Those are all red flags to me and a strong indication that NOchoa has got to go. Jason Stoffel has my vote. …. — … Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me… NOchoa has already fooled the voters twice and he will not fool me three times.
Stoffel commits perjury, files false affidavits, lies in pleadings he is the poster child for corruption in the courts, I would not vote for anyone that has no problem violating ethics.
Levy is not experienced and blows whichever way the wind goes. Harter has my vote. Levy is a joke and needs to stick to being a single mom. Who wants an entitled person on the bench who cannot even make their own relationship work. HARTER, HARTER, HARTER.
The above poster is NOT Judge Mathew Harter.
"cannot even make their own relationship work."? Did you miss that Harter has a number of children by random people? And he also can't seem to apply the law? I don't know anything about Levy and don't honestly care but taking pot shots at single moms and not single dads seems pretty shady to me.
Harter has 8 kids from 2 different women. He needs to handle his delinquent children before he can judge anyone else.
This is a ridiculous post. So he has a bunch of kids. Don't we want Family Court Judges who have an understanding of families themselves?
What? Not letting your child suffer consequences of their dumb actions and protecting them while discouraging responsibility isn't a quality you want in a judge? LOL!
Both Harter and Ochoa lost their police endorsement. They were endorsed by the police and it was recended. Harter used his Judicial influence to shield his son from arrest. Now the Nevada Discipline Commission has conducted an investigation because they found sufficient evidence to warrant such investigation. Then Ochoa goes on a public radio show an openly admitted to violate Nevada Custody Laws and Likes litigents that appear before his court on social media in addition to Liking their minor child whom he has never met. When a police organization pulls their endorsement from a sitting judge; that speaks volume.
Who cares if Police endorse Family Court? Although officers seem to have a rather high rate of divorce.
Hey Steve, while you're here, would you mind telling me how I can opt out of your email blasts? There's no "unsubscribe" button (which sort of makes sense, since I doubt anyone actually "subscribed" to them in the first place – I know I didn't), and my repeated email requests to your email addresses never get the job done. Thanks!
A Judges decision impacts you immediately on a very personal level for the rest of your life. We should never impact our decision when we vote for a judge, because of friendship and money. Nevada has some corrupt elected officials and we all know it, but we put blinders on when we vote. You should never vote for someone that abuse his or her power on the bench that believes that they are entitled, that violates State and Federal Laws that causes Nevada families prolong suffering that violates our military veteran’s rights. If you can’t do the right thing for yourself, then do it for your family, neighbors, co-workers, and friends. How could we vote for Judge Ochoa who deliberately stated that he violates father’s rights for overnight visitation with their infant children, if the mother is breastfeeding? So the infant child does not eat at all while the sun is shining? How could we vote for Jude Harter who uses the power of the bench to shield his son from arrest for burglary, weapons possession, and drug paraphernalia while all other children involved were arrested? Educate yourself before going to the polls!
You know, those crazy emails you send out make me want to vote for the people you attack just because your emails are so weird. And the last one I made the mistake of reading referred to a litigant in family court as slutty, which was just gross of you.
Allegedly, Veterans in Politics know about weapons possession, especially on New Years at the valet at the old Hilton at about a .18 claiming to have worked earlier in the evening as a bodyguard. Yeehaw!!!!.
I heard a rumor that there might have been a TPO or two over the years form women not the wife of a certain Vet as well. The gift that just keeps on giving.
Nice of you to finally post under your name. The NOchoa post really gave you away. Honestly, who cares who the police endorse in family court?
Anonymous I always post under my name, unlike you! I have never used the words NOchoa until right now. Your buddy Judge Ochoa has another fan.
These polls are anything but scientific. FWIW, I'm voting for Levy and Gibbs, and will be skipping the other two races.
FWIW, I'll be voting for Gibbs and Maskall and skipping the other two
Family Judge Vincent NOchoa's son was arrested for Heroin use a few days ago in Las Vegas (Event Number 141012-3116) and NOchoa used a favor to get him released (OR) and to have LVMPD try to cover up the incident. NOchoa is not a honest guy. —– Vote for Jason Stoffel in Dept. S