High And Mighty

  • Law

  • County Commissioners revised the distribution of medical marijuana dispensaries so that there are more in Las Vegas and unincorporated Clark County. [RJ]
  • The Gaming Control Board told its licensees they cannot participate in the medical marijuana business…yet. [RJ]
  • Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of Nevada heard discussion on lawyers advising on medical marijuana businesses and took it under submission. [RGJ]
  • Not Las Vegas related, but maybe an idea for paying off all those student loan debts you incurred in law school…[Fox5Vegas]
  • Here’s a new resource for the upcoming election. Alexander Falconi was a computer science and engineering major at UNR when a nasty custody dispute led him to drop out of school and fight the good fight. He managed to win custody of his son and accomplished something many of us will never do, he got a published opinion from the Supreme Court of Nevada on a pro per writ of mandamus. Since then, he decided to create a website to help inform the public about the judges up for election called Our Nevada Judges. The website evaluates sitting judges based on their record on appeal. It also includes articles about the judges. What do you think? 
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 7, 2014 3:40 pm

I'm all in favor of getting more information out about our judges here in Nevada. I think it's a necessity in a state with elected judges. Even after practicing for 6 years, there are many judges I have never dealt with and many of them I have only had minor issues in their department. So I can really only evaluate a handful of the judges based on my experience. This year I intend to make a much more informed decision when voting, and I hope everyone else will too.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 7, 2014 9:39 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Keep hoping. The typical Las Vegas voter reads at a third grade level and has the attention span of an ADHD six-year-old. Voting decisions are made based on whose dirty campaign sign they best remember.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 10, 2014 2:33 am
Reply to  Anonymous

And spew "me and Sleazy hoe went out last." Asked a neighbor recently if she had updated her resume. The answer: "I don't got one of them things."

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 4:39 pm

I'm not the brightest guy, but I think selling sex for money is called prostitution and is generally illegal. I think Ms. Raine might have a problem there …

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 6:05 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

No, her real problem will come with the winning bidder, an overseas gentleman who happens to owe a lot of money to another overseas gentlemen, sends her a $1.2 mill cashiers check, asks her to deposit it and wire the excess to his creditor..

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 6:10 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

and the IRS will love watching to see how she reports this.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 5:34 pm

Take a look at the list based on your own experience with the judges. The number of reversals just doesn't capture the quality of the judge. Some of the best judges have a high percentage of reversals and vice versa. Is that because a good judge might be a little bolder and grant summary judgment or dismissal when it appears appropriate. Fear of reversal does not always make for a great jurist.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 5:46 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Perhaps the analysis needs to include the vote count at the higher court. If a certain judge is affirmed 10 times by a 4-3 margin and reversed 10 times by a 4-3 margin, it means something different than if they are consistently reversed by a unanimous decision. I bet a quick look at Judge Gonzalez's record vs say, someone like Walsh or Miley would demonstrate this.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 6:17 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

that will only work for en banc decisions. I suppose you could look at split panel decisions but somehow I think that will be a less accurate predictor of quality.

Alexander Falconi
Guest
Alexander Falconi
May 7, 2014 9:34 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

This might be an extension I can apply later. I'll have to pay the dataminers more since they'll have to find more information and right now I'm just an engineering intern on an interns salary 🙂

Alexander Falconi
Guest
Alexander Falconi
May 7, 2014 5:51 pm

Thanks so much for your support guys! I got my first few emails from judicial candidates within the last hour! The total reversals standard is obviously flawed, but I just opened the website yesterday so I'm trying to come up with a better way of rating them. I think a percentage might not work well either, since family judges are appealed much less often than general jurisdiction judges. Please feel free to send me your suggestions. I have a couple of attorney friends but they're all from Washoe County. You can email me here: exavior75@yahoo.com

Let's make this website accurate and powerful.

Also, I'm trying to get published again by expanding Minnear v. Minnear (Falconi v. Farrar) and by expanding caselaw on forma pauperis (Falconi v. Nevada Real Estate Division).

NewlyMintedAttorney
Guest
NewlyMintedAttorney
May 7, 2014 6:06 pm

I wasn't sure what I was going to see when I followed the link, but I'm impressed. Clear, concise, and with links as necessary. I would suggest fixing the "record" column, because it currently sorts like a text entry, so "23" reads as being less than "3."

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 9, 2014 5:22 pm

Looks good that you are taking submissions from local attorneys regarding the judiciary. I haven't been to your site, but I hope that you'll have a comment forum for each of the people you review. I would love to comment on these judges being unsuitable for a job as a district court judge: Doug Smith; Jessie Walsh; Michelle Leavitt; and Ronald Israel. This is based on my personal experience litigating before them.

Alexander Falconi
Guest
Alexander Falconi
May 11, 2014 5:58 am

Yep! We've got tons of articles and cases now. I don't actually review judges personally; I base their error rate off of their record on appeal. Basically, the Supreme Court reviews them lol. That's whats so great about it.

Alexander Falconi
Guest
Alexander Falconi
May 7, 2014 6:42 pm

Right! A lot of the bugs will be fixed by grand opening 🙂 If anyone notices any other weird behavior feel free to let me know. I'm also thinking of attaching a Blog to the page that some knowledgeable lawyers can run (Clark, Washoe, Rural). Anyone who wants to send me articles please do; especially judicial ethics convictions I may have missed.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 10:55 pm

Dipak Desai got picked up in Reno: http://www.renomugs.com/mug/dipak-desai

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 7, 2014 11:24 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

I thought he got life in prison???

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 8, 2014 1:41 am

Multiple people laid off at my firm today – any other large regional firms doing staff layoffs?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 8, 2014 2:47 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

What is the name of your firm?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 8, 2014 5:47 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yeah, you can't just put that without the name of the firm. That's why "Anonymous" is available.

Anonymous
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Anonymous
May 8, 2014 9:15 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Is it Fennemore Craig finally getting rid of the Jones Vargas deadweight now that the (former) Jones Vargas clients have been secured?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 9, 2014 9:57 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

Yes, it was Snell – 2 from the Vegas office.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 9, 2014 10:30 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

2 what? Staff or attorneys? The link above implies it was only staff. What is up with the minimal information being posted about this lay off?

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 9, 2014 11:58 pm
Reply to  Anonymous

2 lawyers from Snell would be surprising, they've posted several associate jobs, and headhunters keep calling me about them.

Anonymous
Guest
Anonymous
May 10, 2014 2:28 am

In the fifth paragraph under High and Mighty, a semicolon should be placed after "will never do…"

Aside from that, Mr. Falconi deserves all the accolades he's receiving. Very impressive!

Alexander Falconi
Guest
Alexander Falconi
May 11, 2014 5:55 am
Reply to  Anonymous

Thanks for your support!