Working for the Family Court

John is currently working as and employee of Family Court as an Alternate Hearing Master.  John hears cases in the following areas:  Domestic Violence, Juvenile Delinquency, Guardianship, Mental Health Commitments, Probate, Child Support and Discovery.

In 1999, John left his solo legal practice to become an employee of the Family Courts and has been there since.  He initially planned on staying there for a short time just to gain experience working inside the court system, but there he found a new purpose in his legal career.  Each day there has offered him opportunities to contribute to the wellbeing of individuals and his community.  He plans to finish his legal career within the Family Court.

John started his there working for three different judges.  Each of whom successively hired him because of his wealth of legal knowledge and organizational skills.  He was then asked to fill the newly created position of Guardianship Compliance Officer.  There he was given a free hand to define the duties of that position and organize the practices and procedures for the new position.

After some time in that position, John was call on to replace the Family Court Administrator who had taken a job in another state.  During his tenure there, the Courts took over management of the Clerk of the Court.  At that time the Clerk's Office was struggling with adjusting to major changes in business practices, new automation and personnel problems.   Knowing the leadership of this office was possibly the most difficult of any within the court system, John was asked to fill this need and was made the Clerk of the Court over the Family Division.  Since that time, he has lead this office and its more than one hundred staff members through difficult transition times.  More changes have occurred within that office in the last year than the several preceding decades.  But this has been done with great success and that office is now one of the models for other courts nationwide.

Having had a very successful career as a practicing attorney coupled with his expansive knowledge of the inter-workings of the courts through his experience as a court employee, John is uniquely qualified to be a judge. Couple that with his variety of life and work experience, he has the framework for making sound, common sense decision for those who come to  Family Court.

The Beginnings - Work Experience as a Youth

Growing up on a farm, John learn to have a strong work ethic very early in life.  This has served him well throughout his working life.  He also learned to work long hours when the needs called for it which he has continued to do to this day.

John has a much varied work experience.  From a very young age he worked before and after school and during the summer on his grandfather's farm where he lived and for surrounding farmers and dairymen.  John's father had abandoned him and his mother soon after his birth, but returned in John's early teen years.  As there relationship developed, John worked nights, weekends and summers in his father's construction business as a carpenter's helper and laborer.  There he learned most of the skills associated with both residential and commercial construction.

A Long and Varied History of Successful Work Experience

John worked for the State of Nevada before leaving for law school.  He was the Southern Regional Business Manager for the Nevada Division of Mental Retardation and prior to that the Southern Regional Manager for the Nevada Child Support Enforcement Program.

Before beginning his pubic sector service, John worked in construction, property management and as an equipment operator.