Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Five apply for top public defender’s position

It has been 29 years since Clark County has had to replace its top public defender, but now that there is a vacancy, county officials apparently won't have a problem filling the position.

So far, five experienced defense attorneys have picked up applications for the position of Clark County Public Defender.

Federal Public Defender Franny Forsman, Thomas Pitaro, William "Lew" Wolfbrandt and deputy public defenders Peter Christiansen and Marcus Cooper have picked up applications, which are due Tuesday.

Another deputy public defender, Will Ewing, who is in charge of the office's murder team, said he is still weighing the possibility of picking up an application.

Morgan Harris, who was appointed to the job by the Clark County Commission in 1972, is retiring next month. The new public defender will be selected by commission members from a short list submitted by County Manager Thomas O'Reilly.

Forsman has been heading up the federal public defender's office since 1989, when she was appointed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

She received her bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1968 and worked as a social worker and drug treatment counselor for six years before entering law school at the University of Notre Dame.

After obtaining her law degree, Forsman spent four years working as either a public defender or private defense attorney in South Bend, Ind. She returned to Nevada in 1981 to take a job as a deputy supervising staff attorney for the Nevada Supreme Court.

Forsman joined a local law practice in 1984 and worked in the private sector until her federal appointment.

Forsman said she loves her current job, but would like the challenges the county's public defender job would bring.

"It's a big management task. There are over 70 attorneys, a lot of support staff and a lot of different courts that the attorneys must appear in," Forsman said. "But, it seems like just about everything I've been doing up to this point has been leading me to this job."

Forsman believes she can pass a great deal on to the less experienced attorneys in the public defender's office.

"I know how to create a trusting attorney/client relationship and I know how to keep the vibrancy in your practice even when you've been losing so many years as a public defender," Forsman said. Attorneys in public defender's offices say they lose a majority of their cases when they go to trial.

Pitaro, who recently handled the Margaret Rudin murder trial, said he took out an application after being urged to do so by several people.

Pitaro said his goal would be to turn an already good public defender's office into the pre-eminent office in the U.S.

"We're very fortunate in this community to have a county government that has made the financial commitment to provide excellence in indigent defense," Pitaro said. "Many public defender's offices around the country are underfunded by their local governments. We're not."

Although the office has its detractors, Pitaro said he knows many of the attorneys put in more than 40 hours a week.

"By and large the office is filled with dedicated public servants, and if I'm involved in it, I will build upon that base and not tear it down," Pitaro said.

Pitaro has a bachelor's degree in business administration from California State, Los Angeles. He obtained his law degree from the UCLA and began practicing law in Las Vegas in 1974.

Pitaro was a deputy public defender for one year before opening his private practice. Although he sometimes handles civil cases, the vast majority of his cases are criminal in nature.

Cooper has been with the public defender's office nearly 24 years.

"I have extensive experience in this office, obviously, and I believe this is a golden opportunity for our office to improve the level of service it provides for our clients," Cooper said.

If chosen for the position, Cooper said he would like to implement a mentoring program for the younger, less-experienced attorneys.

The office has a "core group" of dedicated and talented attorneys whom the newer attorneys could learn from, Cooper said.

Cooper has a bachelor's degree in history from Southern University at Baton Rouge, La. and he obtained his law degree from Ohio Northern University.

He worked for Clark County's Legal Services program for two years handling mostly landlord-tenant disputes before going to work for the district attorney's office in the family support division.

After spending six months with the district attorney's office, Cooper began his career with the public defender's office.

Cooper said he has handled more than 100 felony jury trials, more than anyone in the history of the office.

Christiansen has been with the public defender's office almost 26 years. Over the past 22 years he has supervised a team of attorneys in addition to handling his own caseload.

Christiansen, whose son Pete is also a local defense attorney, has a been "team chief" longer than anyone in either the public defender's or district attorney's office.

"I think I'm qualified for the position, and I want to try to make the office a better office," Christiansen said. "I want the challenge."

Christiansen has a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University, where he majored in both English and psychology. He obtained his law degree from the University of Utah in 1976.

Christiansen passed the Nevada State Bar in 1976 and immediately joined the public defender's office.

Wolfbrandt, a Las Vegas native, has been practicing law since 1982. He obtained his bachelor's degree in business from the University of Colorado and received his law degree from Pepperdine University.

"I can bring a lot of practical experience to the job. Over the past 10 to 12 years, I've represented similar clients on a court-appointed basis," Wolfbrandt said. "I'm intimately familiar with what their needs are."

Wolfbrandt said he has participated in more than 50 jury trials as either sole counsel or co-counsel.

He, too, says he likes what he sees when he looks at the public defender's office.

"They've got a lot of camaraderie," Wolfbrandt said. "Everyone over there gets along with each other and I'd like to build on that."

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