Family Court Department L

Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002 | 9:02 a.m.

Nine candidates are crowding the nonpartisan race for Family Court judge in the newly created Department L.

The Legislature approved adding a 12th judge to ease the caseload burdens.

The two top vote-getters in the primary will advance to the November election.

Jennifer Elliott, owner of PeaceTalk Conflict Resolution and Counseling Services, said her strengths are her background in law and counseling, and her experience working with couples and families in high-conflict situations. She has been a licensed attorney since 1986, a licensed mariage and family therapist, a private mediator and child custody evaluator, and a member of the Foster Care Review Board.

She is a Supreme Court settlement judge, a mediator and parenting coordinator for Family Court, and an arbitrator for District Court.

Elliott said she would work to make Family Court less of an adversarial system, which would reduce conflict among families.

Fernando Guzman, a Family Court hearing master for 23 years, has presided over cases involving juvenile delinquency, child abuse and neglect, domestic violence and child custody. He has served as Clark County deputy district attorney general and has practiced domestic law.

He was an instructor in juvenile justice at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a member of the Foster Care Review Board. He has been a member of the advisory committee for the integration of the child welfare system, the Clark County Mental Health Consortium and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.

Guzman said Family Court decisions should be made in a more timely manner. His said his experience as a hearing master has taught him to listen.

He said he believes both parents need to be involved in a child's life.

Bill Henderson, a 15-year attorney who practices in Family Court on a regular basis, ran unsuccessfully for judge in 2000. He is an alternate hearing master in child-support court and Temporary Protective Orders court.

Henderson said it's important to have a Family Court judge who has practiced domestic law and supports short-tracking some cases to allow more timely decisions. He believes judges should have more discretion in awarding child support and that they also need more guidance and uniformity in deciding alimony.

Robert Kurth, who also ran unsuccessfully for judge two years ago, is an attorney with his own law firm, Kurth & Associates.

He has been an alternate child support hearing master, a Small Claims Court referee and a District Court arbitrator.

Kurth said the most pressing issue in Family Court is making decisions that are in the best interests of children and obtaining closure for the families in the least destructive manner possible. He supports more legal representation for children.

Merle Lok said her strength is a history of public service, which includes being a deputy district attorney and handling more than 3,000 cases in child-support court and Temporary Protective Orders court. Her goal is to cut down on attorneys' fees and the amount of time people spend in court so the process is more affordable for litigants.

A practicing attorney in Nevada since 1996, Lok said that based on her experiences with her own family she understands issues faced by blended families. She would like to see more consistency in custody rulings.

Walter Norwood, who has 25 years' experience in private practice handling family law matters, said he is running for Family Court judge to give something back to the community.

Norwood has served as an alternate Municipal Court judge, a child support and paternity hearing master, an alternate hearing master for Juvenile Court, a full-time Municipal Court judge and a state deputy attorney general handling child welfare matters.

Rachelle Resnick, a lawyer for more than 10 years, is admitted to the bars of Nevada and Texas. She worked for two years in a private practice focusing on family law and served as a court clerk to Family Court Judge Gloria Sanchez and former Family Court Judge Terrance Marren. She is the program manager for the Family Law Self-Help Center at Family Court and helped start the program.

Resnick's goal is to make the court more user-friendly by streamlining the process, especially in the filing of certain motions.

"Litigants want an opportunity to tell their side, to be treated with respect and receive and expeditious and fair decision," she said.

Frank Sullivan, a Family Court domestic violence commissioner, has presided over more than 4,000 cases a year. He has served as alternate juvenile hearing master and handled child abuse and neglect cases as a Nevada deputy attorney general.

From that experience, he said, he developed case-management skills necessary to "timely, effectively and efficiently" manage heavy caseloads.

He is chairman of the Foster Care Review Board, secretary of the Southern Nevada Domestic Violence Task Force and a member of the Trial by Peers Program. He helped to establish Donna's House, the county's first supervised child visitation and exchange center.

Rob Weaver has practiced law here for 10 years. He has been a Small Claims Court referee, an arbitrator, mediator and former Traffic Court judge pro tempore. That experience, he said, helped his ability to make decisions in a more timely manner.

Weaver says that in custody and support cases, children should be interviewed more extensively and counseled. A children's ministry leader and a coach, he said he is concerned about protecting the child.