Kris Pickering
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Mary "Kris" Pickering was the overall August 12 primary winner for spot (seat B) on the Nevada Supreme Court. Her opponents were Don Chairez, Deborah Schumacher and Nancy Allf. They competed to fill the seat vacated by the retirement of William Maupin. She will face Deborah Schumacher, who was the second highest vote recipient, in the November genreral election.[1],[2],[3]
See Nevada Supreme Court elections for more details on the Court race.
Family background
Pickering grew up in Reno. Her father, Dr. Donald Pickering, was a pediatrician who worked with the then-brand new University of Nevada Medical School. She graduated from Reno High School and was named Presidential Scholar from Nevada and National Merit Scholar, receiving a four year college scholarship. Kris and her husband have an extended family in Las Vegas, with sons Greg Morris and Steve Morris, Jr., their wives and children.[4]
Legal background
Pickering went to Yale University, graduating cum laude. She attended Georgetown University Law Center and graduated from the University of California, Davis Law School as one of the top five students in her class. She served as an editor of the Law Review and received multiple academic awards, including election to the legal honor society, Order of the Coif. After law school Kris returned to Reno to clerk for United States District Judge Bruce Thompson, for whom the Federal Building in Reno is named. She began legal practice in Reno and in 1992 moved to Las Vegas and, with her husband, Steve Morris, founded their own firm, Morris Pickering & Peterson. The firm has offices in Reno and Las Vegas and specializes in civil litigation.[5]
Associations, awards
- American Law Institute, elected member, 1987-present. The authoritative group on American Common Law, find out more at ali.org
- American Law Institute’s Federal Judicial Code Revision Project, advisor, 2004
- Consultative Group, Restatement of the Law Governing Lawyers, member
- Settlement Judge, Nevada Supreme Court, 1997-present
- Nevada Board of Bar Examiners, member, 1991-07
- Nevada Supreme Court Committee on the Revision of the Rules of Civil Procedure, member, 1999-03
- Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, Lawyer Representative, 1995-98
- Clark County Bar Association Professionalism Award, 1997
- President Washoe County Bar Association, 1991-92
- American Bar Association, member
- Clark County Bar Association, member
- Washoe County Bar Association, member
- ABA Section of Litigation Pretrial Practice and Discovery Committee, co-Chair, 1989-91
- Nevada State Bar Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, member, 1986-89
- Committee to Study and Enact Model Rules of Professional Conduct, member, 1984-85
- Rated in Best Lawyers in America - Business Litigation (Reno and Las Vegas), 2003-present.
- Super Lawyers – Dual rating – Business Litigation; Class Actions/Mass Torts, 2008
- Martindale Rating A/V
Political affiliation
In the race for the Nevada Supreme Court, all candidates are considered 'nonpartisan.'[6] Pickering is considered a Republican, and has made this affiliation part of her media campaign.
Judicial philosophy
On why she's running for the Supreme Court, "My life’s work has left me with the experience we need on our Supreme Court. I offer you a breadth of experience in the kinds of tough, complex cases the court hears. Having lived and worked across Nevada, I have a love for our state and a commitment to our traditional values. More than anything, I have a strong belief that the individual rights of all Nevadans are paramount. We need a Supreme Court that sticks to the rule of law instead of legislating from the bench, lobbying or playing politics."[7]
Endorsements
- Clark County Prosecutors Association
- Clark County District Attorney Investigators Association
- National Latino Peace Officers Association
- Veterans in Politics
- Citizens for Responsible Government
- Keep Our Doctors In Nevada[8]
Campaign contributions
As of early August 2008, Pickering's campaign has received $556,229 in cash contributions, including $360,000 in her own funds.[9]
In the News
The Whitehead Case
Pickering, along with her lawyer husband Steve Morris, was accused by Virginia City author Donald Dickerson for conspiring to stack the Nevada Supreme Court--which was, at the time, a five-member court--thanks to their role in a mid-1990s case involving a Washoe District County Judge Jerry Carr Whitehead. Dickerson's book Whitehead Revisited: The Conspiracy to Stack the Nevada Supreme Court , asserts that Morris and Pickering "sought to use the [(Nevada) Review Journal] to discredit [sitting Justices] Steffan and Springer and ultimately hasten their ouster from the high court"[10] as revenge for the duo's ruling against clients at Morris and Pickering's law firm. Dickerson asserts that their motivation stemmed from Steffan and Springer's ruling in the "Tropicana Case," wherein they voted to let stand a $34 million judgment against Morris's client, (from his former law firm, Lionel, Sawyer & Collins) Ramada, and against Morris's clients in other "big money cases;"
For his part, Whitehead (essentially used as a pawn) was being probed for judicial misconduct; private court-hearing documents, which cast the two Justices in unfavorable lights, were allegedly leaked by Morris to the Review Journal. Steffan and Springer ultimately relinquished their seats on the Court.[11]
Video Footage
2008 Election Ads
On the Issues
On Tort Reform
Pickering has been endorsed by Keep Our Doctors in Nevada, a group seeking to limit damages in medical malpractice cases.
See Also
External Links
- Kris Pickering for Supreme Court
- Citizens for Responsible Government Endorsement Letter
- Las Vegas Sun
- Project Vote Smart bio of Pickering
References
- ↑ Candidates seek high court seat
- ↑ Nevadans to cast primary election ballots next Tuesday
- ↑ High court hopefuls use their money
- ↑ Kris Pickering: Biography
- ↑ Kris Pickering: Biography
- ↑ Nevada Observer: "Registrars, Clerks Busy On First Filing Day
- ↑ Kris Pickering for Supreme Court
- ↑ Kris Pickering: Endorsements
- ↑ Candidates invest in high court seat
- ↑ How a twisted decade-old case exposed Nevada’s flawed Supreme Court at its most tawdry deserves a book — but not the book it got
- ↑ How a twisted decade-old case exposed Nevada’s flawed Supreme Court at its most tawdry deserves a book — but not the book it got
