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Retired Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Cherry was recently named a Distinguished Fellow at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law.

Justice Cherry’s impressive legal career and his contributions to enhance the Nevada justice system including: the addition of an Appellate Court, improvement of indigent defense, reforms to the guardianship system in Nevada, and the creation of the Nevada Sentencing Commission are some of his accomplishments of significance. 

Justice Cherry served as a member of the judiciary for over 20 years, including two terms as chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court. In 2019, he retired from the Supreme Court of Nevada to become a senior judge and to work in private practice.

Michael Cherry began his career as a Clark County Deputy Public Defender before being appointed as a special master in two very high profile cases that earned Justice Cherry national notoriety.

In 1981, he was appointed special master in the MGM Grand Hotel Fire Litigation. In 1993, he was named special master on the Las Vegas Hilton Fire Litigation.

He also served as an alternate municipal judge for the cities of Las Vegas and Henderson, and as a justice of the peace pro tem as well as a small claims referee for Clark County.  He later became an instructor for the University of Phoenix where he taught business law and history. In 1997, Michael Cherry was appointed to head up the newly created Clark County Special Public Defender’s Office where he led a staff of six attorneys who oversaw major homicide and conflict cases.

In 1998, he was elected to serve as a judge in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada. In response to entire subdivisions making claims on issues such as poor workmanship or the use of inferior materials, he worked with colleagues Justice Nancy Saitta and Judge Allan Earl to established the construction defect court. They implemented a system to streamline case management for construction defect and other voluminous cases.

Justice Cherry was elected to the Nevada Supreme Court in 2006, where he immediately took action to improve the justice system as chair of the Indigent Defense Commission. The commission examined how the justice system deals with criminal defendants who cannot afford their own attorneys. In 2012, Justice Cherry ran unopposed for a second term and served as chief justice from 2012 to 2013. He pushed for a much-needed appellate court and made it his mission to get the word out to the public how necessary the Court of Appeals was to Nevada. 

Justice Cherry joins other Distinguished Fellows Senator Harry Reid, Governor Brian Sandoval, and Anthony Cabot to offer students at the law school insight on the law and the judiciary.

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