Chief Judge Bonnie A. Bulla

Chief Judge Bonnie A. Bulla was appointed to the Nevada Court of Appeals in 2019 by Governor Steve Sisolak, becoming only the fourth person to serve on the court since Nevada voters approved its creation in 2014. She was retained by the voters in 2020, and in 2022 was elected to serve a six-year term. In January 2025, she began serving as Chief Judge of the court.

Judge Bulla was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and raised in Tempe, home of Arizona State University. She graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from ASU in 1984 with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from ASU College of Law (n/k/a Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law) in 1987.  Upon graduation, Judge Bulla moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, and became a licensed Nevada attorney in October 1987.

For over nineteen years, Judge Bulla was in private practice handling complex civil cases, including those involving professional negligence, and earned an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Before joining the Nevada Court of Appeals, Judge Bulla served as the Discovery Commissioner for the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada, for twelve years, resolving a high volume of pre-trial discovery disputes in a wide range of civil cases.

During the span of her 39-year legal career, Judge Bulla has been the President of the Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys, and of the Howard D. McKibben Chapter of the American Inns of Court. Early in her legal career, she also held the offices of Clerk and Speaker of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. She served as a member of the Nevada Supreme Court Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure Committee, which completed a major revision of the rules in 2018; and, more recently, Judge Bulla served as a member of the Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure Commission to revise the Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure, effective August 2024.

In 2018, Judge Bulla had the distinction of receiving the Clark County Law Foundation’s Liberty Bell Award, which honors distinguished members of the community who uphold the rule of law, contribute to good government within the community, stimulate a sense of civic responsibility, and encourage respect for the law in the courts.  In November 2025, she was selected by Arizona State University’s College of Liberal Arts as one of its College Leaders, which honors alumni for their business, research, and community service achievements.