Retired Nevada Supreme Court Justice Michael Cherry was recently named a Distinguished Fellow at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law.
As Distinguished Fellow, Justice Cherry will work with Boyd students and alumni, lecture and participate in classes, and pursue writing projects drawing on the resources of the Wiener-Rogers Law Library, which is the largest law library in the state.
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.
In 1981 he was appointed as Special Master of the MGM Grand Fire Litigation. Two years later he assumed the duties of the Special Master of the Las Vegas Hilton Fire Litigation. At both of these jobs he served as a liaison between the plaintiffs' attorneys, defense attorneys, and court. The work he did as Special Master earned him recognition since he helped establish procedures which are now a part of mass disaster litigation.
In 1997 he was appointed to the Clark County Special Public Defender's Office to handle conflict and homicide cases. In 1998 Cherry was elected as a District Court Judge in Clark County. Justice Cherry was elected to the Nevada Supreme Court in 2006. 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.