Judging the Judges 2010 - Municipal Courts

The RJ's Judging the Judges poll results are out, and today it's time to acknowledge some of our lesser-known jurists. Here's the numbers for our municipal court judges:

Las Vegas Municipal Court:

• George Assad: 31% would retain
• Bert M. Brown: 93% would retain
• Martin D. Hastings: 86% would retain
• Cedric A. Kerns: 82% would retain
• Elizabeth B. Kolkoski: 58% would retain
• Cynthia S. Leung: 73% would retain

Henderson Municipal Court:

• Diana D. Hampton: 38% would retain
• Douglas Hedger: 74% would retain
• Mark Stevens: 57% would retain

North Las Vegas Municipal Court:

• Sean Hoeffgen: 56% would retain
• Warren VanLandschoot: 56% would retain

Congratulations to George Assad for obtaining the lowest overall retention score of any judge in Clark County. Way to go, Your Honor! Also, congratulations to Warran VanLandschoot for having the most awesome name ever.

Let us know your thoughts on the results of the municipal court poll in the comments. That does it for our coverage of the JTJ polls ... until 2012.

(LVRJ - Municipal Court PDF)

Monday Roundup

If you're "urban" [re: African-American, Latino, Asian], Harrah's is willing to overcharge you for drinks, admission and ambiance at Poetry nightclub, but just isn't comfortable with you walking through its expensive mall at Caesars [allegedly] (Marketwatch)

Seriously, Judge Assad?!?  The Nevada Supreme Court already reversed your censure from when you had a woman handcuffed and jailed for just over two hours to assure her boyfriend appeared in court on traffic charges.  Did you really need to appeal the requirement that you apologize  (RJ)  [whoops Todd Phillips, maybe Judge Assad (pictured right) is the state's biggest asshole]

Love gambling, but you're frustrated that there just aren't enough teenage girls around while you do it?  You may soon be in luck in Nevada.  (Scripps News)

(a very slow legal news) Tuesday Roundup

Las Vegas police found Oakland Raiders wide receiver Javon Walker unconscious after he was robbed on a street off the strip. (Nevada Appeal)

Las Vegas Municipal Judge George Assad is going to have to apologize formally to a woman he jailed for two hours because her boyfriend did not show up in court to pay four-year-old traffic tickets. (Las Vegas Sun)

Chief Justice Roberts has appointed five East Coast judges to investigate the ethical issues involved in Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Kozinski's hosting of a publicly accessible website with humorous and explicit pictures. (WSJ)

Photos from the trial of former UMC CEO Lacy Thomas. (Review-Journal)

The ABA Journal details how a client letter left on the copier led a Las Vegas attorney to report his partner for misappropriation of client funds. (ABA Journal)

Friday Roundup

The Nevada Supreme Court reversed the Judicial Discipline Commission's decision to censure Las Vegas Municipal Judge George Assad for a 2003 incident where Assad detained a woman who was not a party to a case. The Supremes ruled censure was not appropriate in this case because Assad's conduct was not "willful." (Review-Journal)

Yesterday we reported on 9th Circuit Judge Kozinski's hosting a public website with explicit photographs. Since then, Judge Kozinksi has ordered an ethical investigation to look into his actions. (WSJ Law Blog)

A Raleigh, NC man was convicted of violating the Mann Act for convincing a Western Carolina woman to travel to Las Vegas and engage in prostitution. (Asheville Citizen Times)

Congratulations to Mark Ricciardi, a partner in the Las Vegas office of Fisher & Phillips, on being named as one of America's Leading Business Lawyers by Chambers USA. (dBusiness News)

Several consumers contacted by Las Vegas-based Unified Services testified in U.S. District Judge Brian Sandoval's courtroom Thursday, claiming the telemarketing company withdrew money from their bank accounts before delivering services or after ignoring cancellation requests. (Review-Journal)