Alexandra Beth McLeod, Terry Coffing, and appointed Judge Erika Mendoza.
Las Vegas attorney Terry Coffing and attorney Alexandra Beth McLeod are challenging newly-appointed Judge Erika Mendoza in the special election for Dept. 27 in Clark County District Court, which came about as a result of the resignation of Judge Nancy Allf.
Allf resigned after judicial filing closed, paving the way for Mendoza’s appointment and the subsequent special election, in which the candidate with the most votes wins.
Coffing has been practicing in Nevada for more than three decades. He served as managing partner for Marquis Aurbach for 25 years.
“I’m the only candidate in the race with experience in criminal and civil cases,” he said during an interview, adding Dept. 27 took on a solely criminal docket to accommodate Mendoza, a career prosecutor appointed to the bench this year by Gov. Joe Lombardo to fill the remainder of Allf’s term.
With a preponderance of civil cases to be litigated in District Court, Coffing says the department’s docket is likely to change again following the election.
“If it stays a split department, I can handle the job,” he said. “I’ve tried two felony jury trials, and many post-conviction relief cases. I was kind of unwillingly appointed as a young attorney by judges to handle criminal matters.”
Coffing says he’s also served as Justice of the Peace Pro Tem and as the judge for a Native American tribe.
“My experience is overwhelmingly civil, but I’m not a stranger to the criminal arena,” he said, adding he believes it’s more difficult for an attorney with a criminal background to learn to preside over civil cases. “We’ve had some good DAs become good civil judges, but I don’t think the courtroom is a place for on-the-job training.”
Coffing says courts are not efficient places to resolve disputes and contends he can speed up the process by issuing tentative rulings – notifying the parties of the way he intends to rule and if they agree, foregoing additional appearances.
“If I’m not ready to rule, I’m going to ask you to focus on point A and B and not rehash the rest of it. A 30 minute hearing turns into a five minute hearing,” he says. “I’m a big believer in moving things along.”
He says another way to expedite cases is to be decisive.
”A bad opinion is better than no opinion, because there’s always someone you can appeal a bad ruling to,” he says. “But if you never get a ruling, the time is ticking, and both sides of the case are spending money.”
The exception, he says, is in cases where individuals don’t have representation. But they are not the rule, he notes.
Coffing has a sub-specialty in First Amendment law and has represented clients in anti-SLAPP (Strategic Law Against Public Participation) cases, in which a defendant in a defamation case argues the statements at issue were made in a public setting and in furtherance of a public purpose.
A defendant who files an anti-SLAPP case and prevails in the counterclaim can be awarded $10,000 – a judgment that is not a deterrent to a plaintiff with deep pockets and an ax to grind. Coffing suggests the law should be changed to allow an award for actual expenses, instead.
Coffing has served on the Board of Governors for the Nevada State Bar. He ran previously for District Court but was defeated. He’s also applied twice for appointment to the bench – once during Gov. Brian Sandoval’s first term and again during Gov. Steve Sisolak’s term – and was selected as a finalist, but not chosen.
Coffing says 2024 has been a tough year for winning endorsements, noting law enforcement organizations, which endorsed Mendoza, did not hold interviews in the race for Dept. 27. He is endorsed by several veterans organizations. Candidates in the special election have yet to file campaign contribution and expense reports.
One of Coffing’s opponents, Alexandra Beth McLeod, says Coffing’s age limits his ability to serve several terms.
“I’m 59. I’m not 80. I won’t hold my opponent’s youth and inexperience against her,” he said, paraphrasing former Pres. Ronald Reagan.
Coffing says he doesn’t know why women are disproportionately victorious over men in judicial races. “Statistically, I believe women start with a 7% advantage, and I can’t articulate why that is,” he says, adding the once all-male District Court is now predominantly female.
“It is the down ballot races…”
McLeod says she’s in the “sweet spot” of her career.
“I’ve got over two decades of experience, but I’m only 46, so I could serve on the court for two, three-plus terms,” she says.
McLeod, who has no experience in criminal matters, has been practicing in Southern Nevada for 22 years, primarily in insurance defense cases.
“If you look at the statistics from 2023, it’s a two-to-one filing of civil to criminal cases. Back in earlier years, it was closer to 70% civil versus criminal,” she says
McLeod, like Coffing, believes it’s more difficult for a jurist with a criminal law background to take on civil cases.
McLeod is bothered by what she says is a decline in civility in the legal field. As president of the Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys, she’s focused on increasing civility in the profession, “because it becomes a real mental health problem. It’s taxing to be that adversarial for so much of a percentage of your life.”
She says it’s a disservice to clients, who are looking to their lawyers to resolve their own disputes. “So it helps us serve our clients better when there’s civility. It helps us come up with collaborative resolutions.”
She says remote appearances offer enhanced access to justice, but eliminates the personal interaction of attorneys.
“There is an element of humanity that I think is lost,” she says, noting that before remote hearings, attorneys who served as zealous advocates for their clients could walk out of court and put it behind them “and talk to each other, person to person.”
Like most candidates, raising money for her campaign is not her favorite part of running for office, she says, suggesting there are better ways to select judges.
“I personally would not be opposed to an appointment and then a retention election model. But I know that when the question has been presented to Nevadans, they continue to say they want the ability to elect their jurists,” she says. “It’s interesting, because sometimes they have really bad turnout for those races. So how serious are you about electing these people?”
She says voter contact is essential to familiarizing the electorate with their choices.
“It is the down ballot races where the people that fill those roles are those who really touch your lives,” she says. “When you show up for jury duty, it’s going to be one of those judges from down the ballot. Maybe you have a divorce or a child custody issue, or you’re injured, or you rear-end someone, and you wind up in a legal process. It’s going to be one of the judges down the ballot that actually makes decisions that affect real people, real businesses, real families.”
McLeod says she’s tried about 15 to 20 cases in which she’s represented both plaintiffs and defendants. Not all have gone to verdict.
“I think that helps me, first of all, be a better lawyer, because I can put myself in either shoe. I also think it’s one of the best qualities I have to bring to the bench to be a fair jurist – to be able to see things from both sides and be able to make rulings that are fair.”
Mendoza, a former prosecutor, declined to be interviewed for this story.
Mendoza earned her law degree at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law, according to her website.
She worked at the Clark County District Attorney’s Office since 2011 in the appellate unit as well as on the general litigation team. Her most recent position was leading the gun crimes unit, according to her application for appointment. In her last five years as a prosecutor, Mendoza tried four felony cases.
Mendoza, who has no experience practicing civil law, is endorsed by a variety of law enforcement agencies, the Latin Chamber of Commerce, the Voice of the Veteran, and several unions, including Laborers’ Local 872, and the Southern Nevada Building Trades.
Early voting begins Oct. 19.It is the down ballot races