Nadia Wood is running to be the judge in department 16 of the Las Vegas Justice Court. As a Chief Deputy Public Defender and an adjunct professor at Nevada State College, Nadia has dedicated her life to public service. Her experiences make her uniquely qualified to fill this role because she has the legal expertise, the courtroom experience, and the community involvement to be a fair justice of the peace who ensures equal protection of the law for all Nevadans.

Prior to becoming a lawyer, Nadia attended the University of California at Berkeley, where she was an Alumni Leadership Scholar. She graduated at the age of 19 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and then moved to Washington DC to attend law school at Georgetown University Law Center. 

Nadia sat down with us to share a little more about herself and her experience. To learn more about her campaign, visit her website: www.Nadia4Nevada.com.

VLM: What are the biggest changes you think we need to make to our justice system?

NW: Economic inequity is a huge problem we see that permeates every part of our justice system. In civil and family cases, we often see situations where one party can afford an attorney while the other cannot. In criminal cases, we see noticable differences in case outcomes when individuals can afford bail versus when they cannot. Our justice system needs to always be working to improve access and equality for the members of our community. Whether you have money should not determine whether you will be successful in a legal matter. 

In civil and family cases, we need to increase access to resources by expanding the Civil Law Self Help Center and creating more incentives to encourage attorneys to accept pro bono cases through Legal Aid of Southern Nevada. In criminal cases, we need to have bail or release decisions that focus on whether the individual actually poses a risk to the community or is a flight risk. 

VLM: What is your philosophy on “judicial activism”, and what effect should judges have in setting or promoting public policy?

NW: I don’t believe a judge’s personal views about public policy should play a role in legal decisions. My judicial philosophy is one of judicial restraint. It is the role of the legislature to write the laws and the role of the judiciary to apply the law to the facts of a particular case. Judges should follow the plain language of the statute and, where ambiguous, should follow the tenets of statutory interpretation, including looking to the legislative intent of the law. If case law already exists interpreting the law, they should follow the precedent.

VLM: Do you volunteer or are you involved in any charitable activities?

NW: Yes, I believe volunteering is incredibly important. I volunteer through Legal Aid of Southern Nevada. I frequently participate in their Ask a Lawyer Program, as well as taking a variety of pro bono cases. One of my favorite programs which they have is the Children’s Attorney Project, in which attorneys can volunteer to represent abused and neglected children in family court. It is a great program and I highly recommend it to everyone because you are providing a voice for these children in the court proceedings, which is just so necessary and important.

I also volunteer frequently to help train the next generation of lawyers. I am a guest lecturer every semester at UNLV Boyd School of Law, where I teach cross examination to the trial advocacy classes. I regularly volunteer to act as a judge in mock trial competitions and I have also coached for Boyd’s mock trial team. 

Outside of the legal field, I volunteer with the Asian Community Development Council. They are an amazing, non-partisan, organization. They provide food assistance, park cleanups, health insurance enrollment assistance, and just engage in a variety of services that help the community.