Joe Hardy Jr. Bio

View My Resume (PDF)

I want to earn your vote for Clark County, District Court Judge, Department 24. Below is a brief biography of my educational and legal background that I hope will help you in your voting decision.

I am a native Nevadan and longtime Clark County resident. I grew up in Boulder City and graduated from Boulder City High School in 1991. I did well enough in high school and on the ACT test to be accepted to Brigham Young University (BYU) with a full tuition scholarship.

I attended BYU for a year before spending the next two years in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I returned and earned a bachelor's degree in history with a minor in Portuguese. I then attended BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School and graduated cum laude. Upon graduation I returned to live in Las Vegas and now live in Henderson with my wife and two sons.

After my first year in law school, I did a summer externship for Judge Lloyd D. George, then chief judge of the U.S. District Court, District of Nevada. Externing for Judge George sparked my desire to become a litigator with the hope of one day becoming a judge. Judge George allowed his externs to attend court hearings and trials—an invaluable experience to young law students like me.

After my second year of law school, I had the privilege of clerking at the prestigious local firm Beckley, Singleton, Jemison, Cobeaga & List (later Beckley Singleton). After graduating, I returned to Beckley Singleton where I worked as an associate. There I had the opportunity to learn the law and to be mentored by many excellent attorneys. Although my practice was focused primarily on commercial litigation (in-court business disputes), I worked on a wide variety of cases, including personal injury, pharmaceutical, construction, and intellectual property cases, as well as transactional matters.

In my first jury trial before Judge Stew Bell, I represented a local franchisee of national restaurant chain. After the jury verdict in that case, I was confronted with a startling fact—a recent amendment to one of the applicable statutes was written such that it would have the opposite effect that the legislators had intended. Thankfully for my client, Judge Bell applied the statute as it was intended to be written, but it still needed to be fixed. My father, Joe Hardy Sr., was serving as a state assemblyman at the time, so I presented him with a potential amendment to the statute. The Nevada Justice Association, led by Robert Eglet at that time, supported the amendment and we worked together to come up with appropriate language for the statute. The amendment passed with flying colors.

I left Beckley Singleton in 2005 when I was presented with the opportunity to join a regional firm, Bullivant Houser Bailey, and work with other long time Nevada attorneys, including Mark James and Peter Bernhard. While at Bullivant I primarily represented individuals and business owners in commercial litigation cases. I left Bullivant to join a national firm in 2008.

I am currently the co-managing partner of the Las Vegas office of Gordon & Rees—one of the 100 largest law firms in the country. I represent clients in federal and state courts as well as in arbitrations and mediations. I've appeared before administrative bodies and regulatory agencies. The scope of my practice has expanded to include a wide variety of civil litigation cases.

In 2010, I was appointed to serve on the Nevada Taxicab Authority (TA) board and my appointment was renewed by Governor Sandoval in 2013. My experience on the TA board has taught me how to hear all sides and work to reach amicable resolutions whenever possible. When such resolutions are not possible, I have learned how to make tough, but fair decisions. I am an arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau and a contributing author of the Revised Nevada Jury Instructions. I can speak, understand, and read Portuguese and can read Spanish.

Throughout my time at the three firms I've worked for, I have volunteered for pro bono work. I have done extensive volunteer work for the Boy Scouts of America, including acting as an Assistant Scoutmaster, Webelos Leader, and Cub Master. I am currently serving as chair of the Las Vegas chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. I fully embrace its directive to "strive through public service and professional excellence to promote fairness and virtue founded upon the rule of law."

I believe I will make an excellent judge. I appreciate your support!

Sincerely,
Joe Hardy, Jr.