Longtime Nevada lawyer, appeals judge Wallach takes senior status

WASHINGTON — Former Nevada lawyer and federal Judge Evan Wallach has announced he will take senior status from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Wallach, 71, was appointed to the circuit court by former President Barack Obama and confirmed in 2011. He will take senior status effective May 31. Senior status is a kind of semi-retirement in which judges still serve, but with a reduced caseload.

On the circuit bench, Wallach “earned a wonderful reputation for being a tough minded, rigorous judge who worked very hard to master intellectual property law,” said Carl Tobias with the University of Richmond School of Law.

In Nevada, Wallach was well respected, said Tobias, a founding faculty member of the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV.

“The judge had a great sense of humor and seemed well liked by all of his colleagues and members of the bar,” Tobias said.

Prior to his appeals court appointment, Wallach was appointed by then-President Bill Clinton to the bench of the U.S. Court of International Trade, where he served for 16 years.

Wallach received a journalism degree from the University of Arizona in 1973 and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1976. He graduated with honors in international law from Cambridge University in 1981, according to his biography with the circuit court.

As an attorney, Wallach was a partner at the now-defunct law firm of Lionel Sawyer & Collins in Las Vegas and specialized in media representation. His association with the firm spanned two decades, and he authored a media law handbook for Nevada reporters.

During his tenure at Lionel Sawyer, Wallach took leave to serve as general counsel and a policy advisor to former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. He also served as judge advocate for the Nevada National Guard.

His honors include the Nevada Press Association President’s Award and the Clark County School Librarians Intellectual Freedom Award.

The vacancy gives Biden the opportunity to fill 12 seats on circuit courts, with recent departures by Judge Merrick Garland, who was named attorney general, and Judge David Tatel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

There are also 82 vacancies in U.S. District Courts, including two in Nevada considered judicial emergencies by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Contact Gary Martin at gmartin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @garymartindc on Twitter.