Gibbons names Bonaventure replacement

Cadish, who has been at the firm of Hale Lane Peek Dennison & Howard for the past 12 years, specializes in commercial litigation and employment law.

“I really love the law and I love analyzing legal issues,” Cadish said. “I’m good at it, so I look forward to serving the community in that capacity and doing it well.”

She will replace District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, who after a 28-year judicial career announced his retirement in February.

Cadish, 42, of Henderson was one of three finalists selected in June by the Nevada Commission on Judicial Selection. The nine-member committee chose the finalists from 14 applicants and forwarded their names to the governor. The two other finalists were Nevada State Bar President Nancy Allf, 50, and Kathleen Paustian, 57, both of Parsons, Behle & Latimer.

Cadish said she believes she will be handling criminal and civil cases when she takes the bench, which she expected to be in mid-August.

Criminal law will be new to Cadish. She said she plans to spend time “getting up to speed” and consult with other judges who have made similar transitions. She said she also plans to seek advice and counsel from veteran judges to “make sure everything is done in the proper way.”

A 1989 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, she grew up in New York and New Jersey. She came to Nevada after law school and clerked for U.S. District Court Judge Philip Pro for two years before joining Jolley Urga Wirth and Woodbury and then Hale Lane Peek Dennison & Howard law firms.

Having practiced law for more than 15 years, Cadish is involved in a local attorney-mentoring group and was president of the Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys from 2004 to 2006.

Cadish must stand for re-election in 2008 to remain on the District Court bench.