Family Court judge, public defender contend for seat on Court of Appeals

A current Family Court judge and a public defender who works with appellate cases are squaring off for a vacant spot on Nevada’s Court of Appeals.

Chief Deputy Public Defender Deborah Westbrook is running against Family Court Judge Rhonda Forsberg to join the panel of three judges who sit on the appellate court, which rules on about a third of the cases that are submitted to the Nevada Supreme Court. Judge Jerome Tao, who currently presides over the Court of Appeals’ Department 1, did not file for re-election this year.

The race in the November general election will be nonpartisan.

Forsberg, 59, was appointed to Family Court Department G in 2019, and then won the 2020 election for the seat with 70 percent of the vote. She has not vacated her seat in Family Court, and will continue to serve on the bench if she loses the election for the appellate court.

Forsberg said the appellate court needs a judge who specialized in family law.

“We don’t have anybody that has such in-depth family law experience,” she said.

Westbrook, 46, started her career in labor and employment law before joining the Clark County public defender’s office’s appellate team in 2013. Westbrook said she’s a “rare candidate” who has practiced both civil and criminal law for roughly the same amount of time.

“I really want to put my diverse experience to work for the people of Nevada,” she said.

Westbrook graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 2002, and moved to Las Vegas in 2004. She has also served on the editorial board for the Nevada Lawyer magazine, and was appointed to the Commission on Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure last year.

Forsberg worked in the insurance industry before graduated from Boyd Law School in 2005. She opened her own law firm in 2008, primarily handling family law. She’s also served as a pro tem hearing master in Family Court, overseeing domestic violence and temporary protective order cases.

Forsberg said she has worked on about 15 appellate cases before she became a judge. She said covering complex Family Court cases that touch on different areas of the law has prepared her to serve on the appellate court.

“In a family case, it’s the only area of law that I know that has to handle a lot of each kind of law,” she said.

Westbrook said she is best suited for the appellate court because she understands the “unique issues” related to appellate law.

“When it comes to being ready to start on Day 1 of a new job as a Court of Appeals judge, I’ll be ready to hit the ground running,” she said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.