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DISTRICT COURT JUDGE DEPARTMENT 27

Two private attorneys are vying to be elected to the newly created District Court Department 27 judgeship.

The department is one of seven new seats created by a legislative directive to focus on civil cases that have overwhelmed Clark County's justice system in recent years.

Nancy Allf has spent most of her 27-years practicing law as a civil litigator.

Allf, who graduated from Salmon P. Chase School of Law in Kentucky, said she looks for judges to be prepared, have a sound knowledge of the law and a temperament that allows them to "treat everyone with dignity and respect." Having a "short fuse" isn't helpful, she said.

The desire to help the community through a judgeship was ingrained in Allf at a young age in Kentucky, where she was raised.

Allf, whose father was a FBI agent, watched him testify in court after school. She said she was a bit of a "nerdy kid" and a "court watcher."

She considered one older judge to be particularly wise.

"He made that community better. I just saw when justice was evenly handed down to the community what a better place it was," she said. "And I would like to show the same wisdom to the (Las Vegas) community."

Allf has also been president of the State Bar of Nevada and the Clark County Bar Association and has worked as a small claims referee and short trial judge in District Court.

Allf has raised more than $90,000 for her campaign including more than $30,000 of her own money, she said.

Allf has several times unsuccessfully sought a judgeship, including a 2008 bid for the Nevada Supreme Court.

Allf's opponent on the ballot is Blaine Beckstead, who did not respond to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

According to the State Bar of Nevada, he attended the University of Idaho School of Law and was admitted to practice law in the state in September 2000.

Contact reporter Francis McCabe at fmccabe@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.

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