CLARK COUNTY FAMILY COURT L

A Henderson attorney with her own law firm is challenging incumbent Judge Jennifer Elliott for Family Court's Department L seat.

Dawn Throne, who has been practicing family law in Nevada for 12 years, said she decided to challenge Elliott because "the people in Clark County who use Family Court deserve a better judge."

She criticized Elliott for a "lack of knowledge and actual experience in the courtroom" and in practicing law.

"We need strong judges who know the law," Throne said. "We need the best judges over there" in Family Court.

Elliott disputed the notion that she's inexperienced.

Before becoming a judge in 2002, she served as a professional mediator in Family Court, a Supreme Court settlement judge and an arbitrator for civil District Court.

Elliott was licensed to practice law in Nevada in 1986 and did so until 1991, she said. She also has a master's degree in counseling and family therapy from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which she said helps her understand problems in Family Court from more than just a legal angle.

"You learn about family systems, family dynamics, child development issues," the judge said.

Elliott said she is an excellent judge with a strong work ethic.

"You have to be caring, compassionate and hard-working," she said. "I look at this as a public service job, and it really is."

Elliott cited her role in establishing the Cooperative Parenting After Divorce program, which helps parents focus on communicating for the sake of their children, and the Outsourced Mediation Program, which uses mediators to help people resolve their financial issues, as examples of ways she has helped the community during her tenure.

Throne said that if elected she will be a fair and impartial judge, whose only bias will be in favor of good parents.

She said she has more knowledge of family law and experience in the courtroom than Elliott, which will make her a stronger judge.

"Family law is mostly what I do," Throne said. "I understand Family Court from every angle."

She added that she thinks Elliott made a better mediator than she does a judge.

"I liked her when she acted as a mediator," Throne said. "I think she should go back to doing that."

Throne earned her law degree from the University of Arizona College of Law.

Elliott earned her law degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in California.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.