Supreme Court: Mary 'Kris' Pickering

Name: Mary "Kris" Pickering

Age: 55

Campaign Web site: www.krispickering.com

Education:

I graduated from Reno High School, was named Nevada Presidential Scholar and earned a 4 year National Merit Scholarship, which I used to attend Yale University. I graduated from Yale with Honors and went on to law school at Georgetown University Law Center and the University of California, Davis, School of Law, where I served on Law Review and graduated in the top 5 students in my class.

Profession: Trial and appellate lawyer

Political experience: None

Please write a short biography of yourself (you might include such things as birthplace, career, community involvement, family, etc.):

Following law school I returned to Reno to clerk for Judge Bruce Thompson, for whom Reno's federal building is named, then went into private practice. I've practiced in Nevada's general jurisdiction trial and appellate courts for 28 years. I have significant experience preparing and presenting cases in the Nevada Supreme Court.

My father was a pediatrician in Reno. He helped establish Washoe Med's Regional Intensive Care Nursery program to provide critical care to children in rural towns across Nevada.

My husband and I live in Las Vegas but also own an old working ranch near Belmont.

Have you ever been arrested? If so, when and for what offense?

No

As a prospective judge, what do you consider your greatest strengths? Weaknesses?

My greatest strength is also my greatest weakness. I work very hard and think independently. Principles matter to me, which can bring conflicts as well as rewards.

What has been your greatest accomplishment in your legal career? In your personal life?

For accomplishments in the form of honors and awards, please see www.krispickering.com the biography and experience pages.

The greatest accomplishment in my legal career is an individual case I handled. Though it settled, it made a profound difference in the life of a very decent human being.

In my personal life, I don't have a greatest accomplishment. In truth, it's the life lessons about kindness and decency mattering more than intelligence or other innate qualities that count most.

What are the major influences in your life? Why?

My father and his work ethic and decency influenced me enormously.

Judge Bruce Thompson, for whom I clerked, taught me how to think critically about the law in the context of contested facts. He also taught me by example that judges sit to decide individual cases according to the rule of law, not personal preference or agenda, and that this is the single greatest assurance citizens have of fair treatment in the courts, win or lose.

What is your general judicial philosophy?

The job of a judge is not to set policy or legislate from the bench but to decide individual cases according to the Constitution, statutes and applicable precedent, in that order.

Why should voters support you rather than your opponent?

The Nevada Supreme Court hears appeals from every trial court in the state. Voters in this race are choosing who will represent them on the Supreme Court. I have significant experience presenting appeals to the Supreme Court, across a range of substantive law areas. My opponents do not.

History teaches that appellate courts run best with justices who have tried cases and argued appeals before taking the bench. Chief Justice John Roberts, as an example, credits his experience as an advocate for his keen, deeply principled view of the courts' proper role in our constitutional system of government.

What else would you like to say to voters about your qualifications and ideas?

This is an open seat, with no incumbent. My focus is on deciding individual cases according to the rule of law, in a timely, honest, and principled way.