HON. MICHAEL L. DOUGLAS (RET.)

Founding Board Member

​

Hon. Michael L. Douglas (Ret.) was appointed to the Nevada Supreme Court in March 2004 by Gov. K. Guinn, and thereafter retained; and twice re-elected. Justice Douglas served as Chief Justice in 2011 and 2018. Justice Douglas was the first African American Justice in Nevada history.

 

Justice Douglas, a native of Los Angeles, California graduated from California State College, Long Beach in 1971and the University of California Hastings College of the Law in 1974. He moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1982 from Philadelphia, PA., where he had been working as a private attorney.

 

Justice Douglas Nevada career began as an Attorney with Nevada Legal Services in 1982. Two years later he was hired by the Clark County District Attorney's Office and served in the Civil Division until 1995. In 1996, he was appointed to the State of Nevada, Eighth Judicial District Court bench by Gov. R. Miller for one year, and thereafter was twice elected. On the District Court, he handled both civil and criminal proceedings, served on District Court Committees and Supreme Court Commissions, and was the Chief Judge of the District prior to his appointment to the Nevada Supreme Court in 2004.

 

On the Nevada Supreme Court along with Appellate case review, Justice Douglas co-chaired the Nevada Supreme Court Bench Bar Committee, the Nevada Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission, the Specialty Court Committee, the Statewide Court Security Commission, the Statewide Criminal Procedure Committee, and the Statewide Language Access Committee until his retirement in January 2019.

 

 

During Justice Douglas’ time in Nevada, he has also been involved with the National Bar Association, the Judicial Council of the State of Nevada, District Judges Association, Nevada American Inns of Court, State

"                                   Bar of Nevada, Nevada Law Foundation, Consumer Credit Counseling, groups fighting domestic violence, youth sports, and the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

 

In 2019, the UNLV Boyd School of Law created the Justice Michael I. Douglas PreLaw Fellowship Program to introduce students from underrepresented communities to the rigors of law school and the benefits of a legal education.

 

Upon retirement, in January 2019 Justice Douglas took Senior status and served as Acting Chief Judge of the Nevada Court of Appeals and as a Senior Judge until February 2020.

 

In February 2020 Justice Douglas (Ret.) ended Senior status and was appointed the first Chairman of the State of Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board.

​

<< Back to Board Member page