Elected Member

The Hon. David A. Hardy

Reno, NV
Second Judicial Court, Washoe County
Education
Brigham Young University
University of Nevada, Reno (M.A. & Ph.D.), MA & Ph.D.
Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School

Judge David Hardy was appointed to the Second Judicial District Court in Washoe County, Family Division, in January, 2005, and elected without opposition to the General Jurisdiction Division in 2010. He was Presiding Judge between 2007 and 2010 and Chief Judge between 2011 and 2015. Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Hardy was a partner in the Law Firm of Hardy & Woodman. Among other practice areas, Judge Hardy was certified as an elder law specialist by the National Elder Law Foundation.

Judge Hardy enlisted in the U.S. Army after high school and served in a variety of locations and capacities, to include active service in Korea and reserve Airborne service in the Utah National Guard. Judge Hardy clerked for the Nevada Supreme Court (Justice Thomas Steffen) before entering private practice, and returned to the Nevada Supreme Court as a principal staff attorney between 1996 and 1999.

Judge Hardy has served on numerous commissions and boards, such as the Judicial Education Requirements Study Committee (Chair); Washoe County Judicial Council (Chair); Nevada Judicial Council; Supreme Court Article 6 Commission; Nevada Judicial Code Commission; Standing Committee on Judicial Ethics and Election Practices; Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee; Nevada District Judges Association (President and Trustee); Washoe County Law Library Board of Trustees; Executive Council, Family Law Section (Nevada State Bar); Executive Council, Elder Law Section (Nevada State Bar); CLE Publications Planning Committee (Nevada State Bar); Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Advisory Board; Board of Directors, Special Advocates for Elders (SAFE); and Community Advisory Board for the University of Nevada, Reno, Sanford Center for Aging.

Judge Hardy is a frequent lecturer and presenter, focusing primarily on elder law and judicial ethics. His doctoral dissertation examined how the territorial judiciary influenced the residents’ approval of statehood and is entitled The Nevada Territorial Supreme Court: A Transitional Influence from Frontier Lawlessness to Statehood. He is an adjunct professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, and general jurisdiction faculty at the National Judicial College. Judge Hardy has authored numerous scholarly articles and more than 90 judicial ethics essays as an on-going series in the Washoe County Writ.

The Hon. David A. Hardy Image
Areas of Expertise
Ethics
Elder Law
Family Law
Disabilities (Constitutional Law)