Michael Villani and David Barker were appointed today by Governor Jim Gibbons to serve as District Court Judges in the Eighth Judicial District Court. Villani and Barker will serve in Departments 17 and 18, which were vacated by Judges Michael Cherry and Nancy Saitta when they were selected by voters to serve as Nevada Supreme Court Justices.
Michael Villani, who will serve in Department 17, currently practices family law, civil litigation and criminal defense and owns his own practice, Michael P. Villani & Associates. He has lived in Nevada for 46 years and has practiced law since 1982, when he earned his law degree from California Western School of Law.
David Barker, who will sit in Department 18, currently serves as Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Clark County District Attorney’s office, where he leads the criminal trial team. He came to Nevada to begin his law practice after he earned his law degree from Pepperdine University in 1984.
Governor Gibbons made his selection from a pool of judicial candidates nominated by Nevada’s Judicial Selection Commission. Judges Villani and Barker will serve until the next general election, in November 2008, when they must run for election to their posts.
