Paul Gaudet

I am a 58 year old, proud father of three adult children. I have been licensed to practice law in Clark County, Nevada since 1992. The entirety of my 32 years of practice has been spent in Clark County. I was to the bench by Governor Joe Lombardo in March, 2023, taking the bench officially on March 27th. I was a sole appointed practitioner in Las Vegas my entire career, with my practice focusing on Family Law, personal injury, commercial, and criminal/juvenile cases. All my work was litigation based, which meant I spent much time in the Courtroom. My experience gained through my practice and personal life provide me with a solid foundation to serve as your Family Court Judge.

• Family First: Separation and divorce does not end a family. Reality dictates that litigants who have children will remain "family" for years and years following separation and divorce. I keep that in mind in every decision I make as your judge.
• Experience Matter: In over 3 decades of legal experience, I brought to trial many, many 100's of Family cases. Those were bench trials, where the Judge makes a decision. I also brought to trail approx. 100 jury trials, where a jury makes a decision. My professional experience, combined with my personal experiences as a father, husband, son, brother, friend, divorcee, widower, and survivor of the Route 91 massacre provide me with far more experience that my opponent.
• Learn About Your Judicial Candidates: In Nevada, we follow an electoral process for Judicial positions. In a County as large as ours, it is difficult for voters to acquire knowledge about those running for judicial office. It is important to learn about candidates, their experience, their education, and their qualifications to ensure we have the most competent persons resolving disputed issues. The average citizen has a far greater likelihood of appearing in Family Court over Criminal or General Civil Court. It is very important that you have the most qualified persons elected as judges to resolve those Family disputes.

Domestic Violence: DV is an issue that Family Court Judges are faces with almost daily. In my practice, I was involved in two separate cases where a spouse was murdered by another spouse. I take allegations of DV very seriously, and I commit to protect the vulnerable to the fullest extent permitted by the law. I believe that if I am to err, I will err on the side of caution and protection. There is an old saying: "short term sacrifice for long term gain". That applies to issues of DV.

I looked up to my Dad, who passed away during 2012. He demanded that we treat everyone with dignity and respect, be fair, honest, and accountable. In my professional life, I looked up to my officemate, Frank Cremen, Frank is a retired attorney in Clark County with whom I practiced for about 25 years. While our practices were always separate and distinct, we shared expenses and bought our law office together. Frank was/is the epitome of a gentleman. His word was/is gold. He was/is a wealth of knowledge on all things legal and personal for me. Both he and my father had influence, in different ways, over my life and career.

I am running for a Judicial position. Impartiality, objectivity, efficiency, and honesty are of utmost important to the administration of justice. There is a reason why we say Justice is blind in our Country.

My ability to communicate is what I consider to be my greatest quality and attribute. I try to avoid "legalize" in my communications, which I think makes me more effective as a speaker.

As a Judge, the most important responsibility is rendering thoughtful, concise decisions in an impartial, objective, efficient manner. In Family Court, litigants, and their children, deserve finality in an expeditious manner. The longer a family remains in this system, the more the emotional, control type issues fester. This is unhealthy for all involved, including the litigants and their children.

I want my legacy to be leaving behind respectful, intelligent productive children and grandchildren. I would also like to be remembered as a fellow who helped all that he could, who was pleasant, honest, direct and trustworthy.

In 1969, at age 4, I remember being in front of the black and white television set in my parents' home watching the first walk on the moon by Neil Armstrong.

My first job was working at a bingo hall when I was 12 years old. I maintained that job through my sophomore year in college, when I was 20 years old.

The Shack by William Young. This book was provided to me by a friend following the death of my wife during 2010. It focuses on tragedy, and dealing with that tragedy. It was helpful during a difficult period in my life.

There was a movie about a decade or so ago entitled "Jumper". I don't recall the character's name in the movie, but he had the power to utilize his mind/thought to "jump" to various places in an instant. That would be a great super-power to have: breakfast in Vegas, followed by lunck in Paris, followed by dinner and an evening in Iceland under the northern lights.

Two songs: You Are My Sunshine and The Bear Went Over the Mountain. I sang these songs near nightly to my children as I put them to sleep at night. It became a nightly medly in our home as I rocked the kids to sleep. I miss those days.

At times I have unrealistic expectations of those I interact with. I am very demanding; of myself as much of those around me. I have trouble delegating, as my expectations of others are very high. It is who I am, and probably the reason I spent my entire legal career as a sole practitioner. In that role, and attorney is directly responsible for all benefit of his work, and all obligations which run concurrently with his practice. In retrospect, it was the proper career decision for me. The same applies to my role as Judge. I am solely responsible for fact finding and decision making. I fit the role well.

Family Court Judge is an extremely important position. It is far more likely that an average citizen/person will have involvement with the Family Court than any other Court. And the impact of a Family Court decision will have lifelong implications to every litigant, and his/her family.

The 3 P's: Promptness, Prepared, and Polite. These P's apply to everything I do in life, from personal matters, to duties as an attorney, to duties as a judge. Be on time, valuing the time of others. Be prepared, and know as much as anyone else about the issues you are discussing. Be polite, but never allow anyone to use your being polite to take advantage of you or anyone that you represent.

Judges Tim Williams, Mark Denton, and Gerald Hardcastle. Each of these judges are fair, direct, and efficient. They get folks through the system objectively, impartially, and timely.

Empathy is a very important quality for a judge. Every person deserves to be heard, and every persons factual station in life is unique. This is why judges are granted sound discretion in many decisions: so the individual facts and circumstances of the individual litigant can be taken into consideration.

I am running for retention as Family Court Judge, Department N because I want to give something back to the community that has been so good for me over the last three decades. I had a successful law practice which provided well for my family. I have reached the point in my life/career where money/earnings are not my focus and drive. It sounds altruistic, but I am running for retention as Judge for the right reasons.

No. I believe it is most beneficial for a judge to have experience in the areas over which the judge will be presiding. The perfect example is my race. My department is a domestic department, meaning divorce, custody, support, alimony, termination of rights, adoption, et. Those areas have been my focus for over 30 years. My opponent is a career public defender, who have NEVER handled a domestic case. This is important for the voters to recognize.

Efficient, expeditious resolution of disputes by qualified, experienced jurist.

No, I did not enjoy appellate work as an attorney, and would not enjoy appellate work as a judge. My judicial position is NOT a stepping stone for my career.

One month into the campaign, I am endorsed by nearly 100 law enforcement agencies, the International Association of Fire Fighters, the District Attorney's Association, the Investigators Association, and Veterans groups. I am also endorsed by our Governor, Joe Lombardo, our District Attorney, Steve Wolfson, and most of the prominent Family Law attorneys in our jurisdiction. Specifics can be found at GaudetforJudge.com

I am a fiscal conservative by nature. Financial transparency is very important, and not made available to our citizens to the extent I believe is appropriate. Accountability runs in line with transparency. Without one, you do not have the other. Accountability runs through the ballot box, which is why we need informed citizens.