Bulla and Bush compete for seat on Nevada appellate court

Appellate Court Judge Bonnie Bulla is facing a challenge from Susan Bush, a chief deputy with the public defender’s office in Clark County.

Before her appointment to the appellate court in 2019, Bulla was Discovery Commissioner for the Clark County district courts for 12 years. She said that appointment was the culmination of 33 years of hard work and commitment to the law.

She has also served on the Supreme Court’s Rules Committee charged with revising the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure. In addition,, she has been an instructor for years in the National Institute of Trial Advocacy Deposition Program and served as a judge for Trial By Peers, a diversion program for youthful offenders.

Bulla is a longtime lecturer to the Bench and Bar on discovery issues and on legal education on a variety of issues including ethics and family law.

She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Arizona State University in 1984 and the ASU law school in 1987. Moving to Nevada after graduation, she was a civil litigator in private practice for 19 years until her appointment as Discovery Commissioner.

In that post, she said she worked with judges to resolve “tens of thousands” of pre-trial discovery disputes in every area of the law.

Bulla says Nevadans deserve a judge who is experienced, qualified and respected by their colleagues and the public

“It is an honor to serve the people of Nevada,” she said. “I love the work and I’m good at it.”

Bush graduated from UNLV and the Boyd School of Law in Las Vegas. In law school, she was an extern for then-Clark County District Judge Michael Cherry. After graduation, she worked for a law firm specializing in insurance defense cases. She went into private practice in 2006 but left private practice in 2016 to join the public defender’s office. She ran for district court in 2014 but lost in the general election.

She has been a volunteer as a pro-bono lawyer representing children in foster care and at the Veterans Stand Down. She said she has also served as an arbitrator in the Clark County district court system and is a member of the standing committee on judicial ethics within the Bar Association.

Bush said she believes in “Justice with dignity,” and pledged to be fair and impartial in applying the law.