The Hon. Nancy A. Becker (Ret.) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Nevada. She was appointed to the seat by former Governor Kenny Guinn in 1999. She remained on the Supreme Court bench until 2006.
Becker received a B.A. from the United States International University in 1976. She went on to earn a J.D. from the George Washington University National Law Center in 1979.
She began her judicial career in 1987 when she was elected to the Las Vegas Municipal Court. During her two-year tenure on the Municipal Court bench, she was instrumental in developing programs that allowed judges to suspend sentences and order treatment for individuals who suffered from drug, alcohol, or mental health issues. Then, in 1989, Becker joined the Eighth Judicial District Court bench, where she presided over civil, probate, felony criminal, and family law cases as a judge of the Court. She served as its chief judge from 1993 to 1994 and remained on the District Court until her ascension to the Supreme Court in 1999.
Upon her retirement from the Supreme Court bench, Becker joined the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, where she served as a chief deputy district attorney from 2007 to 2012.
She left the public arena at that time, to open her own private mediation and arbitration firm, where she also served as a consultant on court systems. At that same time, Becker returned to the judiciary as a senior judge, serving as such on an as-needed basis. In addition, she served as a neutral and appellate consultant for Advanced Resolution Management.
Becker received the Woman of Achievement Award from the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce (1989), the Top Ten Women of the Year Award from American Business Women’s Association National (1989), the American Bar Association Liberty Bell Award (1993), the Jurist of the Year Award from the Clark County Bar Association (1993) and the Woman of Distinction Award from Soroptimist Sierra Nevada Region (1994).
Her memberships included the American Bar Association, the American Business Women’s Association, the Clark County Bar Association, the Clark County Pro Bono Project (past-president), the District of Columbia Bar Association, the Howard D. McKibben Inn of Court (past-president), the National Association of Women Judges, the Nevada State Bar Association, the Northern Nevada Women Lawyers Association, and the Southern Nevada Association of Women Attorneys (past-president).