AN INTERVIEW WITH JOANNA S. KISHNER An Oral History Conducted by Barbara Tabach Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project Oral History Research Center at UNLV University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas ©Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2014 Produced by: The Oral History Research Center at UNLV – University Libraries Director: Claytee D. White Project Manager: Barbara Tabach Transcriber: Kristin Hicks Interviewers and Editors: Barbara Tabach, Claytee D. White ii The recorded interview and transcript have been made possible through the generosity of a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Grant. The Oral History Research Center enables students and staff to work together with community members to generate this selection of first- person narratives. The participants in this project thank University of Nevada Las Vegas for the support given that allowed an idea the opportunity to flourish. The transcript received minimal editing that includes the elimination of fragments, false starts, and repetitions in order to enhance the reader’s understanding of the material. All measures have been taken to preserve the style and language of the narrator. In several cases photographic sources accompany the individual interviews with permission of the narrator. The following interview is part of a series of interviews conducted under the auspices of the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Claytee D. White Director, Oral History Research Center University Libraries University of Nevada Las Vegas iii PREFACE Joanna Kishner epitomizes the native Southern Nevada who was raised in both a Jewish and secular world of Las Vegas. A daughter of Ellen Neafsey Jobes and Irwin Kishner, she was born in 1964 and graduated from Clark High School in 1982. As she recalls, the halls of Clark High School witnessed a stellar cast of characters in the early 1980s, from future casino executives, to additional judges, to comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Judge Kishner earned a double major in Political Science and Psychology from Claremont McKenna College (1986) and graduated from UCLA School of Law (1989.) She remained in California and worked as senior counsel for Warner Brothers, a division of Time-Warner Entertainment Company and was also an associate with the multi-national firm Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker. In time, she felt the tug to return to her childhood roots in Las Vegas. She and her husband were married at Temple Beth Sholom, where she had her bat mitzvah and raises her own children in the Jewish tradition. Judge Kishner has been recognized for her legal work throughout the years, this includes pro bono work for disadvantaged children through the Children’s Attorney Project. When she set her sights on becoming a judge, she was joined by her young family as she knocked on thousands of doors to introduce herself and her passion for justice. In 2010, she was elected to Department XXXI of the Eighth Judicial District. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Interview with Joanna S. Kishner January 10, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada Conducted by Barbara Tabach Preface…………………………………………………………………………………………..iv Explains her judgeship seat and envisioning becoming a law career when she was younger, her father is Irwin Kishner, a non-practicing attorney, and several others in family are lawyers. Talks about being born and raised in Las Vegas and importance of Jewish tradition of tzedakah; L’dor vador; community service. Shares family’s Russian ancestral roots and research done by her son for a school project, landed in New York, New Jersey and Philadelphia areas. Family migrated to Las Vegas later from Miami Beach where her father Irwin attended high school and University of Miami Law School; Irwin joined his Uncle Herman Kishner who lived in Las Vegas and was in development of apartments and retail centers……………………………………...………….1 – 5 Describes what it was like to grow up in Las Vegas: Jewish childhood at Temple Beth Sholom significant to her memories, BBYO etc.; the secular side of growing up in Las Vegas including desegregation of schools. Mentions Florence and Ronnie Frost, Kelly Kirschbaum; small town feeling; Chic Hecht, Leslie and Lori Hecht. Celebrating Jewish and Christian holidays; Hebrew school, Kolod Center at Temple Beth Sholom; Holocaust education in 1960s-1970s….…..6 – 12 Talks about working on a kibbutz in Israel after her freshman year at Claremont McKenna College; value of the experience; her sister Sharon; 1982 graduate of Clark High School, where several judges graduated from as well. Mentions Abbi Silver (judge), Kathleen Delaney (daughter of Joe Delaney), Hyde Park Junior High School, Catherine Cortez Masto (also Class of ’82), Billy McBeath, Stephen George, Jimmy Kimmel………………………………………….……13 – 19 Describes her 1977 bat mitzvah and party at Metro Club at MGM; raising her two children Jewish. How she met her husband; wedding at Temple Beth Sholom……………………….….….19 – 23 Talks about her career, senior counsel for Warner Brothers, being with her high school friend, Abbi Silver, through law school; interest in labor law. Mentions Paul Hastings, John Schulman, v Shelley Presser. Decision to move back to Las Vegas. Steps to being elected a judge in 2010, knocking doors and keeping her maiden name, charity walks, Springs Preserve……….….24 – 28 AT THIS POINT the interview moves to the chambers of Judge Abbi Silver and the two women enjoy a name dropping session about their Clark High School Class of 1982 classmates. It’s a trip down memory lane as they reminisce and laugh about the joy of growing up in Las Vegas. Abbi Silver talks about her litigation experience when Jerry Lewis was stalked; Sayegh missing child case; Oscar Goodman, John Momot, David Chesnoff and other up and coming attorneys of the 1970s. This portion of the interview is also included in Abbi Silver oral history for the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project…………………………………………………….……….29 – 55 vi vii This is Barbara Tabach. Today is January 10th, 2017. I'm sitting in chambers of Joanna Kishner, a judge here in—your Las Vegas office. What exactly is your title today? I'm a district court judge, Eighth Judicial District, which means it's a general jurisdiction position that covers throughout Clark County. So everything from Moapa, Overton, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City. So it's the entire Clark County area. We are the first level trial judges on the civil side for civil cases and also on the criminal side doing larger trials on those as well, everything from medical malpractice, breach of contract, construction defect—I have a construction defect specialty docket—as well as when people are part of the civil-criminal division. I'm part of the civil-criminal division, thirty-two judges in that and then there's twenty family court judges. We're considered all district court judges. But those of us on the civil-criminal don't handle family court matters in a routine practice with some small exceptions that don't really apply here. You'll be interviewing Judge Abbi Silver next. She is the first Court of Appeals judge. The Court of Appeals was just approved last couple of years. So prior to the Court of Appeals, appeals went from district court judges to the Nevada Supreme Court. You've interviewed Justice Cherry for the Nevada Supreme Court. And you're very busy it looks like…Looking at the hallway out here, there's a lot going on. We are all very incredibly busy. All morning I had about thirty matters on my motion calendar to handle before the lunch hour. I'm currently not in trial this afternoon so that we could meet. I have a trial starting tomorrow, a bench trial starting tomorrow. So we are constantly doing our motion calendars, our trials, and as you see around my chambers a couple of the binders for a couple of different cases on decisions. We write all of our own decisions as well. Wow. Before we get into the Jewish aspect of your life, did you imagine that someday you would be a judge? Yes, actually, I'd be one of those few. I should mention my father [Irwin Kishner] was a non-practicing attorney. I've got cousins that are attorneys back East. My sister is an attorney. I've always had a passion for the law. In fact, when you speak with Judge Silver, she'll say it as well. When we were back in high school we actually did at that point—they call it like a Boy Scout, like Law Post. It was funded through, I think, either the Boy Scouts or some program. I'm not exactly sure. It was for people who thought they wanted to be lawyers. At an early age my parents said I liked to articulate my position and give back to the community. So I knew for a long time that down the road once I had the background experience of being a lawyer and the breadth and depth of experience that I wanted to give back to the community by being a judge. Now, that's a good point – giving back to the community as a judge. Why would you hold that feeling? Where does that come from? Well, I was born and raised here in Las Vegas and tzedakah was kind of synonymous. One of my first earliest memories is you trod off to preschool for your secular education. I went to Temple Beth Sholom for my Judaic education. One of the first things, the very first day you come back with a tzedakah box, the same tin blue and white or kind of soft white box that they still hand out today. For my family giving back to the community was something we did from the very, very beginning, and was instilled into us and something that we always felt.