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For the past twenty years, Michael P. Carman has built a reputation as one of Clark County’s foremost family law attorneys.  He has represented clients undergoing separation and divorce in all levels of complexity, drawing upon his extensive experience to help clients navigate through the family court to facilitate productive negotiations and faster resolutions of disputes.  Michael’s use of mediation and alternative dispute resolution techniques provide clients with the ability to create their own long-term plans for family and financial success.  While maintaining a sensitivity to the emotional toll of the separation process, Michael understands the business of negotiation and utilizes his skills to protect and advance his client’s interests.  These negotiation and mediation skills are also put to optimal use in Michael’s work drafting cohabitation agreements, pre- and post- marital agreements, and his facilitation of family adoptions. 

 

Michael is also well known as an aggressive litigator and compelling courtroom advocate for those cases in which his client’s interests would be best served by utilizing the legal system.  In addition to his extensive practice history before the Clark County Family Court and specialized trial advocacy training, Michael also began his career in Nevada with a three year Judicial Clerkship with the Honorable T. Arthur Ritchie, Jr.  This experience provided Michael with invaluable insight into the perspective of family law matters as seen from the bench, as well as an intimate working knowledge of the backdrop of the family law system. 

 

Michael is also highly successful at the appellate level, recently arguing before the Nevada Supreme Court for the equality of parental rights for unwed couples, regardless of gender.  Michael’s representation led to the revision of Nevada law as it related to unmarried parents and resulted in the holding that “[u]nmarried parents have equal custody rights regarding their children, absent a judicial custody order to the contrary.” (Druckman v. Ruscitti).

 

As a senior family law practitioner widely respected by both the Bench and the Bar, Michael has been elected to the State of Bar of Nevada’s Family Law Executive Council and he is currently serving his second term.  Michael is frequently invited to lead the Family Law Bench/Bar Meetings for Southern Nevada and to moderate various panels at the Annual Family Law Conference in Ely Nevada.  In 2015, Michael was instrumental in re-writing the laws relating to children providing testimony to the court as a member of the Child Witness Committee.  He has been awarded an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating standard, signifying that Michael’s peers rank him at the highest level of professional excellence for his legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.  This top rating is reflected by the testimonials provided by Michael’s clients.