Doreen Spears Hartwell

Doreen Spears Hartwell co-founded Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd. in 2014 with Laura Thalacker, a friend and accomplished attorney with whom she worked for over 14 years at Nevada’s then-largest law firm. Doreen has practiced in the area of business and commercial litigation in Nevada since 2000. Her litigation practice includes employment law, trade secret, non-compete claims, real estate, trust-probate matters and a wide range of other business-related disputes. Doreen has successfully defended employers in cases involving wrongful termination, breach of contract, discrimination and/or harassment in violation of Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA and state employment statutes. She also has substantial experience in successfully bringing breach of contract, trade secret, non-compete and trust and probate claims on behalf of her clients.

Doreen is the Chair for the Lawyer Representative Coordinating Committee for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and is a former Lawyer Representative for the Nevada United States District Court. She is a 2010 graduate of the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Las Vegas program, a past president of the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association and the current chair of the LVNBA’s Attorneys in the Schools Program (www.lasvegasnba.org).

In 2021, Doreen was named to Lawdragon’s list of 500 Leading U.S. Corporate Employment Lawyers. She is listed in both Best Lawyers in America (Las Vegas)® and Mountain States Super Lawyers for Commercial Litigation. Doreen, who has an AV Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell®, has also been recognized by her peers as one of Nevada’s Legal Elite® since 2012.

Doreen is the chairperson of the Pro Bono Advisory Council for the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada (LACSN) (https://www.lacsn.org). She was appointed to the Nevada Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission in February 2014 and remains a member of the commission today. As one of the founding members of Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd., Doreen remains committed to providing bono legal services to deserving individuals through the LACSN. Doreen has received various awards for her pro bono work, including the 2014 “Pro Bono Attorney of the Year” Award from the LACSN, 2008 Attorney of the Year from the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association, 2008 Bank of America Local Hero Award, 2005 Judge Sally Loehrer Pro Bono Service Award, and 2001 Myrna Williams Children’s Pro Bono Award.

Since 2004, Doreen has served as a supervising attorney for the Clark County Law Foundation’s Trial by Peers Program (TBP). TBP is juvenile diversion program run where students prosecute or defend students accused of misdemeanor offenses in the courtroom before actual judges and juries of their peers. TBP is an excellent program with a 25+ year history and which has served as a model for juvenile diversion programs around the country. (https://www.clarkcountylawfoundation.org/trial-by-peers/).

Doreen, who is originally from Connecticut, attended Fairfield University where she earned a B.A. in English with a minor in Spanish. In 2000, Doreen obtained her J.D. from McGeorge School of Law with honors and moved to Las Vegas to begin her distinguished legal career.

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