Deborah L. Westbrook

Professional career

• Elected judge of Department 1 of the Nevada Court of Appeals, serving since January 2023 for a six‐year term ending in 2028
• She clerked for Chief Judge Eric T. Washington on the D.C. Court of Appeals in 2003
• Chief Judge, Nevada Court of Appeals

Education

Additional information

• Westbrook has served on multiple Nevada Supreme Court commissions, including co‐chairing the Commission on the Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure (2020–2024)
• Elected in the November 8, 2022 general election to the nonpartisan Department 1 seat on the Nevada Court of Appeals, defeating Rhonda Forsberg
• She was named Defender of the Year in 2021
• received the Scott H. Waite Award for Excellence in Indigent Defense in 2020
• Born in the Pacific Northwest, Westbrook graduated valedictorian from Mercer Island High School, obtained a B.S. in Psychology (magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Washington in 1998, and later a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in 2002, elected to the Order of the Coif
• She has been active in the American Inns of Court (Howard D. McKibben Chapter, Vice President) and the State Bar of Nevada’s Appellate Litigation Section
• She also mentors through the Huellas Mentorship Program at the William S. Boyd School of Law