Celebrating Over 75 Years of Serving Nevada’s Legal, Business, Government, and Civic Communities
John Fortin Receives Young Lawyer of the Year Award from the Nevada State Bar
McDonald Carano congratulates John Fortin on receiving the 2025 Young Lawyer of the Year Award from the State Bar of Nevada. The award is presented to a young lawyer whose “professional and public service achievements merit special recognition.” The award criteria include contributions to the State Bar of Nevada and its Young Lawyers Section, commitment to the advancement of the legal profession, dedication to civic participation and community service, and professional leadership and early career accomplishments in the practice of law. The award confirms John’s outstanding service to the bar and to the legal profession. John’s contributions to the Nevada State Bar and his professional accomplishments are listed below.
The Young Lawyer of the Year Award recognizes a Nevada attorney who has been engaged in the practice of law for less than five years. Prior to law school, John served 10 years on U.S. Navy active duty and continues to serve in the reserves today. His background includes serving as a law clerk to the Honorable Chief Justice James Hardesty of the Nevada Supreme Court. John also received the 2025 Vince Consul Memorial Pro Bono Award from the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and he spoke at the Supreme Court of Nevada’s special session at Las Vegas City Hall Council Chambers for the administration of the Oath of Attorney to new admittees to the State Bar of Nevada.
Upon receiving the award at the State Bar of Nevada’s Annual Conference, John provided the following remarks. Please click here to view the tribute video the State Bar showed during the award presentation.
I am so very thankful for this award. I want to thank the State Bar of Nevada for reminding me that at 37 I am still considered Young.
First and foremost, this award is for my wonderful wife. Without her sacrifices, support and encouragement, I would not be on this stage.
Second, this award is for the mentors who took the time to share their knowledge, brought me to court to show me how to zealously argue, and included me in client meetings to teach me about the business of law. Young lawyers are eager to become wise and experienced lawyers, but we can’t do it without mentors. I am receiving this award because so many mentors have helped make me a better lawyer. Those mentors are great stewards to our profession because of the time they invested in me. Justice Hardesty, the lawyers at Pisanelli Bice, and the lawyers at McDonald Carano are each recipients of this award as much as my name is on this honor.
Finally, I would like to thank the State Bar and the many leaders of our profession who dedicate time, energy and resources to support the Young Lawyers Section. I have been involved in the Young Lawyers Section since being admitted and it has provided me with invaluable opportunities to integrate myself into our legal community and develop the professional and legal skills to succeed. That opportunity was only there for me because of the great leadership of the State Bar.
Thank you.
The award recognizes John’s contributions to the Nevada State Bar and his professional accomplishments which include the following.
- Young Lawyers Section – In 2024, John became a Member-At-Large on the Executive Council of the Young Lawyers Section of the Nevada State Bar, but his service to the Young Lawyers Section began when he joined the Section upon becoming admitted to practice in October 2019. Within two years, the YLS executive board selected John as its representative to the Access to Justice Commission. Since 2021, he has served as the YLS Committee Chair for the Access to Justice Commission and the YLS Representative and Liaison to the Nevada Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission.
- Appellate Litigation Section of the State Bar – John is a Member-At-Large on the Executive Committee of the Appellate Litigation Section of the Nevada State Bar and earning that position is based on his significant active involvement in the Section. For example, John volunteered for and currently serves on the Appellate Litigation Section’s Sub-committee on Specialization to develop standards, qualifications, and testing requirements for attorneys to be “specialized” in appellate practice in Nevada. John also volunteered for and currently serves on the sub-committee on testing for Civil Practitioners to develop the test, answer keys, and requirements for a passing grade for the Appellate Specialization.
- Access to Justice Commission – In February 2022, the Nevada Supreme Court officially appointed John to the Access to Justice Commission. He is also a member of the Sub-committee on Sealed Cases which the Commission established in 2023 to address access to justice issues for pro bono attorneys. The sub-committee’s goal is to make pro bono representation easier when documents have been sealed in district court, family court, and the Nevada Supreme Court.
- Pro Bono – In December 2024, John received the prestigious Vince Consul Memorial Pro Bono Award from the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada for his unwavering dedication through nearly 700 hours over three years in a civil forfeiture case, achieving a settlement that returned his client’s home and provided the necessary funding to rebuild it. John provided 300 hours or more to LACSN in each of 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. John provided 100 hours in 2024. In November 2022, John was recognized as Pro Bono Volunteer of the Month by LACSN.
- Early Career Accomplishments – John is a commercial litigator and appellate attorney in McDonald Carano’s Las Vegas office. John established his litigation and appellate credentials a short time after being admitted in October 2019. John has argued twice before the Nevada Supreme Court and once before the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Since January 2023, John has drafted and submitted five writ petitions to the Nevada Supreme Court – four have had answers ordered and been resolved by the en banc court. He has also assisted in drafting amicus briefs in Nevada Supreme Court cases. Overall, John’s advocacy has led to four published decisions establishing Nevada law.
- Community Service – John currently volunteers at JD Ambassador for Service 2 School, a 501(c)(3) non-profit that provides free college and graduate school application counseling to U.S. military Veterans and Service Members.
John’s complete professional biography is available here.
About McDonald Carano
In 2024, McDonald Carano celebrated its 75ᵗʰ Anniversary of serving Nevada’s legal, business, government, and civic communities. More than 60 lawyers and government affairs professionals serve Nevada, national, and international clients from our offices in Reno, Las Vegas, and Carson City. McDonald Carano provides transactional, litigation, regulatory, and government affairs services to startups, corporations, private companies, trade associations, nonprofits, public entities, high-net-worth individuals, and family offices throughout Nevada. We are deeply committed to supporting local communities by volunteering our time, resources, and services, including pro bono legal services, to nonprofit organizations, charitable foundations, and public service entities. We are proud to be your Nevada law firm since 1949.
Media Contact
Mark Buckovich
[email protected]
702.257.4559
You have chosen to send an email to McDonald Carano. The sending or receipt of this email and the information in it does not in itself create an attorney-client relationship. If you are not already a client, you should not provide us with information that you wish to have treated as privileged or confidential without first speaking to one of our lawyers. If you provide information before we confirm that you are a client and that we are willing and able to represent you, we may not be required to treat that information as privileged, confidential, or protected information, and we may be able to represent a party adverse to you.
I have read this and want to send an email.