Therese Shanks is a director who works in the Business Litigation practice group out of our Reno office. Her practice focuses on appeals and litigation matters such as tort law, contract law, complex commercial transactions, employment law, trade secret, real property law and probate and trust. She possesses extensive appellate experience and has successfully handled numerous appeals before the Nevada Supreme Court, Nevada Court of Appeals, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Therese has extensive experience in drafting briefs, amicus briefs, writ petitions, and post-decision petitions.  Therese also has substantial bench and jury trial experience.

Born and raised in Reno, Therese began her career as a clerk at the Nevada Supreme Court for the Honorable Justice James W. Hardesty. During her career in the Silver State, Therese was the first attorney representing an amicus party to argue before the Nevada Court of Appeals, as well as the first attorney to receive a written opinion from an appeal in the Nevada Supreme Court’s pro bono program.

Active in the Reno community, Therese is currently a member of the Board of the Washoe County Bar Association, a member at large of the Appellate Section of the State Bar of Nevada, and serves on the amicus committee of the Nevada Justice Association. Outside of work, you’ll probably find Therese chasing her two young daughters, along with her two dogs, one named Ruby and the other named Gina (which she has now learned is a terrible name for a dog). Being a working mother like being the ringleader of a goat rodeo, but she would not have it any other way.

• J.D. University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, Top 3% of Class
• B.A. University of Nevada, Reno

OTHER EXPERIENCE

• Commercial Contingency Litigation
• Litigation
• Mediation and Arbitration
• Real Estate Litigation
• Trust and Estate Litigation

• Abarra v. State of Nevada, 131 Nev. 20, 342 P.3d 994 (Nev. 2015)
• MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC v. Peppermill Casinos, Inc., 134 Nev. 235, 416 P.3d 249 (Nev. 2018)
• Sarfo v. Nevada, State Board of Medical Examiners,134 Nev. 709, 429 P.3d 650 (Nev. 2018)
• Pascua v. Bayview Loan Serv., LLC, 135 Nev. 29, 434 P.3d 287 (Nev. 2019)
• Miller v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., 976 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2020)
• Schueler v. Ad Art, Inc., 136 Nev., Adv. Op. 52, 472 P.3d 686 (Nev. App. 2020)

• Best Lawyers in America^®, Appellate Practice and Commercial Litigation, 2025
• Best Lawyers in America®, Ones to Watch – Appellate Practice, Commercial Litigation, 2023
• “Legal Elite,” Nevada Business Magazine, 2015, 2019-2022
• Mountain States Super Lawyers Rising Stars^®, 2016-2024
• Nevada Justice Association Rising Star, 2019

• Author, “The Legacy of Justice James W. Hardesty,” Nevada Lawyer, December 2022
• Interview, “Embrace the Chaos,” Fennemore Blog, June 9, 2022
• Featuring, “People: Therese Shanks, Geenamarie Carucci join Fennemore in Reno,” Northern Nevada Business Weekly, November 11, 2021
• Author, “The ‘Muslim Ban’,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author, “The ‘Not-A-Muslim Ban,’” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author, “The Nevada Supreme Court is Not Writs-R-US,” The Advocate
• Author, “Have Some Standards (of Review),” The Advocate
• Author, “Protecting Your Pocket: Attorney Fees and Costs on Appeal,” The Advocate
• Author, “Timeline to litigate on Remand,” The Advocate
• Author, “Viva Las Vegas: Restraining Media Coverage of the Las Vegas Shooting,” Nevada Lawyer, November 3, 2018
• Author, “Before Death Do We Part: The Constitutionality of Revocation on Divorce Statutes,” Nevada State Bar Family Law Review
• Author, “The Kogod Affair(s),” Nevada State Bar Family Law Review

PUBLISHED OPINIONS

• Abarra v. State of Nevada, 131 Nev. 20, 342 P.3d 994 (Nev. 2015)
• MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC v. Peppermill Casinos, Inc., 134 Nev. 235, 416 P.3d 249 (Nev. 2018)
• Sarfo v. Nevada, State Board of Medical Examiners,134 Nev. 709, 429 P.3d 650 (Nev. 2018)
• Pascua v. Bayview Loan Serv., LLC, 135 Nev. 29, 434 P.3d 287 (Nev. 2019)
• Miller v. C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc., 976 F.3d 1016 (9th Cir. 2020)
• Schueler v. Ad Art, Inc., 136 Nev., Adv. Op. 52, 472 P.3d 686 (Nev. App. 2020)

• Washoe County Bar Association Board Member, Treasurer
• Committee Member at Large, Appellate Section, Nevada State Bar
• Nevada Justice Association Amicus Committee, 2019-present
• Nevada Justice Association Club X Committee Member, 2019
• Nevada Justice Association Women’s Caucus, 2019
• National Association Women Lawyers
• Northern Nevada Women Lawyers
• Northern Nevada Women’s Mentoring Circle, 2012-2014
• American Inns of Court, Bruce R. Thompson Chapter, 2012-present
• Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada Pro Bono Project, 50 Hours Club 2014, 2016, 2018, 2020

• Nevada
• U.S. District Court District of Nevada
• U.S. Court of Appeals Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court