Pickard4Nevada (original) (raw)

Senator Keith Pickard

Working for all Nevadans

Keith Is Proudly Endorsed By:

And Many More

About Keith:

Keith Pickard isn’t your typical Republican.

A former high school drafting and math teacher. Keith knows firsthand how important it is to invest in the future. He’s uniquely qualified to tackle the problems plaguing our education system today.

He knows teachers are one of our most valuable resources and they need to be paid more. In the 2019 legislative session, Keith was the first to call for spending surplus dollars all on education, and he continues to call for paying teachers like the professionals they are. Keith also wants teachers to lead the way on reforming Nevada’s failing education system, not bureaucrats and politicians.

A hard worker, who spent years in construction, Keith also knows how important it is to bring more jobs to Nevada to build a stable economy.

Keith believes welcoming top tier companies like Amazon and Apple to Nevada will create more highly skilled, well paid jobs for our community. Keith knows, diversifying our workforce is crucial to our success, after the toll the recession took on so many of us in 2007.

Laid off during the recession, Keith was competing for jobs with people half his age so he took a risk and went back to school. Third oldest in his law school class, he graduated and started practicing business and family law. Today he owns his own firm, employs six people and fights for families in some of their darkest moments.

Now Keith is doing even more to fight for Nevadans. He served in the Assembly in Carson City in 2017 and worked with both sides of the aisle to get things done, passing more legislation than any other freshman Republican. As Senator in 2019, Keith sponsored and helped pass important legislation protecting children and families.

Keith knows it’s an honor and privilege to serve you in Carson City and will always fight to make sure you, your friends and neighbors are protected.

Small Business Owner

Keith is a small business owner and knows what it means to have to make a payroll. He worked for businesses large and small in various leadership capacities. Keith’s employees love working with him, and his focus on the customer experience is the key to his success.

Keith is the founding partner at Nevada Family Law Group, a Henderson firm dedicated to helping families through difficult times. He focuses his practice on complex divorce cases, custody, and relocation disputes. Keith is also involved in various government affairs efforts within the legal community, pressing for improved protections and justice for litigants involved in the legal system. Keith was also the principal draftsman for AB 263 (2015) - declared the most significant family law legislation in more than a decade.

AB 263 eliminated conflicts in the existing statutory scheme and leveled the playing field for parents seeking parenting-time with their children. Keith's pioneering efforts served to make custody and relocation cases more fair and predictable by applying the same rules across the board. AB 263 won a solid majority in the fractious Assembly, was passed by unanimous vote in the Senate, and was signed into law by Governor Brian Sandoval on June 9, 2015.

Keith is also a Commissioner on the Uniform Law Commission, a national body of expert lawyers who help craft model laws for the entire nation to follow.

Prior to going to law school Keith had a diverse career that includes being a high school teacher, owning a commercial construction company, and working in management for Fortune 500 Companies, developing communities and building recreation centers and homes throughout southern Nevada. The experience Keith gained over the years has been invaluable, both in helping people with their legal problems as well as in drafting and supporting good legislation. Keith understands what it means to have to make payroll and is sensitive to the financial and regulatory pressures that Nevada citizens and businesses often face.

Life at Home

Keith is married to the Honorable Margaret Pickard and between them have seven wonderful children and four adorable grandchildren. Besides spending time with his family, Keith enjoys NASCAR racing, soccer, competitive shooting and visiting historical sites throughout the United States.

Keith's wife, Margaret, is an accomplished family law attorney in her own right. She is the top expert in Nevada on high-conflict custody matters and developed the UNLV program for parents involved in high-conflict custody cases. She is a published author, lecturer, and college professor. She is currently one of six District Court Judges for the Eighth Judicial District Courts, presiding over Abuse and Neglect cases, among others. She sat for five years as a Hearing Master , having presided over the Juvenile Drug Court, Juvenile Sex Offender Court, and the Truancy Diversion Court, and she received the Peacemaker of the Year award from the Mediators of Southern Nevada in 2011.

Keith and Margaret actively serve in their church and programs that serve children. Having spent almost four years as facilitators in their church's addiction recovery program, Keith and Margaret continue to work with youth and adults in recovery from all sorts of addictions, including substance and behavioral addictions, and they provide training and insight to parents in an effort to help their children avoid the ravages of addiction.