Therese Shanks is the Vice-Office Managing Partner of our Reno office, and a director who works in the Business Litigation practice group. Her practice focuses on appeals and litigation matters such as tort law, contract law, complex commercial transactions, trade secret, real property law and probate and trust disputes. 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. She is also the Vice Office Managing Partner of Fennemore’s Reno office. Outside of work, you’ll probably find Therese chasing her two young daughters, along with her dog named Gina (which she has now learned is a terrible name for a dog). Being a working mother is 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, Order of the Coif
• B.A. University of Nevada, Reno

OTHER EXPERIENCE

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

• 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
• 2025 Top Rank Attorney List, Nevada Business Magazine
• 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^®, Business Litigation, 2016-2025
• Nevada Justice Association Rising Star, 2019
• “Twenty Under 40,” Reno Tahoe Young Professionals Network

• Author, “A Changing Legal Landscape,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author, “Citing Legal Authorities in Appellate Briefs,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author, “How to Brief Issues of First Impression on Appeal,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Panelist, “Voices from the Partner Track: Women Share Their Journeys,” Nevada State Bar Association
• Author, “The Party Presentation Rule,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author “The Doctrine of Invited Error,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author “How to Brief Issues of First Impression on Appeal,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author “Citing Legal Authorities in Appellate Briefs,” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• Author “A Changing Legal Landscape” Washoe County Bar Association Writ
• 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)

• Past President, Washoe County Bar Association Appellate Section
• Nevada Justice Association Amicus Committee, Nevada State Bar, 2019-present
• Nevada Justice Association Club X Committee Member, 2019
• Nevada Justice Association Women’s Caucus, 2019
• 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. Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit
• U.S. Supreme Court