Las Vegas Defense Attorney

Patrick E. McDonald
Protecting the Rights of the Accused

Patrick E. McDonald, “Pat”, is a third generation Nevadan and a second generation Las Vegan.  Pat earned his law degree from the University of Arizona in 1988.  Pat was licensed to practice law in Nevada that same year.  From 1988 until January of 1989 he served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Joseph S. Pavlikowski, here in Clark County, Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Eighth Judicial District Court.  In January of 1989, he went to work as a Deputy Public Defender with the Clark County Public Defender’s Office.  Pat spent three years at the Public Defender’s Office representing people accused of every type of crime from misdemeanors such as Domestic Battery and DUI, to felonies such as Sexual Assault and Murder.

In 1992, Pat left the Clark County Public Defender’s Office and began his career in private practice.  Upon entering private practice Pat was appointed by various Judges of the Eighth Judicial District Court to defend people accused of Murder.  Over that first five years of private practice Pat represented approximately twelve people accused of murder by the Clark County District Attorney’s Office.  In each of those murder cases the State of Nevada was seeking the Death Penalty.  Only one of Pat’s clients received a verdict of Death from a jury.  That verdict was later overturned on appeal after arguments made and argued by Pat in front of the Nevada Supreme Court.

Pat has also represented several other people accused of felony crimes at their jury trials.  In addition, Pat has represented people accused of crimes countless times at preliminary hearings, misdemeanor trials, parole and probation revocations, evidentiary hearings and sentencing hearings.

Pat has not only represented people accused of crimes here in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada, but, also in the outlying counties of Nevada, including, Nye, Lincoln, Elko, Eureka and Reno, Nevada.  In addition to handling criminal matters, Pat also handled matters for clients in the areas of family law, civil litigation, personal injury and administrative law (transportation, limousine and taxi cab companies).  For the past four years, Pat has limited his practice to defending people accused of crimes.

Pat is admitted to practice before all of the State Courts in Nevada, the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals located in San Francisco, California.

To speak to Pat about a matter in the area of criminal law, call the law offices of Steven B. Wolfson, (702) 385-7227, or you can call Pat directly by dialing (702) 280-7715.