I am from Beaver County, PA, and specifically Aliquippa. Born and raised there. The whole area was blue collar. It was a shot and a beer kind of town. I can also say I am proud to have been raised there, and in those days, I thought Aliquippa was the center of the world. The J&L Steel Mill was pumping out steel and the related businesses were booming. However, due to meeting the right person, the love of my life and present wife, Dawn, I moved from western PA so she could pursue her dreams on the stages of Broadway. New York was a giant, crazy and busy city, but it was also a fun place to live. New Yorkers in a sense were much like western Pennsylvania people, in that they were tough but friendly. It wasn't hard to strike up a conversation on the subway or in the bar. Either way, Dawn's career took us from New York to Las Vegas in 1993. What a change. But we liked Las Vegas enough to essentially call it home since 1993.
I grew up with the influence that education was the key to success. My father, his two brothers, my two brothers, and several cousins are doctors. They were all influenced the same way, and it all started with my grandparents who were immigrants with little education. My grandparents knew hard work but thought education would lead to a more successful and stable future. As for me, I was not cut out for medicine, and like 3 of my other cousins, I choose law school. But I first had a career before law school, working in the medical field, wherein I ran a mobile breast cancer screening business before I got married. Tri-State Mobile Mammography was a business that took its equipment to businesses that employed a lot of women and set up on-site mammography imaging for the convenience of the clients. I was the business manager and my father the licensed physician who oversaw the medical aspect of the business. After getting married, I left the business because I moved from Aliquippa. Eventually I ended up in law school in Los Angeles after my wife's gig in Las Vegas ended in late 1997. I went to law school at Southwestern University School of Law and graduated in the top 15% of my class. My first child, a boy, was born during my first year of law school and that, at least, doubled my workload. But it was worth every second. Either way, after law school the family moved back to the New York area and I passed the bar exam in both New Jersey and New York. I worked in New Jersey for a year for a small firm doing mostly contract work and collections, but the family moved again after 1 year (too cold after 8 years out west) and we went back to Las Vegas in May 2001. Another half year later and I passed the Nevada Bar exam and was a licensed attorney in the State of Nevada.
My career in Las Vegas started with the Christensen Law Firm, where I primarily handled plaintiff's personal injury cases. In late 2003, for personal reasons I left the firm and started my own practice, the Zernich Law Office. From 2003 until 2017, the Zernich Law Office grew to a small firm of 7 employees and we handled mostly family law cases, but I also kept up with the personal injury cases. My experience includes litigation and negotiation, motions, arbitrations, settlement conferences and trials and the representation of thousands of clients. I am confident to handle cases in all areas of both family law and personal injury. I am also interested in taking criminal law cases. Presently I work at the Roberts Stoffel Family Law Group with three of the best other attorney’s that I know.
I find being a lawyer very interesting, challenging but fun, sometimes frustrating, but always rewarding. I take my job very serious. Being a lawyer is a profession and I treat it that way. And, other than my family of 5, my work is the most important part of my life. But I do have a life outside of the courtroom and the office. For 13 years I've assisted my boy’s youth wrestling club or high school team and traveled with my 2 sons all over the country to wrestling tournaments. I often traveled with other youth wrestlers, taking them with me to tournaments in a used motor home that I purchased for that very purpose. I have one son left in high school, a State Champ wrestler with very good grades, and my older son is on the Dean's List at the University of Nevada Reno studying to be a doctor. My daughter, also in high school enjoys playing tennis and softball, and of course, keeping up her grades. My wife and I enjoy spending time together having a glass of wine, a bite to eat, or entertaining at our house. We can also be found a couple of times a week at the local gym or walking the Black Mountain hill for some exercise. Of course, this editorial wouldn't be complete if I didn't tell everyone that my family also includes four dogs, two cats, and seven chickens.
I hope to hear from you should you need a lawyer in the area of Family Law or if you are injured due to the negligence of another.
