Firm Background

Atkin Winner & Sherrod, LLC, was founded in January of 2004 by Las Vegas attorneys Trevor Atkin, Thomas Winner and Susan Sherrod, all former partners of the Edwards Hale law firm. All three partners practice primarily in insurance law, including personal injury defense, insurance coverage, insurance bad faith, construction defect, commercial litigation, and workers’ compensation defense. The firm’s partners have deep experience in alternative dispute resolution, and frequently have been asked by their peers to serve as arbitrators and mediators in contested disputes. In addition, all of the firm’s partners have extensive experience with fraudulent or questioned insurance claims and examinations under oath.

The firm has already been awarded an “AV” rating by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest possible rating, based upon a comprehensive survey of the judiciary and of our peers in the Nevada legal community. The firm has been selected to appear in Martindale-Hubbell’s Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, in the areas of insurance law and insurance defense litigation.

Attorney Profiles

TREVOR L. ATKIN received his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Arizona State University in 1984. He was awarded his law degree from McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific in 1987. He is admitted to practice in all State and Federal courts in Nevada, in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and in the United States Supreme Court. He is a former adjunct legal instructor with the University of Nevada system. From 1987 to January of 2004, Trevor practiced law with the Edwards Hale firm as a litigation and trial attorney, predominantly in the area of personal injury defense, representing insurers, self-insured entities, and businesses. For his last several years with that firm, Trevor acted as a managing partner. Trevor has a particular interest in appellate practice, and is a veteran of many appeals before the Nevada Supreme Court on insurance matters, six of which are reported. He is a member of the State Bar of Nevada, the Clark County Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, and currently serves on the State Bar of Nevada Fee Dispute Panel. Trevor has extensive experience in personal injury defense, commercial litigation, insurance coverage, bad faith, and questioned claims.
Email: tatkin@awslawyers.com MORE INFO>>

A Regents law scholar, THOMAS E. WINNER earned his bachelor’s degree, with distinction, from the University of Nebraska in 1990, and his law degree from the University of Nebraska in 1993. As a student Thomas was selected by faculty committee for the National Moot Court Team, and earned faculty appointment to national membership in the Order of Barristers. He is admitted to practice in all State and Federal courts in Nevada, and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. From 1993 to January of 2004, Thomas practiced law with the Edwards Hale firm as a litigation and trial attorney, primarily representing insurance carriers as both coverage and defense counsel, and for his last six years was a partner in that firm. He is a member of the State Bar of Nevada, the Clark County Bar Association, and the Defense Research Institute. He is a litigation and trial lawyer, whose practice emphasizes the defense of personal and commercial lines insurers, personal injury defense, bad faith, insurance coverage, alternative dispute resolution, workers' compensation defense and questioned claims.
Email: twinner@awslawyers.com MORE INFO>>

SUSAN M. SHERROD obtained her bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University in 1975, and her law degree from Detroit Law School in 1992. While in law school, she served on the Moot Court honors board and was named best oralist in the administrative moot court competition. She is admitted to practice in all State and Federal courts in Nevada and Michigan, and in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a member of the Clark County Bar Association, the State Bar of Nevada, the State Bar of Michigan and the Defense Research Institute. Susan currently serves on the State Bar of Nevada Lawyers Referral Committee as well as the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Citizen Review Board. She presently acts as Managing Partner for the firm. From 1994 to January of 2004, Susan practiced law with the Edwards Hale firm as a litigation and trial attorney with a varied practice, which included insurance defense, insurance fraud, municipal liability defense, labor and collective bargaining. Her main areas of practice include insurance defense, with special focus on fraudulent and questioned claims litigation, workers’ compensation defense, premises/public liability defense and insurance coverage.
Email: ssherrod@awslawyers.com MORE INFO>>

JAMES J. SMEDLEY earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2000 and his Juris Doctorate from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2003. He focuses his practice on insurance and general civil litigation, with an emphasis in personal injury law. His legal experience also includes criminal law, mental health law, medical malpractice and construction defect law. He has interned with the Mental Health Patient Advocacy Program in San Diego, California, the Vista County Public Defender\'s Office in Vista California, and the Federal Public Defender\'s Office in Reno, Nevada. James is admitted to practice law in Nevada in both the Clark County District Courts and the United States District Courts for the District of Nevada.
Email: jsmedley@awslawyers.com MORE INFO>>

DOUGLAS M. ROWAN was born and raised in Las Vegas, and received his bachelor's degree from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California in 1988, and his law degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona in 1992. While attending law school, he was a law clerk for the Honorable John Kelly of the Pima County Superior Court. Doug was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada in 1992 and the United States District Court for the District of Nevada in 1993. He is a member of the Nevada State Bar, Clark County Bar Association, and American Bar Association. Prior to joining Atkin, Winner & Sherrod, he practiced for 14 years with two other Las Vegas insurance defense firms. Doug's areas of practice have included, and continue to include, commercial litigation, and many areas of insurance defense, including first- and third-party defense; coverage (opinions and litigation); bad faith; special investigations (EUOs and litigation); construction defect litigation; and subrogation.
Email: drowan@awslawyers.com

CHRISTINE BOOZE received her B.A. in 1994 and her B.S. in 1995 from the University of Nevada Las Vegas and her law degree from the University of Oregon, Eugene, Orgon. Christine was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada and the United States District Court for the District of Nevada in 2001. She is a member of the Nevada State Bar, Clark County Bar Association, and American Bar Association. Christine’s areas of practice include insurance defense, premise liability, personal injury and construction defect litigation. Email: cbooze@awslawyers.com

JOHN P. SHANNON earned his bachelor's degree from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1995 with a B.A. in Political Science and History.  John obtained his law degree from Seton Hall University in Newark, New Jersey, in 1999.  Following law school, John was admitted to practice law in the State of New Jersey and the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.  After relocating to Las Vegas, John served as law clerk to the Honorable Ron D. Parraguirre with the Eighth Judicial District Court in Clark County, Nevada, from 1999 to 2001.   He was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada and the United States District Court for the District of Nevada in 2001.  John's area of practice includes: insurance and general liability defense; personal injury; premises liability; commercial litigation; and real estate litigation, including actions for breach of contract, specific performance, mandatory disclosures under Nevada statute and broker/agent liability.
Email: jshannon@awslawyers.com

KELLY M. SMITH received her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 1999, and earned a law degree from the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV in 2004. During law school, Kelly volunteered for the Clark County Legal Services Program, teaching free legal education classes in the subject of Bankruptcy; externed for the Honorable Judge Alan Earl in Department 19 of the Eighth Judicial District Court; and interned for the Federal Public Defender’s Las Vegas office. Kelly has been practicing law since passing the Nevada bar in 2004, and has extensive experience in civil litigation, including plaintiff personal injury and defense of complex litigation matters involving construction defect allegations, products liability, and contract disputes. Kelly also served for a short time as a Deputy City Attorney for the City of Las Vegas, where she successfully tried numerous criminal misdemeanor trials. Kelly’s current practice focuses on insurance defense and general civil litigation.
Email: ksmith@awslawyers.com

Of Counsel Profiles

A specialist in administrative law, ANN ELWORTH WINNER graduated magna cum laude from Creighton University Law School with a Juris Doctor in 1996 and the following year gained admittance to the Nebraska and U.S. District Courts as well as the state and federal district courts for Nevada. Her practice areas currently extend to liability defense and insurance coverage, and Ann additionally serves as an administrative law judge for the Nevada Taxicab Authority. From 2000 to 2005, Ann worked with the Nevada Attorney General’s office.
Email: awinner@awslawyers.com

RUTH L. COHEN obtained her Bachelor’s Degree from St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, New Jersey and her Law Degree from Seton Hall University Law School [in 1975]. After being admitted to the Bar in New Jersey, she relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and was admitted to the Bar in 1976 as one of the first one (100) hundred women admitted to practice law in Nevada. She went on to be one of the first female Deputy District Attorneys in the Clark County District Attorney’s Office between 1977 and 1978. During that time, she had in excess of a dozen jury trials two hundred (200) preliminary hearings and more than fifty (50) misdemeanor trials in virtually all aspects of criminal prosecution. In March of 1978, Ruth received her appointment as an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Nevada (Department of Justice). She was the first woman so appointed in the State of Nevada. For the first eight (8) years with the Department of Justice, she prosecuted all types of federal crimes from arson and counterfeiting through fraud and tax evasion. As a criminal prosecutor, she handled in excess of five (500) hundred cases trying approximately sixty (60) of them. Additionally, as a criminal prosecutor, she argued more than thirty (30) times in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1986, she transferred to the Civil Division of the United States Attorney’s Office to represent the United States and all its agencies, officers and employees in virtually all aspects of federal civil litigation. As a civil litigator, she tried in excess of twenty-five (25) cases and had at least twenty (20) more appearances before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on the civil cases she handled. She has an expertise in medical malpractice/wrongful death litigation as well as all aspects of personal injury, civil rights litigation and employment discrimination law. Ms. Cohen has an interest and emphasis on personal injury fraud. Ruth retired from her position as an AUSA after twenty-nine (29) years in January of 2007 and joined the firm as Of Counsel in March 2007.
Email: rcohen@awslawyers.com