Doreen Hartwell

Doreen Spears Hartwell formed Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd. in 2014 with Laura Thalacker, a friend and accomplished attorney with whom she worked for over 14 years at Nevada’s then-largest law firm.  Doreen has practiced in the area of business and commercial litigation in Nevada since 2000. Her litigation practice includes employment law, trade secret, non-compete claims, real estate, trust-probate matters and a wide range of other business-related disputes. Doreen has successfully defended employers in cases involving wrongful termination, breach of contract, discrimination and/or harassment in violation of Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA and state employment statutes. She also has substantial experience in successfully bringing breach of contract, trade secret, non-compete and trust and probate claims on behalf of her clients.

Doreen is listed in the 2016 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation (Las Vegas)®.  Doreen, who has an AV Preeminent rating by Martindale-Hubbell®, has been recognized by her peers as one of Nevada’s Legal Elite® every year since 2012.

One of Doreen’s first appearances in court as a new attorney was representing an 18 month old child through the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada’s (previously known as the Clark County Legal Aid Center) Children’s Attorney Project (“CAP”). This experience, which demonstrated to her the dire need for children to have a voice in the legal system, cemented her commitment to providing pro bono services.  Since taking that first pro bono case in 2000, Doreen has continued to provide pro bono legal services to deserving individuals who otherwise would not have access to our legal system.  It’s her policy to always be working on at least one active pro bono case at all times.  She often exceeds this and, in 2014, she had six active pro bono cases.

Doreen is a member of the Pro Bono Advisory Council for the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and was appointed to the Nevada Supreme Court’s Access to Justice Commission in February 2014.  As one of the founding members of Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd., Doreen remains committed to providing bono legal services to deserving individuals in conjunction with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada (HTTP://WWW.LACSN.ORG/). Doreen has received various awards for her pro bono work, including 2014 “Pro Bono Attorney of the Year” Award from the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, 2008 Attorney of the Year from the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association, 2008 Bank of America Local Hero Award, 2005 Judge Sally Loehrer Pro Bono Service Award and 2001 Myrna Williams Children’s Pro Bono Award.

Since 2004, Doreen has served as a supervising attorney for the Clark County Law Foundation’s Trial By Peers Program (“TBP”).   TBP is juvenile diversion program run where students prosecute or defend students accused of misdemeanor offenses in the courtroom before actual judges and juries of their peers. TBP is an excellent program that has been around for over 25 years and has served as a model for juvenile diversion programs around the country. 

(HTTP://WWW.CLARKCOUNTYLAWFOUNDATION.ORG/TRIAL-BY-PEERS/).

Doreen is a 2010 graduate of the Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Las Vegas program, a past president of the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association and the current chair of the LVNBA’s Attorneys in the Schools Program (WWW.LASVEGASNBA.ORG).  In July 2014, Doreen was appointed for a three year term as a lawyer representative for the Nevada United States District Court.

Doreen, who is originally from Connecticut, attended Fairfield University where she earned a B.A. in English with a minor in Spanish.  Upon graduation from Fairfield, Doreen backpacked through Europe for the summer before relocating to Sacramento, California.  In 1990, Doreen began working in the advertising department at the Sacramento Bee Newspaper where she made life-long friends and developed a love for giving back to the community.

In 1997, Doreen decided to attend McGeorge School of Law where she studied, among other things, business law and employment and labor law.  While at McGeorge, Doreen was the President of the Black Law Students Association and tutored first year law students in Real Property, Civil Procedure and Contracts. In 1999, she had the opportunity to take a course in Salzburg, Austria with United States Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy comparing the protections granted by the First Amendment with the free speech provisions contained in the European Union.  In May 2000, Doreen obtained her J.D. from McGeorge with honors and moved to Las Vegas to begin her distinguished legal career.Nevada’s then-largest law firm

Firm Description

Laura Thalacker and Doreen Spears Hartwell joined together in 2014 to form the employment law and business litigation law firm of Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd. after working together for nearly 15 years, first as associates and then as partners, in the litigation department of Nevada’s then-largest law firm.  A strong foundation built on friendship and trust, coupled with more than 35 years of combined legal experience, give Laura and Doreen a solid base from which to serve their clients in Southern Nevada and beyond.

Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd. provides high-quality, cost-effective legal services to businesses of all sizes in the practice areas of:

Human Resources Compliance and Strategic Counseling; Employment and Labor Law Litigation; and Business and Commercial Litigation

“We love what we do. You’ll love what we can do for your business.”

As a boutique employment law and business litigation firm, Hartwell Thalacker, Ltd. is able to provide its clients with the individualized attention and care their matters deserve.  Laura and Doreen take a hands-on, personal approach to their work, getting to know their clients and understanding the ins and outs of their businesses.  Ask their clients, and you will learn that Laura and Doreen are trusted, invaluable advisors and advocates.  They take a pragmatic, common sense approach to legal representation and work side-by-side with clients to allow them to focus on growing and running their business instead of costly legal matters.

Community Leadership

Laura and Doreen have served in leadership positions in various Bar and community organizations and are well-known and respected in the legal community.  They share a philosophy of fostering a firm culture that values diversity and the unique traits and skills that purpose-driven attorneys possess in providing clients with excellent representation, while also making a difference in their community.  In December 2014, Doreen was named “Pro Bono Attorney of the Year” by The Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada–a well deserved honor recognizing her for her tireless efforts and advocacy providing free legal services to disadvantaged individuals in the community.