Bruce Robert Laxalt

Bruce Robert Laxalt was a Reno native and the grandson of Basque immigrants, part of a four-generation Nevada family. After graduating from Reno High School in 1969, he earned an undergraduate degree in philosophy at Stanford University and went on to graduate from Stanford Law School in 1976. He began his legal career as a lawyer at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C., before returning to Nevada to clerk for Nevada Supreme Court Justice Gordon Thompson.

Bruce then joined the Washoe County District Attorney's Office, where he eventually became Chief Criminal Deputy under District Attorney Cal Dunlap. He moved to the private sector in 1982, and in 1985, together with his partner Don Nomura, established the statewide law firm of Laxalt and Nomura. Over the course of his career he developed a national reputation as a civil litigator, earning recognition in Best Lawyers in America and Chambers Leading Business Lawyers, and becoming a member of the American Board of Trial Attorneys.

Bruce was diagnosed with ALS in 2001, yet he continued to practice law for many years despite his growing physical challenges. During this time he returned to his early love of writing, publishing a book of poems, Songs of Mourning and Worship, which was partially translated and published in Basque and featured in several anthologies and law journals. He had completed the first draft of a second book, Tenets of Survival, at the time of his passing. Beyond the law, he was an accomplished and enthusiastic soaring pilot who competed in numerous regional and national competitions.