Peter Richard LaPorta

Peter Richard La Porta was a lifelong Nevadan, born June 29, 1947, in Henderson, where he was noted as the first baby born at St. Rose de Lima Hospital. He attended St. Peter's Catholic School and graduated from Basic High School in Henderson before earning a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Arizona State University in Phoenix. He began his working life in the family business, serving for twelve years as an insurance agent at his father's La Porta Insurance Agency.

Seeking a new calling, he left insurance to pursue the law, attending California Western School of Law in San Diego and completing his studies in eighteen months. He was admitted to the State Bar of Nevada on October 2, 1989. He clerked for the Honorable Joseph Pavlikowski of the Eighth Judicial District Court, an experience through which he discovered his passion for criminal defense work.

He was hired by Morgan Harris at the Clark County Public Defender's office, where he served as a Deputy Public Defender, and he went on to serve as a chief deputy in the state public defender's office in Southern Nevada. He devoted his legal career to the defense of the accused in the courts of Southern Nevada until his unexpected death on July 5, 2014, at the age of 67.