Vivian Elizabeth Lynch

Vivian Elizabeth Lynch was a Reno attorney whose career in the law spanned more than three decades. A native of Detroit, born June 17, 1940, to Edward and Winifred Grant Lynch, she settled in Reno in 1968 and practiced law from 1961 until her retirement in 1995. Colleagues remembered her as a formidable legal thinker who mentored a generation of younger lawyers in case analysis and advocacy.

Lynch was involved in some of the most closely watched litigation of her era in Nevada. She was part of the team of attorneys who sued the British rock band Judas Priest, alleging that satanic subliminal messages in the group's music contributed to the 1985 shootings of two Sparks youths. She later represented former Washoe District Judge Jerry Carr Whitehead in his contest with the state Judicial Discipline Commission - a protracted and bitter dispute that divided the Nevada Supreme Court. Whitehead recalled her as having 'one of the keenest legal minds' of anyone he had encountered in 36 years of practice, noting that she 'shaped and trained many young lawyers in the analysis of cases and fighting for the right.'

Vivian Lynch died on August 3, 1996, at her home. She was survived by her sons, David and Edward A. Rubin, and her daughter, Tuesday Lynch, all of Reno; her sisters, Joanne Reausse and Shannon Miklofsky; and seven grandchildren.