Library Board of Trustees

Cortney Young is a Mediator and Arbitrator at ADR Partners. Her approach to dispute resolution combines years of litigation experience with a pragmatic problem-solving style. Ms. Young spent over a decade with the Litigation and Trial team at Chapman Law Firm, one of Nevada’s premier eminent domain and real property law firms. Cortney was a key player in the firm’s ADR litigation practice where she worked with the firm’s attorneys to ensure each case was well prepare for trial, participating in substantive strategic and tactical planning with an eye towards winning or obtaining a favorable settlement.

In 2021, she founded ADR Partners which is a full-service dispute resolution company where Ms. Young continues to resolve millions of dollars annually in pending or threatened litigation.

Ms. Young’s mediation practice is focused on the resolution of litigated disputes, including, but not limited to, asset valuation, eminent domain and land valuation litigation, securities, probate and trust disputes, breach of contract, homeowner association disputes, foreclosures and super-priority mediation, boundary disputes, landlord-tenant, dissolution of marriage, and complex civil litigation.

Cortney is the President of the Nevada Dispute Resolution Coalition, Chair of Influential Women of the Sierra Nevada, Vice Chair of the Reno Human Rights Commission and founder of the Children’s Cancer Classic. In 2017, Cortney was named a Twenty Under Forty winner. In 2019, she received a Powerful Women award for her work in dispute resolution and contributions to the community.

Cortney’s commitment to the Washoe County Law Library is rooted in her deep belief that all people should have access to quality legal information and services.

Ms. Halstead is a fifth generation Nevadan, fourth native born, and has called Northern Nevada home her entire life. Ms. Halstead graduated from Edward C. Reed High School in Sparks, Nevada, and is also a proud graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with Minors in Spanish and Economics. After graduating from college, Ms. Halstead attended law school in Washington D.C. at American University’s Washington College of Law.

After graduating law school, Ms. Halstead served as a law clerk to the Honorable Scott Jordan in the Family Court Division of the Second Judicial District Court; Justice William Maupin of the Nevada Supreme Court; and the Honorable Howard McKibben of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada. Ms. Halstead then joined the law firm of Hale Lane, now known as Holland & Hart, where she undertook a variety of litigation matters. Wanting to gain more courtroom experience, in 2007, Ms. Halstead joined the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office as a Criminal Deputy District Attorney where she began to practice criminal law for the first time in her career, working her way up to large scale felony cases.

Ms. Halstead now enjoys private practice, focusing primarily on basic estate planning, probates, and litigation. Ms. Halstead appreciates the value of the Law Library as a community resource and is honored to sit on its Board of Trustees.

Aurora Partridge is a native Nevadan. She attended the University of Nevada, Reno, and obtained her Master's in Library Science from the University of Texas, Denton. She is a public librarian for the Washoe County Library System and has worked at the Downtown Reno Library and the Spanish Springs Library.

Aurora lives with her family in Reno. She enjoys asking you what you're reading, walking the dog, watching movies with her family, and reading books. She supports local libraries, access to information for all, and the freedom to read.