Amy Ferreira was born in Massachusetts to parents Barbara and David Ferreira, two Catholic School teachers and small business owners.  At a very young age Amy developed a passion for the law.  At 4 years old Amy watched The People’s Court daily with her Paternal Grandmother, Mary.  Amy credits her grandmother (and Judge Wapner) with setting her on a path to a legal career.  

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In 2003 Ferreira obtained a double Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Art History from the College of the Holy Cross.  During her time at Holy Cross Amy served her school and her community in countless ways including as Head Tutor of the college’s writing workshop.  Amy assisted foreign students whose primary language was not English to grasp American writing style, grammar, and more.  Through these sessions Amy developed a keen interest in other cultures which later inspired her foreign travels.  Amy has visited 13 countries. 

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After graduating from Holy Cross Amy attended law school at Syracuse University College of Law.  There Amy was the managing editor of a legal journal called The Digest: National Italian American Bar Association Law Journal.  At the time, then Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was a subscribing member of the journal.  Amy graduated from Syracuse Law in 2006.  Amy was awarded woman of the year. 

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The day after Amy’s law school graduation she boarded a flight to Las Vegas to interview with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office.  She was hired by District Attorney David Roger as a Deputy District Attorney and thereafter promoted by District Attorney Steven Wolfson to Chief Deputy District Attorney and spent nearly 13 years as a prosecutor. While at the District Attorney’s Office Amy dedicated her career to being a voice for the most vulnerable members of this community. 

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In 2015 Amy earned her spot on the Special Victims Unit carrying a caseload primarily dedicated to children under the age of 10 who were victims of sexual abuse.  Amy prosecuted these challenging cases for over three years, taking many of them all the way to jury verdict. 

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Simultaneously, Amy created the first ever Animal Cruelty Unit in the Clark County District Attorney’s Office.  With the help and support of District Attorney Steven Wolfson, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and local animal control agencies, the unit gained momentum and served as an example for other counties that were interested in creating a similar task force. 

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Amy’s hard work related to combating animal cruelty was recognized nationally in 2017 when she was officially named as one of America’s Top Ten Animal Defenders by the Animal Legal Defense Fund.  Amy also earned national accolades when she was awarded the Humane Law Enforcement Award in 2017 by the Humane Society of the United States and the National Sheriffs’ Association.  This award recognized Amy’s leadership in combating illegal animal abuse. 

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Amy finished her career at the District Attorney’s Office as the Team Chief of the Domestic Violence Unit wherein she lead a team of attorneys and support staff and dedicated her work to improving services for victims of domestic crimes. 

In March of 2020 Amy earned a judicial appointment to the Las Vegas Justice Court as a Hearing Master. 

 

Amy continues to serve the community as a judicial officer in that capacity, performing a number of judicial duties that overlap with the duties of a Justice of the Peace.  Amy’s hard work as a Hearing Master earned her the top award in 2022 for Las Vegas Justice Court Employee of the Year.

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Amy has been married to her husband Jamie for 7 years and they are the proud parents of 4-year-old daughter Ava.  Together they have a small farm filled with rescue animals including dogs, chickens, pigs, horses and a desert tortoise.