Hon. Cynthia Lu is a judge for the Second Judicial District Court in Washoe County, Nevada. She was elected to the bench in 2014.
Lu received a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. She went on to earn a J.D. from the John Marshall Law School.
She served a clerkship for the Hon. Scott T. Jordan with the Second Judicial District Court, Family Division in 1994.
After her clerkship, Lu became chief deputy public defender with the Washoe County Public Defender’s Office. She remained in that capacity until 2007.
She then joined the Washoe County Alternate Public Defender’s Office, where she worked as a deputy alternate public defender until 2012.
It was at that time, Lu joined the Second Judicial District Court as a Court Master in the Family Division.
She held that position until her election to the bench in 2014, where she continued to preside in the Family Division. Lu holds the distinction of being the first minority to be elected to the Second Judicial District Court.
She is an avid speaker and educator on issues affecting children and families in the court system.
Lu has served on the Nevada Supreme Court’s Specialty Court Funding Committee, the Nevada Children’s Commission, and the Child Welfare Juvenile Law Advisory Committee and the Family Violence and Domestic Relations Advisory Committee of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges.
Partnered with Northern Nevada Adult Mental Health Services, she helped initiate the Assisted Outpatient Program (AOT) in Washoe County. The program seeks to provide outpatient treatment to adults suffering from mental health issues with court oversight.
In addition to her work with AOT, Lu also inaugurated the first Safe Babies Court program in Nevada. The program works with parents and their children to ensure the child's well-being and that their developmental milestones are met.