Dean Rapoport Commended in Cahill's 'On Business Blog'

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Interim Dean and Gordon Silver Professor of Law Nancy Rapoport was commended for her recent work examining bankruptcy fees in Joe Cahill's 'On Business Blog' in Crain's Chicago Business on January 16, 2013.

Entitled, "One Group Always Wins in Bankruptcy: The Lawyers," Cahill's blog post examines how corporate bankruptcy favors attorneys and other professionals who steer companies through the process. According to Cahill, Chicago-based Tribune Co. paid professional services fees approaching $300 million during the four-year reorganization that ended December 31, and Comdisco Inc. has paid more than $9 million to the law firm of the trustee overseeing a Chapter 11 case that was filed in 2001 and is ongoing.

In his blog post, Cahill commends Dean Rapoport for her recent work examining bankruptcy fees: "I agree with bankruptcy fee examiner Nancy Rapoport, a law professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, who says firms should have to demonstrate that the stated fee isn't just a 'rack rate' by presenting evidence that 'people really pay it in the real world.'"

Congratulations, Nancy!

Professor Griffin to Participate in Panel Commemorating the Fortieth Anniversary of Roe v. Wade

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Leslie Griffin will participate in a panel hosted by Planned Parenthood of Southern Nevada (PPSN) commemorating the fortieth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The panel, which will be held on Thursday, January 31 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m., will discuss reproductive choice, the importance of Roe v. Wade, and what the future holds for reproductive justice in our society.

In addition to Professor Griffin, the other panelists include Christina Hernandez, Director of the Jean Nidetch Women's Center; Dr. Joanne Goodwin, Director of the Women's Research Institute of Nevada; and Congresswoman Shelley Berkley.

The panel will be held at the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) office, 708 South 6th Street in Las Vegas. Light refreshments will be provided. The event is free and open to the public, although an RSVP is required by email to tara.brosnan@pprm.org or by telephone at 702-878-3622 ext. 200

Professor Griffin currently serves as William S. Boyd Professor of Law. She is author of Law and Religion: Cases and Materials; editor of Law and Religion: Cases in Context; and author of numerous articles and book chapters about law, religion, politics and ethics. Professor Griffin is a graduate of Yale University (M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D., Religious Studies) and Stanford Law School.

Boyd to Host Lecture on Masculinities and the Law

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that it will host a lecture entitled, "What's Masculinity Got to Do with It?: Gender, Pop Culture, and Law," on Monday, January 28, 2013. The lecture will be given by William S. Boyd Professor of Law Ann C. McGinley and Suffolk Professor of Law Frank Rudy Cooper at 4:30 p.m. in Room 102 at Boyd School of Law. The lecture has been approved for one CLE credit.

The lecture will be based on McGinley and Cooper's recently published book, Masculinities and the Law: A Multidimensional Approach. According to masculinities theory, masculinity is not a biological imperative but a social construction. Men engage in a constant struggle with other men to prove their masculinity. Masculinities and the Law develops a multidimensional approach. It sees categories of identity—including various forms of raced-, classed-, and sex-oriented masculinities—as operating simultaneously and creating different effects in different contexts. By applying multidimensional masculinities theory to law, McGinley and Cooper's cutting-edge collection both expands the field of masculinities and develops new thinking about important issues in feminist and critical race theories. Topics covered in the book include how norms of masculinity influence the behavior of policemen, firefighters, and international soldiers on television and in the real world; employment discrimination against masculine cocktail waitresses and all transgendered employees; the legal treatment of fathers in the U.S. and the ways unauthorized migrant fathers use the dangers of border crossing to boost their masculine esteem; how Title IX fails to curtail the masculinity of sport; the racist assumptions behind the prison rape debate; the surprising roots of homophobia in Jamaican dancehall music; and the contradictions of the legal debate over women veiling in Turkey. Ultimately, the book argues that multidimensional masculinities theory can change how law is interpreted and applied.

Professor McGinley has taught at Boyd School of Law since 1999. A cum laude 1982 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, Professor McGinley clerked for the Honorable Joseph S. Lord, III of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and practiced commercial, employment, and civil rights law. Professor McGinley is an internationally recognized scholar in the area of employment law, employment discrimination and disability law and a leader in "Multidimensional Masculinities and the Law," an emerging discipline that applies masculinities theory from social sciences to legal interpretation. She has published more than 30 law review articles and numerous book chapters on employment law and anti-discrimination law. Professor McGinley is also co-author of Disability Law: Cases, Materials, Problems, Fifth Edition (LexisNexis) (with Laura Rothstein). In addition, her book in progress, which will be published by New York University Press in 2013, is entitled, Through a Different Lens: Multidimensional Masculinities and Employment Discrimination Law. Professor McGinley has taught at the University of Insubria, Italy, and has presented a lecture on sexual harassment to students enrolled in the master’s degree program in Labor Law at the Universidad de Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago, Chile. She has recently been invited to join the Academic Board of the Master’s in Labor Law program at the University of Adolfo Ibanez.

Professor Cooper is a tenured Professor at Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a graduate of Amherst College and Duke University Law School, where he served as a staff editor on the Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy. Prior to entering law teaching, he served as a federal district court judicial clerk, practiced law, and was a teaching assistant at Harvard University, where he won three teaching awards. At Suffolk, Professor Cooper has taught Constitutional Law; Constitutional Law/Criminal Procedure; Criminal Law; and Race, Gender & Law. A leader in national Law Professor organizations, Professor Cooper has served on the Boards of the Society of American Law Teachers, Latina/o Critical Legal Theory, and the John Mercer Langston Writing Workshop. His scholarly interests lie at the intersection of Criminal Procedure and Critical Race Feminism, especially as applied to policing and men of color.

Additional information regarding registration and CLE credit is available here.

BLSA Team Brings Home Two Mock Trial Trophies

UNLV Boyd School of Law BLSA Team (l-r)
Britannica Collins, Jonathan Lee, Sonya Miller, and Angela Cook

The UNLV Black Law Students Association (BLSA) team competed at the Western Region qualifying round of the National Black Law Student Association (NBLSA) Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition held in Los Angeles on January 9-12, 2013. Britannica Collins and Jonathan Lee were the attorneys for the plaintiff. Angela Cook and Sonya Miller were the attorneys for the defense.

The team returned victorious with two trophies (pictured). Collins, Cook, Lee, and Miller took second place overall in the Western Region, which includes Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. In addition, Mr. Lee won the award for Best Oral Advocate.  

Local attorneys Adjunct Professor Franny Forsman (Lead Coach), Richard Boulware, and Robert Langford contributed their time and expertise to coach the team. Robert Langford coached the team on site in Los Angeles and Franny Forsman will be coaching the team on site in Washington, D.C. 

This is the second year in a row that the UNLV BLSA chapter fielded a team. Last year Brittnie Watkins, Britannica Collins, Sonya Miller and Kiera Sears competed at the regional competition in Seattle in January 2012 and in the national competition in March 2012 in Washington, D.C. 

The NBLSA Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial Competition is one of the nation’s largest mock trial competitions and hundreds of teams compete each year.

The author, Professor Rachel Anderson, is the UNLV BLSA Advisor.

Dean Rapoport Quoted and Referenced in Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Interim Dean and Gordon Silver Professor of Law Nancy Rapoport was recently quoted and referenced several times by William L. Norton, Jr. in his Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice.

The quotations and references, which appear in Section 106:1 of Volume 5 of the Third Edition, relate to the complex fiduciary duties of a chapter 11 debtor-in-possession and its counsel. In one quotation, Dean Rapoport explains that:

"Representing a corporation can present numerous problems for Estate Counsel, but representing individual Debtors in chapter 11 is even trickier: 'The complex fiduciary duties of a chapter 11 debtor-in-possession and its counsel can become even more confused when the debtor(s)-in-possession are individuals.' Obviously, there is the metaphysical challenge of realizing that the human who hired you to file his chapter 11 petition is not your client in the bankruptcy case. Even though it's fairly easy, at least in theory, to understand that the president of a corporation or the managing partner of a partnership is not your client when you are representing the business entity itself, it stretches the bounds of legal fiction to comprehend the difference between the Bankruptcy Estate of an individual (your client) and the individual himself (not your client)."

Congratulations, Nancy!

Legal Writing Prof Blog Named as an 'ABA Journal Blawg 100 Fan Favorite'

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that the Legal Writing Prof Blog, for which Professor Lori Johnson serves as Contributing Editor, was recently named as an 'ABA Journal Blawg 100 Fan Favorite' in the category of Legal Writing.

The Sixth Annual Blawg 100 Fan Favorite competition involved four weeks of online voting by more than 4,000 readers of the ABA Journal. The placement means that the Legal Writing Prof Blog is now in the Top 14 Legal Blogs out of the already-selective 'ABA Journal Blawg 100.'

Congratulations Lori and Legal Writing Prof Blog!

Professor Trimble Addresses 'International Orphan Works' on Goldman's Technology & Marketing Law Blog

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Marketa Trimble recently guest blogged ("The Problem of 'International Orphan Works'") on Eric Goldman's Technology & Marketing Law Blog.

As background, the U.S. Copyright Office recently extended the deadline by which the public may submit comments on issues related to orphan works until February 4, 2013. In her post, Professor Trimble explains that the Office is gathering suggestions for shaping future U.S. legislation and taking other actions to address the issues of works whose copyright has not expired, yet the owner of the copyright cannot be identified or located. Professor Trimble also notes, however, that legislating on orphan works at the national level cannot solve an important problem: the problem of establishing the status of an orphan work internationally. To read more about the problem of (and possible solutions for) 'international orphan works,' click here.

Professor Trimble joined Boyd's full-time faculty in 2010, bringing expertise in Conflict of Laws, Patent Law, Cyberlaw, International Intellectual Property Law, Private International Law, Intellectual Property, Copyright Law, European Union Law, and Comparative Law. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School (J.S.D., 2010; J.S.M., 2006) and the Law School of Charles University in Prague (Ph.D., 2002; JUDr., 2001; and Mgr., 1997).

December Issue of Boyd Briefs Released

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce the release of Volume I, Issue 5, of Boyd Briefs.

Issued on a monthly basis, Boyd Briefs provides information about the scholarly and other activities of Boyd faculty members during the previous month. Illustrative entries announce new faculty publications, the drafting of briefs and uniform legislation, submission to administrative agencies of comments on proposed regulations, Clinic victories, the organization and hosting of academic conferences, appointments and elections of Boyd faculty members to local, national, and international boards, offices, and societies, and other honors and awards.

The December 2012 issue of Boyd Briefs announces several new faculty honors, talks, and other activities. Congratulations, Boyd faculty members!

The Boyd Briefs archives may be accessed here.