Nancy Rapoport Quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal

Nancy B. Rapoport is the Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On July 27, she was quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal article Bankruptcy doesn't come cheap for companies struggling to survive.

"Ninety-nine percent of the professionals are not trying to game the system. When I call about the questionable stuff, (law firms) are usually pretty apologetic," she said in the article.

Professor Rapoport's specialties are bankruptcy ethics, ethics in governance, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture.

Professor Sylvia Lazos Quoted in Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sylvia Lazos is the Justice Myron Leavitt Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On July 21, she was quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal article Conference will focus on women getting ahead.

"It's a place to connect, network. It's a good place to learn the science of being a woman in a workplace," she said of the annual Women's Leadership Conference hosted by MGM Resorts International.

Professor Lazos is a frequent op-ed contributor, and her expertise is sought by print and broadcast media on a wide range of subjects, including higher education, immigration, race relations, government, voting and initiatives.

Alumnus Cory Santos '01 Named Honorary Board Member of Boxing Hall of Fame Las Vegas

Boyd alumnus Cory Santos '01 was recently named an Honorary Board Member of the new Boxing Hall of Fame Las Vegas, according to the Boxing News 24 website.

The Boxing Hall of Fame Las Vegas is located inside SCORE!, a multi-sport attraction at the Luxor hotel and casino.

Santos was a boxer for the University of Nevada, Reno. He won the Nevada state finals in his weight division. Today, he is a judge for USA Amateur Boxing.

He works as an attorney for The Law Firm of Joel A. Santos.

Alumna Akke Levin Featured on VEGAS.com

Boyd alumna Akke Levin '04 on July 16 was featured on VEGAS.com's blog in a post titled Neon Museum celebrates Stardust signs and showgirls.

Levin, a former "Enter the Night" showgirl, participated in a panel discussion last week at the Neon Museum about Stardust Showgirls.

"The Stardust embodied classic Vegas. To me it felt like I danced in an icon of a hotel," she said.

Levin today is a partner at Morris Law Group.

Associate Professor Addie Rolnick Provides Commentary on KNPR's State of Nevada

Addie Rolnick is an Associate Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On July 17, she provided commentary on KNPR's State of Nevada segment titled Trayvon Martin Verdict Echoes In Las Vegas.

According to Professor Rolnick, Nevada's self-defense law is in many ways similar to Florida's.

"Both have the stand your ground provision that says normally you have to retreat first before you use deadly force. In your home you don't, and in the street you don't either in a number of situations," she said during the segment.

Professor Rolnick's scholarship focuses on bridging gaps between civil rights, Critical Race Theory, federal Indian law, and indigenous rights.

Professor Bret Birdsong Featured on KNPR's State of Nevada

Bret Birdsong is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On July 16, he was featured on KNPR's State of Nevada segment Professor Birdsong Goes to Washington.

Professor Birdsong has been appointed by the Obama administration to serve as deputy solicitor for land resources at the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, D.C.

"This is what I've always been hoping to do. This is an area of passionate interest for me. When an opportunity arises to go to Washington and make a real difference in the thing you've spent your life studying and working on, it's really something that's too good to pass up," he said during the interview.

Professor Birdsong's research focuses on federal land and resources management.

Professor Sylvia Lazos Provides Commentary on KNPR's State of Nevada

Sylvia Lazos is the Justice Myron Leavitt Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On July 16, she provided commentary on KNPR's State of Nevada segment titled The Future Of English Language Learning In Clark County.

"I foresee a seismic change in how we think about ELL teaching. Within the next five years we won’t be having this conversation. If we do things right, we will have a new playing field, a reset button," she said on the program.

Professor Lazos is a frequent op-ed contributor, and her expertise is sought by print and broadcast media on a wide range of subjects, including higher education, immigration, race relations, government, voting and initiatives.

Director of Career Development Layke Stolberg, Professor Nancy Rapoport, and Alumna Danielle Tarmu '09 Featured in VEGAS INC

Director of Career Development
Layke Stolberg

Director of Career Development Layke Stolberg along with Professor Nancy B. Rapoport and alumna Danielle Tarmu '09 were recently featured in VEGAS INC magazine's article Where do UNLV's law students land jobs? Closer than you think.
"Students are required to meet with the Career Development Office during their first year to start planning for the future, said Layke Stolberg, Boyd’s director of career development. The university also urges students not only to maintain good grades but to complete internships and externships that can help them secure employment" the article reads.

A native Nevadan, Ms. Stolberg practiced for nearly five years as an associate with Las Vegas law firm Marquis Aurbach Coffing before joining the Career Development Office.

Professor Sylvia Lazos Serves as Guest Columnist in the Las Vegas Review-Journal

Sylvia Lazos is the Justice Myron Leavitt Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On July 15, she served as a guest columnist in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Her column was titled ELL challenges can be met through coordination, debate, cooperation.

"... money is never enough. To change a school from struggling to quality requires an integrated approach that addresses teacher instruction quality, principal leadership and parental engagement," she wrote.

Professor Lazos is a frequent op-ed contributor, and her expertise is sought by print and broadcast media on a wide range of subjects, including higher education, immigration, race relations, government, voting and initiatives.

Professor Christopher Blakesley Quoted in the Las Vegas Sun

Christopher Blakesley is The Cobeaga Law Firm Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On July 11, he was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun article Metro's blindness at soccer melee is a green light for more violence.

"These were crimes against the state of Nevada and the people of Nevada," he told the Sun reporter.

Professor Blakesley is a Barrick Distinguished Scholar, 2009.

Professor Thomas McAffee Quoted in the Las Vegas Sun

Thomas McAffee is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law.

On July 11, he was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun article Constitutional scholars take notice of lawsuit against Henderson Police citing rare Third Amendment complaint.

"It is fairly hard to imagine the court taking completely serious that the idea of what's going on here is actually a violation of the Third Amendment. I guess it's conceivable," he said of a lawsuit filed after Henderson Police ordered a resident to leave his home so they could use it to gain a "tactical advantage" in a nearby suspected domestic violence case.

Professor McAffee advises the Nevada Law Journal and teaches American Legal History, First Amendment Rights, and Constitutional Law.

Professor Bret Birdsong Featured in Several Publications for Appointment to Interior Department

Professor Bret Birdsong was recently featured in several publications for his appointment to the U.S. Department of the Interior as Deputy Solicitor for Land Resources. In this position, he will be Solicitor Hilary Tompkins' deputy in charge of the team providing legal advice to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding the management of nearly 250 million acres of public land.

His media appearances are below:

Daily Journal
KTNV
KTVN
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas Review-Journal
Las Vegas Sun
UNLV News Center

Boyd Alumna Takes on New Challenges for the Federal District Court

Ellie Roohani '10 spent her first two years following graduation from the William S. Boyd School of Law working for the school itself. She served as the assistant director of the Academic Success Program. Today, she works as a judicial law clerk for the U.S. Federal District Court.

Learn more about Roohani's legal education and career here. 

Boyd School of Law Hosts Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Writing Workshop

The Boyd School of Law yesterday finished hosting the seventh annual Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Writing Workshop.

The writing workshop is named in honor of the legacy of achievements of black women in legal academia that began with Lutie A. Lytle. The main goal of the workshop is to foster the scholarly progress of black women law faculty and their sustainability in the academy.

The workshop kicked off June 27 with a reception featuring a preview of the exhibit "Purposeful Spaces, Living History: African Americans, Civil Rights, and Law in Nevada." Reception attendees also viewed the VegasPBS film "Early African-American Legal Community."

Associate Professor of Law Rachel J. Anderson spearheaded the workshop.

Alumna Colleen McCarty '13 Featured in Las Vegas Review-Journal

Alumna Colleen McCarty '13 was featured in Norm Clarke's column in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on July 7, 2013.

"Colleen McCarty, a member of the investigative team at KLAS-TV, Channel 8 since 2005, is leaving to join the Gordon Silver law firm. The station announced last week that McCarty, a recent graduate of the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV, is now taking an unpaid leave to study for the Nevada Bar exam," the column reads.

Professor Mary LaFrance Quoted in VEGAS INC

Mary LaFrance is the IGT Professor of Intellectual Property Law at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

On July 8, she was quoted in VEGAS INC magazine's article Protecting bright ideas: How to safeguard your company's intellectual property. "It can be difficult to distinguish whether something is sufficiently new and different to be eligible for a patent. Standards are statutory, but they are a little vague, and every analysis is very fact intensive. So it often winds up in court," she said.

Professor LaFrance’s teaching and research interests include domestic and international intellectual property law, as well as the taxation of intellectual property.

Associate Professor Addie Rolnick Featured on Turtle Talk Blog

Addie Rolnick is Associate Professor of Law at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

On July 1, she was featured on the Turtle Talk Blog, Michigan State University College of Law's Indigenous Law and Policy Center, for her series of posts on PrawfsBlawg about the Baby Veronica case. To access her blog posts, click here.

On July 3, she was featured on the Supreme Court of the United States Blog for her series of blog posts. Click here to see the SCOTUSblog entry.

Professor Rolnick's scholarship focuses on bridging gaps between civil rights, Critical Race Theory, federal Indian law, and indigenous rights.

Family Justice Clinic Aids in Shaping Nevada Senate Bill on Criminal Convictions

Students Nick Donath and Brittnie Watkins in the Family Justice Clinic (FJC) recently delivered testimony to the Nevada Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Senate Bill 395, which requires the systematic identification and study of collateral consequences of conviction in Nevada. Governor Brian Sandoval has signed the bill, which passed the legislature in June and will become law on Oct. 1, 2013.

The bill’s passage culminates a two-year effort by FJC students and faculty to pass groundbreaking legislation addressing collateral consequences of criminal convictions—consequences that are imposed as a result of a criminal conviction, but that are not part of the sentence. At the state level, these include restrictions on civic participation, and exclusion from housing and employment, as well as enforcement of debts accrued while incarcerated.

Donath and Watkins’ compelling accounts of people personally hindered by the aftereffects of a conviction and the larger detrimental impact on Nevada families contributed to the shaping of this important bill.

Passage of the bill makes Nevada only the second state in the nation to require the systematic identification of state-based collateral consequences.

Professor Birdsong to Serve as Deputy Solicitor for Land Resources for the U.S. Department of the Interior

Professor Bret Birdsong has been appointed to serve as Deputy Solicitor for Land Resources for the U.S. Department of the Interior in Washington, D.C.

In this position, he will be Solicitor Hilary Tompkins’ deputy in charge of the team providing legal advice to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding the management of nearly 250 million acres of public land. The issues in Professor Birdsong’s docket will include national monuments, renewable energy on public land, wilderness, forestry, recreation, livestock grazing, and other uses of BLM lands.

“It will be a thrill and an honor to serve the nation as an appointee in the Obama administration and to help Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell develop and implement the administration’s priorities for public lands,” wrote Professor Birdsong in an email to Boyd faculty. “I expect to return to the faculty in a few years enriched in my legal experience and with new perspectives to bring to my scholarship and teaching.”

His research focuses on federal land and resources management.

Shemilly A. Briscoe '06 Featured in Attorney at Law Magazine

Alumna Shemilly A. Briscoe '06 was recently featured in the Greater Las Vegas edition of Attorney at Law Magazine. The article, Shemilly Briscoe - Dedicated to Building Her Construction Practice, details her start and rise in construction law.

Briscoe and her husband, alumnus Timothy J. Geswein '06, in June were named to Nevada Business Magazine's 2013 Legal Elite list for southern Nevada.

June Issue of Boyd Briefs Released

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce the release of Volume II, Issue 6, 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.

Among other activities, the June 2013 issue of Boyd Briefs highlights dozens of faculty talks and media references, important legislative testimony, and a conference organized and hosted by a Boyd faculty member.

The Boyd Briefs archives may be accessed here.

Professor Francine Lipman Quoted in Las Vegas Sun and on KNPR's State of Nevada

Francine J. Lipman is William S. Boyd Professor of Law at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

On June 27, she was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun article Who will enjoy tax breaks for the film industry? Not who you think. "We're subsidizing it because we're reducing their costs. We're giving them these credits effectively to use as coin of the realm," she said of large casinos and big businesses in the article.

On July 2, she was on KNPR's State of Nevada segment How Film Tax Credits Really Work.

Professor Lipman holds an exceptional record as an accountant, lawyer, teacher and scholar.