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Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Boyd Students Sweep Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award Competition

From left: Boyd students Evan Simonsen, Justin Allsop, Miriam
Meyer-Thompson, and Adjunct Professor Bob Faiss
William S. Boyd School of Law third-year students Miriam Meyer-Thompson, Evan Simonsen, and Justin Allsop recently received first, second and honorable mention prizes, respectively, through the International Association of Gaming Advisors’ (IAGA) Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award program. It was the first time a school swept the annual competition.

The three recipients were recognized at the Global Gaming Expo during a special reception held in honor of Lionel Sawyer & Collins’ Bob Faiss (also an adjunct professor at Boyd) and his contributions to gaming law.

In addition to receiving scholarship prizes, the students’ winning papers will be published by IAGA. Simonsen’s work will also be featured as a student note in the Boyd School of Law’s Gaming Law Journal this spring.

This was not the first time Boyd students received the Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award. Jaime E. Serrano, Jr. '12 won honorable mention in 2012 for his paper Creating the Law. Rick Benito ‘12 and Michael Lafia ‘12 received honorable mentions in 2011 for their papers on Nevada gaming law. John Piro ‘10 won the scholarship in 2009 for his paper Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas: The Nevada Gaming Regulatory Response to Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment. Charles C. Rainey ‘07 received the award in 2007 for his paper on gaming law education.

The scholarship’s committee members evaluate papers based on the following criteria: quality of presentation and footnoting, depth of research, novelty or importance of subject matter, value to gaming law practitioners or gaming control officials, and value to the study of gaming law.

The Shannon Bybee Scholarship Award was created by IAGA in honor of Bybee’s lasting influence in gaming law. During his career, Bybee helped found the IAGA and worked as a gaming attorney, state gaming regulator, and gaming industry executive. He is considered a pioneer in gaming law and casino operations education.