Professor Ruben Garcia to Speak at Race, Labor & The Law Conference

Ruben J. Garcia is a Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

He will deliver the keynote address at an upcoming conference titled Race, Labor & The Law (for the conference program, click here). The conference, organized by the UCLA Institute for Research and Employment, will take place Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, March 1 at UCLA.

"Legal scholars, social scientists, humanists and practitioners (will reframe) the relationship between race, gender, class and labor in the United States. Through interdisciplinary approaches to the subject, panelists will examine these interlocking forms of oppression; consider how the interplay between them shapes labor markets, labor hierarchies and labor and employment law; and investigate the repressive and insurgent forces involved," according to the conference website. 

A recognized expert in the field of labor and employment law, Professor Garcia teaches Labor Law, Employment Law, Constitutional Law, and Professional Responsibility at the Boyd School of Law. He has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, among others, and has appeared on national and local radio and television programs.

Members of Boyd Community Featured in COMMUNIQUÉ

Several members of the William S. Boyd School of Law community are highlighted in the December issue of COMMUNIQUÉ, the Clark County Bar Association's magazine. 

In an article titled Local Legal Community Supports Boyd Law School's Annual Client Counseling Competition, Professor Jean Sternlight and alumna Kelly Stout '10 are quoted. Professor Sternlight notes, "That the second place team, Cameron and Brian, is eligible to represent Boyd at the ABA Regional Competition that will take place in mid-February at Santa Clara University. The first place team will represent Boyd at the regional in spring 2015." In the article, Stout says, "I want to extend a huge thank you to all of the people who gave up part of their weekend and volunteered as clients and judges..."

Boyd alumna Nedda Ghandi '08 is featured in the News & Notes section of the December issue. She is pictured with Senior U.S. District Court Judge Lloyd D. George after a presentation she gave during the Downtown Cultural Series.

Boyd alumna Eunice Beattie '06 is spotlighted as the Volunteer of the Month. "While pro bono service has always been an interest, she credits her work with Gordon Silver for allowing her the freedom to provide service to the community. Eunice has provided pro bono representation to clients in a number of areas including divorce, consumer fraud and landlord-tenant matters as well as advocating on behalf of abused and neglected children through the Children's Attorneys Project," the article reads.

The Wiener-Rogers Law Library: Now With More Blogs!

The Wiener-Rogers Law Library has created two new blogs, Highlighted Recent Acquisitions and Highlighted Documentaries.  Each features titles in the collection that would likely appeal to a broad audience.  So, while you won’t find the latest Civ Pro casebook featured on the Highlighted Recent Acquisitions blog, you will find our recently acquired copy of Kosher, an entertaining history of the kosher food industry.  

And, the next time you need something depressing or inspirational (or maybe a combination of both) to watch on movie night, the Highlighted Documentaries blog is a great place to learn about the library’s expansive collection of documentary films!

Professor Francine Lipman Featured in Credit Card Insider

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

On Dec. 18, she was featured in the Credit Card Insider article 2013 Year-End Financial To-Do List.

Starting in 2013, "long term capital gains tax rates are much more progressive than they have been in the past. Because of that, you need to be thinking about taxable income," she said in the article. 

Professor Lipman has written extensively on tax and accounting issues for legal journals, including the Wisconsin Law Review, Florida Tax Review, Virginia Tax Review, Nevada Law Journal, American University Law Review, Harvard Environmental Law Review, Harvard Latino Law Review, Harvard Journal on Legislation, The Tax Lawyer, The Practical Tax Lawyer, Taxes and Tax Notes.

Boyd School of Law Highlighted by News 3

The William S. Boyd School of Law was featured on the News 3 website on Dec. 19 in an article titled Alone in Family Court? Videos offered to assist appearance.

The Boyd School of Law's former faculty member Raymond Patterson acted as videographer and editor in a series of videos produced by Judge Gayle Nathan.

The videos, titled "Putting Your Best Foot Forward," are designed to assist those who represent themselves in court.

Professor Francine Lipman Featured on TaxProf Blog

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

On Dec. 18, she was featured in the TaxProf Blog article SSRN Tax Professor Download Rankings.

Professor Lipman remains ranked at 16 on a list of all-time paper downloads for tax professors. According to the article, her papers have been downloaded 12,898 times.

Professor Lipman has written extensively on tax and accounting issues for legal journals, including the Wisconsin Law Review, Florida Tax Review, Virginia Tax Review, Nevada Law Journal, American University Law Review, Harvard Environmental Law Review, Harvard Latino Law Review, Harvard Journal on Legislation, The Tax Lawyer, The Practical Tax Lawyer, Taxes and Tax Notes.

Professor Leslie Griffin to Participate in Yale Law School Conference

Leslie Griffin has accepted an invitation to participate in a conference at Yale Law School sponsored by their Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice.

The conference, to be held in April, is titled Perspectives on Abortion, Assisted Reproductive Technologies, and Judicial Review.

Professor Griffin's paper, which is about abortion, assisted reproduction technologies, and religion-based laws, will also appear in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics.

Professor Jean Sternlight Writes Article for ADR Prof Blog

Jean Sternlight is the Michael and Sonja Saltman Professor of Law and the Director of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

On Dec. 16, she wrote for the ADR Prof Blog an article titled Tide Turning a Bit on Mandatory Arbitration Through Recognition that Process Suppresses Claims?

"These have been very bleak times for those, like me, who abhor mandatory arbitration because they think it disserves consumers, employees, and others," her article reads. It continues, "However, the new year may bring some new cause for optimism. As Paul Kirgis noted in his recent post the Consumer Financial Protection Board has just issued a preliminary report providing lots of new empirical information regarding aspects of consumer arbitration."

Sternlight is nationally and internationally recognized for her scholarship and law reform activities in the field of dispute resolution.

Professor Leslie Griffin Writes Article for ACSBlog

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On Dec. 16, she wrote for the ACSBlog an article titled The Unestablished Constitutionality of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

"The most fundamental Establishment Clause rule is that the government may not prefer religion over irreligion or non-religion. RFRA, however, “privileges religion over all other expressions of conscience,” her article reads.

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Dec. 13 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The Dec. 13 edition of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Linda Berger, student Tanya Fraser, and alumnus Timothy R. O'Reilly '01.

Professor Berger is one of Boyd's most frequently cited faculty members. In addition to writing about law and psychology, she also teaches in Boyd's highly regarded lawyering process curriculum.

After working at Native American casinos for 19 years, Fraser began assisting tribes in developing opportunities for economic growth, increasing autonomy, and fostering education to improve societal attitudes toward Native Americans. She currently works as a Boyd Public Interest Fellow and as Vice President of Boyd's Native American Law Student Association.

O'Reilly is a Las Vegas attorney with both the O'Reilly Law Group and the newly formed Litigators for Justices, where he focuses on litigation surrounding business disputes, catastrophic personal injury, and gaming law. Once a place kicker for the Rebel's Football team, O'Reilly currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Las Vegas Bowl and is Vice President of the UNLV Rebel Football Foundation.

To subscribe to Boyd Briefs, visit http://law.unlv.edu/BoydBriefs.

Boyd Alumnus Julian Gregory '10 Featured in Nevada Lawyer

On Dec. 10, Boyd alumnus Julian Gregory '10 was featured as the Pro Bono Spotlight in the December issue of Nevada Lawyer.

Gregory assists with the Las Vegas Municipal Court's Habitual Offender Prevention and Education (HOPE) program.

"One of the reasons Gregory took advantage of the opportunity to assist with HOPE was not only to help the clients, but also to help improve the image of public attorneys and attorneys as a whole. He said too often public attorneys are seen as plea negotiation factories, conveyor belts, and he hopes his work with the program will help to combat that stereotype," the article reads.

Professor Jean Sternlight Cited in The New York Times

Jean Sternlight is the Michael and Sonja Saltman Professor of Law and the Director of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

On Dec. 6, she was cited in The New York Times article Hyundai Reverses Policy on Settling Warranty Disputes.

Until recently, Hyundai had a policy that required warranty disputes to be settled through binding arbitration, unless Hyundai owners opted out of the agreement within 90 days of purchasing their vehicle.

"Hyundai could also have used its policy to discourage owners who could not afford their own lawyers from joining class-action suits, said Jean Sternlight, a law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who studies arbitration," the article reads. 

Sternlight is nationally and internationally recognized for her scholarship and law reform activities in the field of dispute resolution.

Alumna Heather Procter '03 Featured on UNLV News Center

On Dec. 10, Boyd alumna Heather Procter '03 was featured on the UNLV News Center in an article titled How To's From Some of Our Top Grads.

The article features 2013 Alumni of the Year honorees giving advice on a variety of career and life topics.

When asked how to tell if someone is lying, Procter said "There are the basics: Do they keep eye contact? Body posture. Facial features. Comparing what they say to prior statements. But make sure you meet them in person and don’t take written statements; and don’t let their professional position influence whether you think they are being truthful or not … Sometimes you take for granted certain people are going to tell the truth and that’s not always the case."

Professor Leslie Griffin Contributes to Huffington Post Conversation

Dr. Leslie C. Griffin is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On Dec. 10, she contributed to a Huffington Post conversation titled The Devil Went Down to Oklahoma. Satanists are seeking to erect a statue of their own alongside a Ten Commandments monument outside the Oklahoma capitol building. Several experts, including Professor Griffin, commented on the issue.

"If this Oklahoma case is government speech, then the Satanists would have a hard time winning. If this is government speech, there should be an Establishment Clause issue which the government can't prefer one religion to another," she said during the conversation. 

Professor Griffin, who teaches constitutional law, is known for her interdisciplinary work in law and religion.

Boyd alumna Lucy Flores '10 Featured in Las Vegas Review-Journal

On Dec. 8, Boyd alumna Lucy Flores '10 was featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal article Nevada poll: Hard-knock life could help Flores' political career.

"Assemblywoman Lucy Flores’ hard-knock life might end up helping her political career. That’s the upshot of a poll conducted in November for the Las Vegas Democrat. It suggests she would lose the lieutenant governor’s race to Republican state Sen. Mark Hutchison if the election were today: 41 percent of the vote for him, 35 percent for her. But if voters learn more about how Flores overcame a troubled upbringing, she would eke out a narrow victory over Hutchison — 46 percent to 43 percent — according to the survey by the Garin-Hart-Yang Research Group, a Democratic polling firm," the article reads.

LegalWritingProfBlog Named to ABA Top 100 Legal Blog List

Lori Johnson is Lawyering Process Professor for the Boyd School of Law.

On Dec. 1, the LegalWritingProfBlog, of which Professor Johnson is a contributing editor, was named to the American Bar Association's (ABA) top 100 legal blogs for the second year in a row.

“… it's a blogger's dedication, creativity and engagement with readers and the other minds of the legal blogosphere that make us take notice. We think our familiarity with these blogs ultimately makes us better legal journalists—and getting to know them might make you a better lawyer,” says the ABA Journal website.

Prior to joining the faculty at the Boyd School of Law, Professor Johnson practiced at the Las Vegas office of Snell & Wilmer L.L.P., and the Chicago office of Winston & Strawn, LLP, specializing in the areas of real estate, commercial finance, and financial litigation.

Boyd Alumni, Student Honored at Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada Pro Bono Awards Luncheon

Boyd alumni Paola Armeni, Laura Deeter, and Amber Robinson as well as student Shannon Phenix were honored on Dec. 6 at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada’s (LACSN) Pro Bono Awards Luncheon.

Armeni ’03 was awarded the Myrna Williams Children’s Pro Bono Award, which is given in honor of Williams, who worked to have lawyer representation in court for abused and neglected children. This award recognized Armeni as an attorney who gives a voice to the community’s most vulnerable victims.

Deeter ‘07 received the Louis Wiener Service Award, which is given in memory of Wiener for his dedication to domestic violence victims. Deeter was honored with the award for her commitment to representing domestic violence victims.

Robinson ‘06 was honored with the Ask-A-Lawyer Community Commitment Award for her work week after week to make the Ask-A-Lawyer Program possible. The LACSN offers a variety of Ask-A-Lawyer programs for unrepresented individuals to receive free 15-minute consultations with volunteer attorneys.

Phenix was named the Public Interest Law Student of Distinction. The award recognizes a law student who has made a substantial contribution to the community through public interest law and the promotion of access to justice.

OUTLaws Student Organization Honored by Las Vegas Pride Festival

The Las Vegas Pride Festival recently recognized the William S. Boyd School of Law’s student LGBT organization, OUTLaws, as a Volunteer Champion. President Jack Blackmon and Vice President of Philanthropy Michiko (Mojo) Nozawa-Joffe received additional awards for their individual contributions to the 2013 festival.

In partnership with a funding program that agreed to match the organization’s volunteer hours at $10 per hour, OUTLaws successfully generated $500 for non-profit organizations providing AIDS prevention and treatment, assistance to the homeless, and other philanthropic services to Las Vegas’ LGBT community.

The Las Vegas Pride Parade and Festival are organized by the Southern Nevada Association of Pride Inc. (SNAPI). OUTLaws provided SNAPI with a variety of volunteer services throughout the weekend of events, including parade crowd control and ticket sales at the festival.

“Not only did we take pressure off SNAPI by making ourselves available for just about anything its leadership needed, but we were able to generate vital funding for underfunded community organizations in Las Vegas,” Blackmon said.

The organization’s generous contributions were honored with three out of the five annual awards given to volunteers.

“The awards OutLaws received mean what we are trying to do is appreciated, and has a positive impact on the LGBT community. The awards validate and vindicate our goals and purpose,” Blackmon said. “These awards, probably most importantly, motivate us to continue to try and find ways to have a positive impact within our community.”

Following their recent Pride Festival success, OUTLaws plan to combat homophobia through educating the community on current LGBT issues and needs.

“Because the laws for same-sex couples and LGBT people are in such a state of flux, many do not take the proper steps to protect themselves and their relationships,” Blackmon said. “We want to make sure that LGBT people know where to go for help.”

Along with a newly created LGBT section of the Nevada Bar, the organization will create informational materials to be disseminated at future events. Materials will provide information related to same-sex adoption, real estate planning, and gay and lesbian rights.

Dec. 5 Boyd Briefs Now Avilable

The Dec. 5 edition of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Ruben Garcia, students Josh and Crislove Igeleke, and alumna Heather Procter '03.

Professor Garcia is considered one of the most important and relevant leaders in the field of labor and employment law. He currently serves on the board of the ACLU of Nevada, and will soon become the co-president of the national Society of American Law Teachers. As one of Boyd's most important institution-builders, Professor Garcia has expertly chaired a variety of key faculty committees.

This year, the Igeleke siblings had the opportunity to share a single semester of law school at Boyd. While Josh will soon graduate with J.D. and MBA degrees, Crislove finds herself in throes of her first year. Both have been motivated by the support and advice of their parents, who relocated to Las Vegas from their native Nigeria in 1982.

For the last nine years, Procter has served as a deputy and senior deputy at the Nevada Attorney General's Office in Carson City. She continues to work on the Boyd Alumni Chapter Board, while also creating and editing the Boyd Alumni News. Procter was recently named the 2013 William S. Boyd School of Law Alumna of the Year.

To subscribe to Boyd Briefs, visit http://law.unlv.edu/BoydBriefs.

Several Members of Boyd Community Featured in UNLV Accomplishments

Several members of the William S. Boyd School of Law community are featured in December 2013 edition of UNLV Accomplishments, a monthly recognition of UNLV faculty and students.

Boyd students Jessica Gandy, Jonathan Lee, Scott Morris, Izzac Rowe, and Brittnie Watkins received scholarships from the Las Vegas chapter of the National Bar Association at its 24th annual Scholarship Gala in October.

Boyd 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.

Professor of Law Mary Berkheiser and Boyd adjunct faculty members Robert Faiss, Frances Forsman, Gregory Gemignani, Dominic Gentile, Dean Gould, Stanley Hunterton, Douglas Edwards, and Thomas Pitaro recently were named top lawyers in Southern Nevada.

Professor Francine Lipman Featured on UNLV News Center

Francine Lipman is a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

On Dec. 2, she was featured in the UNLV News Center article Everything You Need to Know About the Social Security Benefits Formula, But Don't Even Know to Ask Dec. 5.

The article features Professor Lipman's upcoming talk on Dec. 5. The lecture, which will provide an overview of the Social Security benefit formula to facilitate more informed decision-making about retirement options, will begin at 7:30 p.m. inside the Barrick Museum auditorium. 

Professor Lipman has written extensively on tax and accounting issues for legal journals, including the Wisconsin Law Review, Florida Tax Review, Virginia Tax Review, Nevada Law Journal, American University Law Review, Harvard Environmental Law Review, Harvard Latino Law Review, Harvard Journal on Legislation, The Tax Lawyer, The Practical Tax Lawyer, Taxes and Tax Notes.

Boyd Student Tasha Schwikert Featured in Las Vegas Review-Journal

On Nov. 29, Boyd student Tasha Schwikert was featured in the Las Vegas Review-Journal article Students with diverse backgrounds land Las Vegas Business Academy scholarships.

Shwikert recently won a $75,000 scholarship from the Las Vegas Business Academy, a nonprofit that supports "tuition challenged" graduate students pursuing business, hotel administration, and law degrees.

"After Schwikert graduated from UCLA in 2009, she worked for a sports agency in Los Angeles and discovered that some aspiring agents at the company were studying in a part-time law program. She audited some law school classes in late 2011 and enrolled at the UNLV law school the following year," the article reads.

Schwikert competed as a gymnast in the 2000 Olympics, where the U.S. was awarded the bronze medal in the team competition. Learn more about Schwikert here.

Boyd Faculty and Staff Share Exam Tips

It's final exam time for William S. Boyd School of Law students. Below are some exam tips from faculty and staff members.

Budget your time wisely -- time management (read: judgment) is one of the skills that we are evaluating.
- Professor/Dean Thomas Main

Get plenty of sleep before the exam, as the benefits of having your wits fully about you will far outweigh the benefits of a little bit more information stuffed into your brain at the last minute.
- Professor Jean Sternlight

A thorough understanding of big picture rules and a careful, organized analysis of how the facts apply to those rules is almost always more important than mastering doctrinal minutiae (this is especially true for first-year courses).
- Professor Addie Rolnick

As you read each hypo, figure out a way to use each fact at least once in your answer; only if you're sure that the fact is irrelevant should you skip using it.
- Professor Nancy Rapoport

To paraphrase a woodworkers' mantra: Think twice, write (or type) once.
- Professor Keith Rowley

Take every opportunity offered to you to practice answering exam hypotheticals, and then sit down with your professor to review your answer so that you understand how he or she grades. 
- Professor Sylvia Lazos

When your exam is over, resist the urge to review the issue(s) you were unsure about because you don't want to stress about what impact your answer of the issue(s) may have on your grade in the class.
- DeShun Harris

A two-part sentence: (1) Come to every class, participate, and take notes; (2) Write out the "rule" section beforehand for issues you suspect will appear on the test--then spend your exam time applying that rule to the particular facts given.
- Professor Ian Bartrum

Outline your answer before you start writing; spend about 1/3 of your time reading, thinking, and outlining, and the remaining 2/3 writing.
- Professor Sara Gordon

Why?
- Professor Jennifer Carr

Imagine that you are writing to an intelligent reader who has not taken the course and who therefore will need your thorough explanation of each point.
- Professor Linda Edwards

In answering essay questions, avoid making conclusory statements without the supporting analysis; in other words, "show your work."
- Professor Kay Kindred

Numbers are not your enemy, but your friends. Use them as you would use any facts in a problem to facilitate/fine-tune your issue spotting, rule statements, analysis and conclusions (IRAC).
- Professor Francine Lipman

Now is a good time to start practicing the lawyer's art of listening to your gut: if you feel a little tickle or hear a little voice telling you that a fact is important, or a rule is implicated by an essay question, don't ignore it!
- Professor Elizabeth MacDowell

Laptop/SofTest Users... Make sure you check your SofTest program and do a mock exam to verify the computer and program are operating correctly; also remember to have your exam template files downloaded at least 48 hours prior to the exam, to bring your power cord, and to show up to the exam 15 minutes prior to the posted start time (NOTE: Exam template files will be available over the Thanksgiving weekend).
- Don Castle

Answer the question asked.
- Professor Rebecca Scharf

Don't overthink, especially on multiple choice questions; stick with your first choice unless you're ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN you were wrong.
- Professor Mary Berkheiser

Do practice tests, do a million of them, do them before you're ready, and then do some more.
- Professor Terrill Pollman

You have to know the material, of course, but you prove it by how you apply it by resolving the problem.
- Professor Christopher Blakesley

Try to use the vast majority of the facts given in the fact pattern in your answers.
- Professor Ann McGinley

Don't try to learn anything new on the day of the exam, just review and remain calm.
- Professor Lori Johnson

Get a really good night's sleep the evening before the exam, and treat yourself when you're done!
- Professor Stacey Tovino

Think ahead of time about what the professor is likely to ask and map your responses accordingly before you get to the exam.
- Professor/Dean Ngai Pindell

Avoid writing things that are untrue; remember that overstating what the facts support or being inaccurate in your writing is a recipe for misrepresentations and misleading statements.
- Professor Rachel Anderson

Do not create needless anxiety for yourself (and others) by standing around yapping about an exam after it's over -- hand in your exam, leave the room, walk directly to your car, drive directly home, watch at least one rerun of "Modern Family."
- Dean Frank Durand