Professor Jean Sternlight Quoted 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 June 14, she was quoted in The New York Times article Automakers Push Back Against Consumer Protections. “So one of the main benefits from the company’s standpoint is to eliminate claims against the company,” she said.

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

Associate Dean Pindell Selected for UNLV Leadership Development Academy

It was recently announced that Boyd’s Associate Dean of Academic Affairs Ngai Pindell was selected as a member of the inaugural class of UNLV Leadership Development Academy Fellows. Pindell is joined by six other UNLV faculty members.

Under Provost John Valery White, the Leadership Development Academy aims to identify and develop campus leaders who are capable of guiding the University toward its identified goals.

The Leadership Development Academy consists of two components: four to six seminars per semester related to prominent higher education issues and UNLV-specific challenges as well as an administrative placement involving direct contact with a senior administrator.

The Fellows were selected based on personal statements and curricula vitae or résumés that reflect a high level of scholarship and/or strong potential for higher-level leadership.

Originally, the committee anticipated selecting a total of five Fellows; however, the strong pool of applications resulted in the committee’s decision to select seven Fellows instead.

Dean Pindell was also recently named to the Lawyers of Color 50 Under 50 list. The list is a comprehensive catalog of minority law professors making an impact in legal education.

Law Library and Office of Diversity Initiatives Awarded NEH Grant

By Jeanne Price

The Wiener-Rogers Law Library and UNLV’s Office of Diversity Initiatives have been awarded a grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities to host a series of film showings and discussions focusing on the civil rights movement in the United States. Created Equal: America’s Civil Rights Struggle marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. The NEH grant provides funds to communities across the country to support film showings and programming on the history of civil rights in the United States.

The Law Library and Office of Diversity Initiatives will incorporate the film series in existing programs and develop new programming to highlight the issues described in the four featured films – The Abolitionists; Slavery by Another Name; The Loving Story; and Freedom Riders. Over a three year period beginning in September 2013, UNLV scholars and community leaders will participate in forums – including the Diversity Leadership Forum and Latino Youth Leadership Conference – in which the films will play an important role.

The film series complements the Law Library’s collection of documentary films, one of the largest collections of its kind among academic law libraries. We hope that the initiatives and programming that the grant supports will not only inform and encourage dialogue, but also inspire students and other scholars to undertake research in primary source material in the Law Library’s collection, research that might enhance our understanding of the minority experience in Southern Nevada. The Law Library’s collections include the archives of the Las Vegas Chapter of the National Bar Association, the oldest minority bar association of African-American attorneys.

Dean Daniel Hamilton Provides Commentary on Illinois Public Media

Daniel W. Hamilton is Dean and Richard J. Morgan Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On June 11, he provided commentary on WILL Illinois Public Media's Focus show. The segment, titled Decisions, Decisions: The 2012-2013 Supreme Court Term, focused on cases that will set new precedents for same sex marriage, affirmative action, and genetic research. 

Of the Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics case, Dean Hamilton said, "This is very uncharted territory. I leave it to the scientists to determine how sweeping this might be; but just to a lay person, we almost can't understand it without breaking it down into certain kinds of analogies. And you can see the Supreme Court trying to turn the science into something it, and I, and all of us can understand. This could be the sleeper of the term. This could be where 50 years from now, this was the moment when a major paradigm shift took place in our conception of the body as human beings."

Dean Hamilton researches and writes primarily on American property ideology and the legal and constitutional issues raised by the Civil War. He has written numerous articles and reviews on American legal history. 

Dean Rapoport Commended by Director of United States Trustee Program

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Interim Dean and Gordon Silver Professor of Law Nancy Rapoport was commended by Clifford J. White III, Director, United States Trustee Program (USTP), for the guidance she provided regarding the USTP final Guidelines governing the review of attorneys’ fees and expenses in large chapter 11 bankruptcy cases.

In his press release, Mr. White stated: "After two public comment periods spanning more than a year – and after hearing from a broad range of commenters from the largest law firms to major investors to academics to the public – the USTP promulgated a new set of Guidelines governing disclosures that should be made to justify fees in the largest bankruptcy cases. We are extremely grateful for the many helpful comments we received from bankruptcy experts, including Richard Levin, Chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference, and law professor Nancy Rapoport."

Copies of the Guidelines and related press releases are available here and here, respectively.

Congratulations, Nancy!

Anti-Defamation League Honors William S. Boyd School of Law with Jurisprudence Award

On May 31, the William S. Boyd School of Law received the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) 2013 Jurisprudence Award. The annual award honors an institution or a Nevada legal professional who reflects the values of civil rights and the mission of the ADL. Bill Boyd accepted the award on behalf of the law school during a luncheon held at the Plaza Hotel and Casino.

To see photos from the event, click here.