April 23 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The April 23 issue of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Jeffrey Stempel, student Haley Lewis, and alumna Katie Fellows '06.

Students and colleagues benefit from Professor Stempel's brilliant intellect, sharp wit, and creative genius. But his audiences extend well beyond the walls of Boyd. For example, Professor Stempel is an influential voice in the American Law Institute, a prominent organization of judges, lawyers and academics dedicated to improving law.

An encounter during this year's Alternative Spring Break helped Lewis land a summer internship in Carson City with the Office of the Nevada Attorney, Bureau of Litigation - Appellate Division. During law school, she has been active in Boyd's chapter of Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity, serving this year as the chapter's vice-justice.  Last summer, she was an extern with United States Magistrate Judge Valerie Cooke. 

Fellows serves as the vice president and general counsel for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas. Committed to the community, she is the current chairman of the board for the American Red Cross, Southern Nevada Chapter; a graduate of Leadership Las Vegas class of 2008; a member of the Yale Alumni Schools Committee; and most recently, a member of the Las Vegas Founding 75 dedicated to bringing an NHL team to Las Vegas.

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

Professor Jeffrey Stempel Attends Advisors Meeting

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On March 25, Professor Stempel traveled to Philadelphia to attend the Advisors Meeting for the American Law Institute Restatement of the Law, Liability Insurance. In his capacity as an advisor, Professor Stempel will participate in the project to develop a preliminary draft of the restatement. 

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel Quoted in Nerd Wallet Finance Article

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Stempel was quoted in a Nov. 17 article by Nerd Wallet titled, “Is Credit-Based Insurance Scoring Fair?” Nerd Wallet is an online resource offering data-driven tools and impartial information to help consumers make solid decisions about money.

The article, the third in a three-part series, examines the effectiveness of checking credit information to measure people’s insurance risk. In offering his insight into whether the practice is fair, Professor Stempel stated, “I think the opinion is that there might be better ways to do it, but it’s not a huge problem in terms of fairness.”

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel Quoted in Las Vegas Review-Journal

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Stempel was quoted in an Oct. 18 article by the Las Vegas Review-Journal titled, "Vegas prosecutors used ‘super seal’ to hide fortune seized from gamblers."

In the article, he mentioned the potential risks of sealing court records. Professor Stempel stated, "Excessive use of sealing undermines public confidence in the courts, and I think it creates a danger of bad decision-making when there isn’t enough scrutiny."

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel Interviewed on 8 News Now

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On Oct. 7, Professor Stempel was interviewed by 8 News Now as part of an I-Team investigation into problems that judges and lawyers have with the current judicial election system. The investigation found, through public campaign finance reports, that lawyers and law firms contribute thousands of dollars to candidates, many of whom are deciding their cases.

In a segment titled "I-Team: Bulk of money in judge races from lawyers, law firms," Professor Stempel shared his views about the issue (1:18 mark).

"I think mostly, it's a perception problem. I don't think we have a significant problem with (outright) fraud, or conscious favoritism. What I think we have a problem with is clearly perception that justice could be for sale, for the people who contribute," he said.

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel to Present at Conference on Relationship Between Insurance and Legal Regulation

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On Sept. 19, Professor Stempel will attend the UC Irvine Conference on the Relationship Between Insurance and Legal Regulation: Normative, Theoretical, and Empirical Perspectives.

He will present a paper titled, “Enhancing the Socially Instrumental Role of Insurance.”

The symposium brings academics, lawyers, and regulators together to offer varying perspectives on how the relationship between insurance and legal regulation impacts consumers, insurance companies, regulators and society at large.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel to Attend Meeting on American Law Institute Principles of Liability Insurance Project

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

From Sept. 3 through 5, Stempel will attend an American Law Institute meeting for advisors on the Principles of Liability Insurance Project. Stempel and other advisors will meet in Philadelphia to discuss the current draft of the American Law Institute's Principles of Insurance Law Project and discuss the project's future presentation to the Institute.

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel to Attend Annual Commercial Law Conference of Chile

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

From Aug. 21 through 28, Professor Stempel will address the Chilean Commercial Law Congress regarding "Consequences of an Insurer's Breach of the Duty to Defend in the USA -- Increased Attention and Emerging Conflicts." His talk is in collaboration with Professor Osvaldo Villagas of Adolpho Ibanez University in Santiago, Chile.

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professors Leslie Griffin, Mary LaFrance, and Jeffrey Stempel to Present at State Bar of Nevada Annual Meeting

Professors Leslie Griffin, Mary LaFrance, Jeffrey Stempel

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

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

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

All three professors will be presenting at the State Bar of Nevada Annual Meeting on July 10 in Newport Beach, Calif.

Professors Griffin and LaFrance will give a talk titled, “Whistleblower or Tattletale? The Debate over Wikileaks.”

Joined by several State Bar panelists, Professor Stempel will address “Hot Topics in Insurance Law.”

Professor Jeffrey Stempel to Attend American Law Institute 2014 Annual Meeting

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Stempel, a member of the American Law Institute and an Advisor to the Principles of Liability Insurance Project, will be attending the Institute’s 2014 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. on May 19 and 20.

The Institute is the leading independent organization in the U.S. that produces scholarly work to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law.

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Jeffrey Stempel Provides Commentary on KNPR State of Nevada

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On Feb. 11, he provided commentary on KNPR's State of Nevada segment titled Whatever Happened to Lawyers' Ethics?

"I think generally there's quite a rigorous system of trying to screen people, and I know the Bar examination vetting on Character and Fitness is very strong. There's, I think, very competent Bar Counsel in the state. It isn't just the Bar. You have federal prosecutors, state prosecutors. We have a very active press. I think the infrastructure is really pretty sound," Professor Stempel said. "What we're seeing lately is more likely to be a reflection of its soundness than the idea that there are 10 going free for every that gets caught."

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professors Jeffrey Stempel and Thomas Main Help Organize Symposium, to Present Papers

Jeffrey Stempel, Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law,
& Thomas Main, Associate Dean for Faculty Development
and Research and William S. Boyd Professor of Law

Jeffrey Stempel is the Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law at the Boyd School of Law. Thomas Main is Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Research and a William S. Boyd Professor of Law at UNLV.

Together, they are helping organize a symposium co-sponsored by the Boyd School of Law and the Northeastern University School of Law. The symposium, titled Through a Glass Starkly: Civil Procedure Reassessed, will take place April 11 and 12 at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.

Professors Stempel and Main will present papers at the symposium. All papers presented will be printed in the Nevada Law Journal, a journal of legal scholarship dedicated to analyzing the law and policy implications of significant case law, legislation, administrative regulations and important legal events.

Professor Stempel has numerous publications to his credit, including books, treatise chapters and supplements, and law review articles. He is a 1981 graduate of Yale Law School, where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and co-founder of the Yale Law and Policy Review.

Professor Main is a leading figure in the field of civil procedure. Most of his scholarship explores the history of procedure, with current projects focused on judicial efficiency initiatives in the 1950s-1970s.

Boyd Representation at AALS Annual Meeting

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce significant representation at the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 4 through 8, 2013.

On Friday, January 4, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., Professor Sylvia Lazos will participate in panel 4096 ("Hot Topic Workshop on Democracy and the Public Trust: Equality, Integrity, and Suppression in the 2012 Election"). At the same time, Professor Ann McGinley will participate in panel 4140 ("Workers After the Ascendancy of Global Financial Capital"). Later that day, Professor McGinley will participate in a second panel ("The End of Men? A Socio-Economic Examination of Women’s Advances in Education, Employment and Family").

On Saturday, January 5, from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m., Professor Jeff Stempel will participate in panel 5200 ("American Exceptionalism, Health Reform and the Persistence of Employer-Based Benefits"). Later that day, between 1:30 and 2:30 p.m., DeShun Harris, Assistant Director of Boyd's Academic Success Program, will display her poster, "Unraveling Hidden Clues: How Using Cues Helps Student Learning." Between 1:30 and 3:15 p.m., Associate Dean Ngai Pindell will participate in panel 5390 ("Cities in Recession"). Finally, Professor Sylvia Lazos will participate in panel 5460 ("Beyond 'Diversity': Negotiating Racial and Gender Identities on the Path to Tenure").

On Sunday, January 6, from 2:00 to 3:45 p.m., Professor Linda Edwards will participate in panel 6370 ("The Past, Present, and Future of Appellate Briefs"). At the same time, UNLV Executive Vice President and Provost John Valey White and Professor Stacey Tovino will participate in panel 6420 ("Tort and Compensation Principles in Related Fields"). That evening, from 7:00 to 10:00 p.m., Professor Ruben Garcia and Associate Dean Ngai Pindell will chair and host the Annual Dinner of the Society of American Law Teachers.

Congratulations, Boyd faculty members!

Free Havana (Club) – and Santiago de Cuba, Too!

By Jeffrey W. Stempel and Ann C. McGinley

As readers of last week's New York Times (see Damien Cave, Easing in Cuba Renews Debate on U.S. Embargo, N.Y. Times, Nov. 20, 2012, at A1, col. 2) have been reminded, the United States government's embargo of Cuba, long subject to question, has increasingly become viewed as wasteful and foolish, a relic of the Cold War era – and probably an unwise overreaction to Castro even then.¹ But supporters of the embargo (described as a "blockade" by the Cubans themselves) remain sufficiently numerous and politically powerful that change seems unlikely, notwithstanding changes in the Cuban government’s attitude toward private enterprise and the looming exit of the Castro brothers from political leadership.²

Based on what we saw during a recent visit to Cuba with a group of American lawyers and law professors, the continuing U.S. support for the embargo is indeed unfortunate, unwise, and unnecessary. We are old enough to remember a time when a U.S. "hard line" toward Cuba may have made sense in light of the risks posed to the U.S. by an aggressive Soviet Union looking for satellite states during the Cold War. But the Soviet Union has been "dead" for more than 20 years and the time for either worrying about Soviet/Cuba military aggression or thinking that economic sanctions will bring a massive shift in Cuban government is long past.

We have no illusions regarding the Realpolitik of the Cuban Revolution or the occasional (perhaps even frequent) ruthlessness of the post-Revolution government. Too many alleged "counter-revolutionaries" died at the hands of firing squads to hold such illusions. But however blameworthy some of its methods may have been, the Revolution appears to remain strongly popular with the populace, even as that populace seeks greater economic prosperity, making now the ideal time for U.S. business to have greater access to Cuba (more on that in a minute). The Revolution appears to have delivered on its promises of providing universal education and health care to a country previously ignored and exploited by the elite. Although Cuba is poor, the vast majority of Cubans seems to see itself as better off than in the pre-Castro days when there was rampant corruption and wealth at the top of the socioeconomic scale but only a subsistence level existence for the bulk of the people.

Boyd to Host 'Academe Meets Bar' Event

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that it will host a first-of-its-kind 'Academe Meets Bar: 2012 Books By Boyd Faculty Members with Relevance to the Practicing Bar' event on November 1, 2012.

The event, which will offer 1.0 hours of continuing legal education (CLE), will feature talks by four Boyd faculty members, including Professors Linda Edwards, Jeff Stempel, Jean Sternlight, and Marketa Trimble.

Linda Edwards, E.L. Cord Foundation Professor of Law, will discuss her recent book, Readings in Persuasion: Briefs That Changed the World. Jeff Stempel, Doris S. and Theodore B. Lee Professor of Law, will discuss his recent book, Fundamentals of Litigation Practice. Jean Sternlight, Director of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution and Michael and Sonja Saltman Professor of Law, will discuss her recent book, Psychology for Lawyers: Understanding the Human Factors in Negotiation, Litigation, and Decision Making. Finally, Marketa Trimble, Associate Professor of Law, will discuss her recent book, Global Patents: Limits of Transnational Enforcement.

The event will take place on November 1, 2012, from 4:00 to 5:20 p.m. in the Thomas & Mack Moot Court Facility. The event is free and open to the public.

Boyd to Host 'Academe Meets Bar' Event

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that it will host a first-of-its-kind 'Academe Meets Bar: 2012 Books By Boyd Faculty Members with Relevance to the Practicing Bar' event on November 1, 2012.

The event, which will offer 1.0 hours of continuing legal education (CLE), will feature talks by four Boyd faculty members, including Professor Linda Edwards, Professor Jeff Stempel, Professor Jean Sternlight, and Professor Marketa Trimble.

Professor Linda Edwards will discuss her recent book, Readings in Persuasion: Briefs That Changed the World. Professor Jeff Stempel will discuss his Fundamentals of Litigation Practice. Professor Jean Sternlight will discuss her recent book, Psychology for Lawyers: Understanding the Human Factors in Negotiation, Litigation, and Decision Making. Professor Marketa Trimble will discuss her recent book, Global Patents: Limits of Transnational Enforcement.

The event will take place on November 1, 2012, from 4:00 to 5:20 p.m. in the Thomas & Mack Moot Court Facility. The event is free and open to the public.

Boyd Faculty Honored at Annual Law & Society Meeting

As reported in the June 2012 edition of Road Scholars, Professors Rachel Anderson, Ruben Garcia, Michael Kagan, Ann McGinley, Terry Pollman, Jeff Stempel, and Stacey Tovino attended the 2012 International Conference on Law & Society in Honolulu, HI.

The Boyd School of Law is very pleased to announce that Professor Addie Rolnick (right), received an honorable mention at the Conference for the 2011 Article Prize for her recent article, "The Promise of Mancari: Indian Political Rights as Racial Remedy," published in Volume 86 of the NYU Law Review. Professor Rolnick joined the Boyd faculty in fall 2011, bringing expertise in Criminal Law and Procedure, Critical Race Theory, Indian Law, and Juvenile Law.

Boyd was well represented at the Conference. Professor Rachel Anderson presented her paper, "Corporate Citizenship in Corporate Governance: Possibility or Pipe Dream?" as part of a Corporate Law and Human Rights panel. During an Author Meets Reader session, Professor Ruben Garcia discussed his new book out of NYU Press, Marginal Workers: How Legal Fault Lines Divide Workers and Leave Them without Protection. Professor Garcia also presented a paper relating to workplace citizenship during a Collective Labor Law and Worker Participation session. Professor Michael Kagan presented his paper, "We Live in a Country of UNHCR: The UN Surrogate State as an Alternative Basis for Refugee Rights," as part of a Regulating Immigrant Rights: Comparative Perspectives session. Professor Ann McGinley chaired a panel entitled, "Gender from a Multidimensional Perspective: Masculinities Theories and Law," presented her paper entitled, "Because of Sex," commented on Ruben Garcia's Marginal Workers during Garcia's Author Meets Reader session, and commented on Susan Stiritz's "Hooking Up as a Neoliberal Practice" during a Feminist Legal Theory Collaborative Research Network panel. Finally, Professor Jeff Stempel participated in a roundtable entitled, "Power Grab: The Diminishing of Parties' Authority and Effectiveness through Procedures and Otherwise."

Nevada Supreme Court Embraces "Notice-Prejudice" Rule

By Professor Jeffrey Stempel

In Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department v. Coregis Insurance Co., 256 P.3d 958 (Nev. 2011), the Nevada Supreme Court formally joined the vast majority of states in embracing a "notice-prejudice" rule regarding whether an insurer may deny coverage due to late notice of a loss or claim by the policyholder. Under a notice-prejudice approach, late notice to the insurer is not necessarily fatal to the policyholder’s claim and the tardy policyholder may nonetheless obtain coverage unless the insurer demonstrates that it was prejudiced by the late notice. The Court made clear that the burden of proving prejudice was on the insurer because “it is more practical and equitable” to do so. In addition to stating that the result was required by longstanding administrative regulations (NAC 686A.660(4) states that late notice does not relieve the insurer of its obligations unless failure to comply with a policy’s notice provision “prejudices the insurer’s rights), the Metro-Coregis Court overruled State Farm Mut. Auto Insurance Co. v. Cassinelli, 216 P.2d 606 (1950), which had adopted a strict requirement that late notice was the failure of a condition that excused the insurer from providing coverage.