Professor Fatma Marouf and Boyd’s India Winter Program Featured on Harvard Immigration & Refugee Clinical Program Blog

Fatma Marouf is the co-director of the Immigration Clinic and an associate professor at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professor Marouf and the International and Comparative Human Rights Practicum (India Winter Program) she helped develop were recently featured on the Harvard Immigration & Refugee Clinical Program blog.

The May 15 article, titled “The International and Comparative Human Rights Practicum in India: A Hands-On Approach to Cross-Cultural Advocacy,” promoted the unique study-abroad program by commending the “valuable experience” it provides for both the participating U.S. and Indian students who partner together to shed light on the challenges facing vulnerable, migrant workers.

“Their research is dynamic and impactful, and it often turns up critical new facts, such as systemic gaps in the reporting of workplace injuries,” said Professor Marouf in the article. “Over time they become more comfortable tackling large-scale problems that initially seem overwhelming without losing hope.”

Drawing on her extensive experience representing individuals before the Immigration Courts, Board of Immigration Appeals, and U.S. Courts of Appeals, Professor Marouf's research probes various problems involved in adjudicating immigration cases at all levels.

Dean Hamilton Quoted by The American Lawyer

Dan Hamilton is the dean and Richard J. Morgan Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On May 14, he was quoted by The American Lawyer in an article titled, "Another Las Vegas Mainstay Sees Defections Amid Changing Landscape." The article is about how more than a dozen Gordon Silver lawyers are leaving the firm to start their own.

In the article, Dean Hamilton said, "The law school graduates have been fortunate and have enjoyed a variety of opportunities ranging from national firms to very prominent local institutions and boutique firms,” he says. “That said, it seems that the center of gravity is shifting more to the national firms as part of a trend that’s come later to Las Vegas than other big cities."

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.

Professor Michael Kagan Writes Column for Salon.com

Michael Kagan is co-director of the Immigration Clinic at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

On May 14, Professor Kagan published a column on Salon.com disputing a recent Department of Justice claim that immigrants who have not been legally admitted to the United States have no free speech rights. The government made the argument in a San Antonio federal court that is considering a lawsuit by Central American mothers who have protested the conditions of their detention by immigration authorities.

In the column, Professor Kagan says it is a case of government attorneys operating on "autopilot," without thinking about the implications of the arguments they are making. He points out that President Obama has applauded unauthorized immigrants who have campaigned publicly for immigration reform, so it is difficult to understand why the government would argue that they do not enjoy the protection of the First Amendment. He called on the President and Attorney General to retract the position.

Professor Kagan co-direct's Boyd's Immigration Clinic. He has published several columns with Salon.com. His legal scholarship has been published by the Georgetown Law Journal, Washington University Law Review, Ohio State Law Journal, Texas International Law Journal, Michigan Journal of Law Reform, and California Law Review, among others. 

May 14 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The May 14 issue of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Nancy Rapoport, student Alexandria Mendonca, and alumnus Nicholas Vaskov '02.

Professor Rapoport has thrice been a dean, including service as Boyd's interim dean in 2012-2013. She presently serves as Senior Advisor to the President of UNLV. She is one of the most productive members of the Boyd faculty. Her work has been cited more than 700 times in law reviews and journals; courts, too, follow her work -- frequently citing her books and articles as persuasive authority.

After graduating from Boyd, Mendonca will attend Oregon State University to pursue a post-baccalaureate degree in biochemistry, and eventually a Ph.D. She plans to take the patent bar, with her sights set on teaching law or science down the road.

Vaskov serves as System Counsel and Director of Real Estate Planning for the Nevada System of Higher Education. His practice focuses on real estate transactions and finance, construction, and land use -- but on any day can span almost any aspect of higher education law and policy.

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

Professor Mary LaFrance Quoted in Forbes

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

Professor LaFrance was quoted in a May 7 Forbes article titled, "Inside The Battle Over Illegal Streaming Sites: How The Film Industry Fights Back." 

In the article -- about Popcorn Time, "an app that enables free online streaming of movies and television shows," -- Professor LaFrance says, "To say Popcorn Time performs a public service, I think is a bit misguided. If we want people to invest in creating films and television… if the copyright owner cannot control streaming and derive revenue from it… I think you are going to severely affect content creators’ ability to get a return on investment. ... It’s important to extend copyright infringement to this sort of wide-scale streaming."

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

Professors Leslie Griffin and Stacey Tovino Give Presentations at Annual Conference on Law, Religion and Health

From left: Professors Leslie Griffin and Stacey Tovino

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

Stacey Tovino is the Lincy Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Professors Griffin and Tovino recently attended the 2015 Annual Conference on Law, Religion, and Health in America, sponsored by the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School May 8-9.

At the conference, Professor Griffin spoke on the topic of “What Would American Health Care Look Like if it Respected the Religion Clauses? How Would the Religion Clauses be Interpreted If They Valued American Health Care?” Professor Tovino presented her paper titled “Health Care Finance, Religion, and the HIPAA Privacy Rule.”

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

Professor Tovino is a leading expert in health law, bioethics, and the medical humanities.