Professor Francine Lipman Featured on TaxProf Blog

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

On Nov. 26, she was featured in the TaxProf Blog article Lipman & Smith: The Social Security Benefits Formula.

The article shares the abstract and link to a paper Professor Lipman co-authored, with Boyd alumnus Alan Smith '07, titled The Social Security Benefits Formula and the Windfall Elimination Provision: An Equitable Approach to Addressing 'Windfall' Benefits.

The abstract reads, "This article presents and examines the Windfall Elimination Provision highlighting inherent problems in its design, which include structural and administrative issues that disproportionately impact low-income workers. The article also describes and examines public misperception and resentment of the Windfall Elimination Provision, and deficiencies in the Social Security Administration’s communication efforts. The article also describes considerable legislative efforts since its enactment to modify, replace, or repeal the Windfall Elimination Provision, providing an explanation and analysis of each bill. Finally, the article presents an alternative approach to eliminating the ‘windfall’ benefits that accrue to noncovered workers."

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.

“Streetball Hafla” to Air on Vegas PBS Dec. 10

Above is a clipping from the December issue of Vegas PBS Source
Program Magazine about the upcoming airing of "Streetball Hafla"

"Streetball Hafla," a film exploring how basketball can foster harmonious relationships between Jews and Arabs in Israel, will be shown on Vegas PBS on Tuesday, Dec. 10.

The film documents a 2009 basketball tournament in Northern Israel, sponsored and organized by the William S. Boyd School of Law’s Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Practicing coexistence and tolerance, 160 Jewish and Arab teens shared rooms, played on the same teams, and went through the ADL’s anti-bias training program during the tournament weekend.

“Streetball Hafla” will be shown on Vegas PBS Channel 10 and 10.1 at 9 and 10:30 p.m.

Professor Ruben Garcia's Book Reviewed in Law & Society Review

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

On Oct. 21, his book Marginal Workers: How Legal Fault Lines Divide Workers and Leave Them without Protection was reviewed in the Law & Society Review.

"Marginal Workers is an essential call for the American labor movement to embrace varied solidarity strategies and to broaden the narrative in favor of workers' rights. This work of engaged scholarship should be disseminated widely and read carefully by workers, activists, lawyers, and scholars in all corners of the country," the review says.

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.

Dean, Several Faculty Members, and Alumna Featured in UNLV Magazine

Several members of the Boyd community are featured in the Fall 2013 issue of UNLV Magazine.

Dean Dan Hamilton is featured in a piece titled The New Deans. In it he says, "We want to be for gaming law what NYU is for tax law - the place to go for people who need to be trained and kept current in gaming law. We have, in Vegas and in the state, a great advantage to be the leader. It's a natural fit for us, and we're going to pursue that."

Professor Bret Birdsong is spotlighted in Federal Appointment. The piece reads, "Law professor Bret Birdsong has been appointed by the Obama administration to serve as deputy solicitor for land resources at the U.S. Department of Interior in Washington, D.C." It continues, "He will be one of six deputy solicitors reporting to Solicitor Hilary Tompkins, the Interior Department's top lawyer."

Professors Ruben Garcia, Francine Lipman, and Addie Rolnick are featured in Queue Up These Flicks, a piece where each of them explain the importance of the movies shown at the 2013 Public Interest Law Film Festival that took place in September.

Professor Lipman is also featured in Don't Miss It, which highlights upcoming University events, including her University Forum Lecture titled "Everything You Need to Know About the Social Security Benefits Formula, But Don't Even Know to Ask." Professor Lipman's lecture will take place on Dec. 5 at 7:30 p.m. inside the Barrick Museum Auditorium.

Finally, alumna Heather Procter is highlighted in How To..., an article that asks all winners of this year's UNLV Alumni of the Year Awards for insight in their areas of expertise. In her profile, Procter is asked how she finds the details that matter in an argument. She responds, "In my work, it's about finding the legal standard in situations, and staying focused on that, and not allowing yourself to get distracted by superfluous issues."

Nov. 21 Boyd Briefs Now Available

The Nov. 21 edition of Boyd Briefs is now available.

This week's edition features Professor Elizabeth MacDowell, student Casey Stiteler, and alumnus Terry Johnson '11.

Professor MacDowell serves as the director of the Family Justice Clinic at the Boyd School of Law. She continues to publish award-winning reasearch that focuses on issues including matters of race, class, gender, domestic violence, access to justice, and the impact of criminalization on low-income families.

After overcoming a brain tumor, Stiteler's resilience compelled him to create Casey's Project Ltd., which works with local companies to provide toys and entertainment equipment to pediatric wards in Reno and Carson City. In addition to performing strongly academically, he currently works as an Academic Success Program student mentor.

In 2012, Johnson became the first Boyd graduate to serve on the three-person Nevada Gaming Control Board, which licenses and regulates the gaming industry. He also accepts pro bono cases from the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and Nevada Legal Services. The latter recently honored Johnson with its Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award.

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

West Coast Rhetoric Scholarship Workshop, November 14-15

UNLV hosted the first West Coast Rhetoric Scholarship Workshop this month, bringing together professors from a dozen law schools to exchange drafts and comments on scholarly “works in progress.” As the spark for what we hope will become many related projects and events, the workshop was designed to bring together scholars in the region to explore collaborations and conversations about law and rhetoric scholarship, broadly defined.

The November 14-15, 2013, scholarship workshop offered an opportunity to exchange both drafts and ideas with colleagues from around the region in an informal setting. The collaborative atmosphere and constructive sessions offered concrete guidance with drafts and, even more important, the chance to begin and continue discussions with colleagues from other schools.

Professors exchanging drafts and comments came from Stanford, the University of Washington, the University of Wyoming, the University of Colorado, Arizona State University, Lewis & Clark, Southwestern, McGeorge, American, Mercer, and UNLV.

Terry Phelps, Director of Legal Rhetoric and Professor of Law at American University Washington College of Law, was the opening speaker and the recipient of the kairos award, a “once in a lifetime” award recognizing her groundbreaking work as well as her personal role in encouraging and supporting law and rhetoric scholarship.

The first annual Penny Pether Award for Law and Language Scholarship was presented at the closing reception. Prof. Pether, who died earlier this year, was a passionate advocate of interdisciplinary scholarship in law, literature, and language. She was a Professor of Law at Villanova University School of Law and formerly served as Professor of Law and Director of Legal Rhetoric at the American University Washington College of Law.

Michael Burger of Roger Williams University School of Law received the first annual Penny Pether Award for Law and Language Scholarship for his article Environmental Law/Environmental Literature, 40 Ecology L.Q. 1 (2013). In partial recognition of the strength and tremendous diversity of the works nominated, the selection committee recognized for honorable mention Kevin Curran for his article, Hospitable Justice: Law and Selfhood in Shakespeare’s Sonnets, 9 Law, Culture, & Humanities 295 (2013), and Ruthann Robson for her essay, 27 Words, 13 Memoir 85 (2013).