ON THE DOCKET

INDIAN NATIONS GAMING & GOVERNANCE PROGRAM

Dean Leah Grinvald, right, greets Latisha Casas, San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority chairperson, at a reception introducing the Indian Nations Gaming & Governance Program in October.

Off and Running

Initially slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Nations Gaming & Governance Program is building important momentum in multiple areas

BY MATT JACOB

The William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV unveiled the Indian Nations Gaming & Governance Program following a substantial gift from the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians in early 2020. Then just as the school was set to further boost its reputation as a leader in tribal law, gaming, and governance education … a global pandemic hit.

Fast-forward nearly two years: After a slow rollout, the Indian Nations Gaming & Governance (INGG) Program is finally building momentum. From expanded curriculum and personnel to regular programming designed to enhance the discussion about issues related to Native American gaming and governance, students, faculty, the general public and—ultimately—Indian country are beginning to reap the benefits of the San Manuel band’s generosity.

Here’s a look at the various ways in which the program is gaining traction.

Class is in session: Boyd Law students—both traditional juris doctor candidates and those enrolled in the nation’s only master’s in gaming law program—can now choose from seven different courses related to Indian law, gaming, and governance. Among them is the aptly titled “Tribal Law and Governance” course, which is taught by Addie Rolnick, the law school’s San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Professor of Law and director of the INGG program.

“At Boyd, we’ve historically had strength in gaming and strength in Indian law, but not the stuff in the middle,” Rolnick says. “This course addresses that by covering issues related to gaming, to the internal law of tribes, and tribal governance. It’s the centerpiece of the program. Its goal is to not only produce future leaders in Indian country but prepare all types of law students to work more effectively with tribal governments.”

Welcome aboard: Early this year, the INGG program welcomed its first set of visiting professors and introduced its first two distinguished fellows.

University of North Dakota professors Kathryn Rand and Steven Light, both of whom have extensive experience in tribal gaming law and governance, taught three classes in the spring 2022 semester. After starting the semester online, the colleagues headed west to the Boyd Law campus, where Rand taught Indian Gaming Law, Light taught Contemporary Issues in American Indian Politics, and the two tag-teamed on the Guided Research & Writing in Indian Gaming course.

“When the law school was working to establish the INGG [program] and develop its academic programming, they reached out to us for some informal consultation. That led to an invitation for us to serve as the inaugural visiting faculty,” says Rand, who along with Light co-directs the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law & Policy at the University of North Dakota. “We were honored by the invitation and the opportunity to contribute to the program.

“We were pleased to have more than 30 students enroll in our courses. Interestingly, each course had its own group of students—there was relatively little overlap. That told us that a wide range of students are interested in different aspects of tribal gaming.”

In addition to Rand and Light, the INGG program welcomed distinguished fellows Jennifer Carleton and John Tahsuda III. The two joined fellow professor Anthony Cabot, the law school’s longtime distinguished fellow in gaming law.

Carleton, an attorney with deep roots in the Las Vegas gaming law community and experience as inhouse counsel for an Indian casino, will help the INGG program establish its advanced Indian law and gaming curriculum and create the first-of-

its-kind Indian gaming experiential learning program.

Let’s have a discussion: The INGG also expanded its public education and leadership programming over the past two years, hosting multiple webinars and in-person events. These external programs are targeted to students, scholars and the general public, and will continue to grow under Tahsuda’s guidance.

Among the upcoming planned programming: a December webinar focused on Indian gaming lands (including how the Department of the Interior analyzes requests for lands that aren’t located on a reservation); and an in-person conference in the spring that will discuss the history of Indian gaming in California (including an examination of legal principles that ultimately led to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988).

In addition to conferences and webinars, the program plans to offer free online workshops on a number of topics relevant to young legal practitioners and tribal government officials working in Indian country.

“Resources like the INGG program can be helpful to the continued health of Indian gaming—and even more, to the continued evolution of the relationships between tribal governments and federal, state, and local governments,” says Tahsuda, a former U.S. Department of the Interior official and member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma who will be teaching Federal Indian Law as an adjunct professor during the spring 2023 semester.

“With regard to the spring conference, we want to take a step back and look at where Indian gaming started,” Tahsuda says. “In fact, the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians can provide a prime case study into the ingenuity of tribes as they began operating bingo halls to generate desperately needed funding for their communities. The legal battles fought then set the foundation for the success of the Indian gaming industry today.”

Come one, come all: While the INGG program is picking up some much-needed post-pandemic steam, Rolnick knows the best way to achieve maximum impact—both in Indian country and beyond—is to recruit and retain students who have an interest in tribal gaming and governance.

That means elevating the program’s profile through targeted outreach, particularly aimed at Native Americans living in tribal communities.

“We have an established strength in gaming because we’re positioned in Las Vegas,” Rolnick says. “But when it comes to recruiting some of the top Native students in the country who want to go to law school, it’s important to demonstrate a commitment to all aspects of Indian gaming law and tribal governance. This program is designed to do just that, positioning UNLV Boyd to be the academic and intellectual hub of Indian gaming.”

John Tahsuda III

Jennifer Carleton SAN MANUEL DRIVING ‘POSITIVE SOCIAL CHANGE’

They call it the spirit of Yawa’—to act on one’s beliefs. It’s what has inspired the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians to steadfastly contribute not only to the Indian Nations Gaming & Governance Program at Boyd Law, but also to community and organizations working to create a better future.

In October, the San Manuel Gaming and Hospitality Authority (SMGHA) and Palms Casino Resort awarded $1.2 million in grants to 30 Southern Nevada charities. In-person surprises and personal outreach revealed the grants, which ranged from $5,000 to $250,000.

“We are committed to fulfilling our legacy while aspiring to be a community leader for positive social change,” says Latisha Casas, SMGHA chairperson.

The Palms, which reopened in April after being purchased by the SMGHA, is the first resort in Las Vegas to be fully owned and operated by a Native American tribe.

Inaugural 2022 grant recipients were:

• Anti-Defamation League • Be A Shero Foundation • Bright Star Foundation • Edward Kline Memorial Homeless Veterans Fund, Inc. • Foster Kinship • Goodie Two Shoes Foundation • Nevada Housing Coalition • Nevada Legal Services • Noah’s Animal House Foundation • Olive Crest Nevada • Raise the Future • Unshakeable • Workforce Connections • Communities In Schools of Nevada • CORE Powered by The Rogers Foundation • Girl Scouts of Southern Nevada • Green Our Planet • Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada • Nevada Ballet Theatre • Project 150 • Alliance for a Just Society • Candlelighters for Childhood Cancer of Southern Nevada, Inc. • Gay and Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, Inc • Baller Dream Foundation • Make-A-Wish Southern Nevada • Nevada Grant Lab • Hope Means Nevada • Opportunity Village Foundation • The Cleveland Clinic Foundation • The Defensive Line • Southern Nevada Joint Management (Culinary Academy)

SALTMAN CENTER FOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION

The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution is ranked No. 8 in the nation among dispute resolution programs, according to U.S. News & World Report, March 2022)

Changing of the Guard

After serving as the Saltman Center’s first graduate fellow for almost a decade, Boyd Law alumna Jae Barrick has decided to step down. Stepping up: friend, protégé, and fellow alum Michael Stannard

BY MATT JACOB

When Jae Barrick decided to embark on a midlife career change—a change that would begin with her enrollment at the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV—there wasn’t much doubt that she would gravitate toward the world of alternative dispute resolution. After all, it was something that was ingrained in her while growing up in the mountains of West Virginia. “My dad was a union arbitrator whose job was to argue with union guys in preparation for contract negotiations and other issues,” Barrick says. “So as children, we were pretty much forced by dinner conversation to always see two sides of every story.” Barrick’s affinity for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) only grew from there. So it’s no surprise that as a law student in the school’s part-time program, she found her way to Boyd Law’s renowned Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution.

Also not a surprise: When the Saltman Center established a graduate fellowship in 2014, Barrick got the job. At the time, she was just a year removed from earning her law degree, had just begun working as a family law attorney, and already was working parttime at the law school.

During her eight-plus years as a graduate fellow, Barrick has worked alongside professor Lydia Nussbaum to further the mission of the Saltman Center and the school’s Mediation Clinic (both of which are directed by Nussbaum).

I have absolutely loved working with students and giving them a real-life view of what their career will be like as practicing attorneys. They’re all so smart—far smarter than I am—and so motivated. I’ll truly miss that interaction.” JAE BARRICK

OUTGOING SALTMAN CENTER FELLOW

Among Barrick’s myriad fellowship duties: She has taught in both the Mediation Clinic and Family Mediation Practicum; served as coach and mentor to students participating in the American Bar Association’s client counseling and negotiation competitions; recruited Las Vegas-area lawyers (including Boyd Law alums) to judge those competitions; supervised the school’s parking arbitration program; and served as a law school and Mediation Clinic ambassador, particularly to family court judges and attorneys.

“I thought it would be something interesting to do,” Barrick says about her decision to accept the graduate fellowship. “At the time, I wasn’t sure how I was going to make a living at my law firm as a new attorney with no clients. So working at the school gave me some regular monthly [income]. But the more I did it, the more I loved it.

“I thought it would be a one-year— two-semester—gig. The truth is, I never left.”

Well, until now.

With an overflowing plate as both a practicing lawyer and the administrator for Nevada’s Statewide Juvenile Dependency Mediation Program, Barrick has decided to relinquish her role as the Saltman Center’s graduate fellow at the end of the fall 2022 semester.

Albeit with some reluctance.

“I have absolutely loved working with students and giving them a reallife view of what their career will be like as practicing attorneys,” Barrick says. “They’re all so smart—far smarter than I am—and so motivated. I’ll truly miss that interaction.”

As she departs, Barrick will hand the graduate fellowship baton to Michael Stannard, a longtime friend, colleague and fellow Boyd Law alum. Stannard arrived at the law school the same year Barrick began her fellowship, and the two connected during his second year when he began participating in client counseling competitions.

Like Barrick, Stannard is a Las Vegas-based family law practitioner whose passion for mediation and dispute resolution is as profound as it is for his mentor. Stannard says he’s excited about the chance to work with students and pass on the valuable ADR skills Barrick helped teach him during his three years on campus.

As for filling Barrick’s shoes?

“It’s impossible,” says Stannard, who earned his law degree in 2017 and has remained connected with the school in various ways, including as a competition judge. “What she brings to the table as a mediator, as a professor, as a person—she’s irreplaceable.”

His predecessor—and his new boss—have little doubt that Stannard is more than up to the task.

“He brings so much to the table,” Barrick says. “He’s an excellent mediator, he has incredible empathy, and he possesses the ability to communicate without judgment. He’s a rock star in my world.”

Adds Nussbaum: “Michael has a deep well of patience and understanding, both of which are essential attributes for any good mediator and teacher. He’s also remarkably kind and good natured and doesn’t have an ounce of pretentiousness. He’s the perfect choice to replace Jae.

“As for Jae, I can’t thank her enough for all that she has done for us. She has been a guide, an advisor, and a friend from whom I have learned a tremendous amount. I will miss her very much.”

RENOWNED SCHOLARS TO SHARE EXPERTISE IN ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION

The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at the Boyd School of Law was founded on multiple core principles. One of those: to stimulate scholarly research and exchanges on the nature of conflict and explore methods for avoiding and resolving disputes.

Since its beginning, the Saltman Center fulfilled that mission through an annual talk, bringing the nation’s foremost authorities on alternative dispute resolution to present their research and share insights on a variety of topics related to conflict and conflict resolution.

Five years ago, the lecture series was named in honor of the late Chris Beecroft, Jr., a 1971 UNLV graduate who served as commissioner of Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Clark County District Court.

The Beecroft Lecture Series will return with an event February 21 at the Boyd School of Law’s Thomas & Mack Moot Court Facility on the UNLV campus. Michael Moffitt, a professor at the University of Oregon School of Law since 2001 and Philip H. Knight chair, will present “Truth. Regardless of Reconciliation?”

The public is invited to attend the free lecture, but space is limited so registration is required. Those interested are encouraged to visit the Saltman Center’s event listings for registration information and additional program details.

—Matt Jacob

MORE INFORMATION HERE

PRELAW FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM

Early Support Means Everything

Diverse and first-gen students find a path to law school through the Justice Michael L. Douglas PreLaw Fellowship Program

BY C. MOON REED

When she graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno, in December 2020, Emily Espinosa knew she wanted to become an environmental justice lawyer. But as a first-generation student with no family ties to the profession, the chasm between aspiration and attorney felt daunting.

“One of the hardest things about law school, from my perspective, was just the fact that it seemed so unattainable,” says Espinosa, a native of Sparks. “I didn’t know where to start, but I knew I wanted to go to Boyd, specifically for their [commitment to] community service.”

She stumbled upon the Justice Michael L. Douglas PreLaw Fellowship Program when scrolling the William S. Boyd School of Law’s website. “It was talking about diversity and helping students like me who really didn’t understand the background or the process,” Espinosa says.

Named after the first Black chief justice of the Nevada Supreme Court, the Douglas PreLaw Fellowship is designed to help diverse and firstgeneration students prepare for law school through a week of simulated law school classes and LSAT preparation. The fellows also visit Nevada courts, firms, in-house counsel and public interest organizations to meet

It was awesome. It was my first look at what being a lawyer would look like.”

lawyers and judges where they work.

Espinosa, who applied and participated in the fellowship in January 2021, is a member of its inaugural cohort. Today, she is a second-year law student at the Boyd School of Law.

“It was awesome,” Espinosa says of the fellowship. “It was my first look at what being a lawyer would look like.” She found it “comforting” to connect with professionals as well as other students. “It just brought me a lot of peace and encouragement.” She especially appreciated how everybody helped her feel valued and took extra time to answer all her questions.

“I owe absolutely everything to this fellowship,” Espinosa says. “I don’t think that I would be in law school if it wasn’t for my attendance in this.”

Now retired, Justice Douglas still takes the time to participate in his namesake fellowship.

“He’s a trailblazer,” says Cameron Lue Sang, the program co-creator and Boyd’s Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid. “He has mentored many young attorneys throughout the state. We’re very grateful that he’s there the entire week and [that] he spends the time with us.”

For John Delikanakis, a partner with Snell & Wilmer’s commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution group in Las Vegas and Reno, the Douglas PreLaw Fellowship is part of a vital effort to “really change the face of the legal profession to be more representative of what society looks like.”

Delikanakis sits on the fellowship advisory board and helped craft what the program would become.

“It’s important for a healthy democracy to make sure that all constituents have a working role in it, rather than just being simply subject to it,” Delikanakis says. He says that one of the best ways to help underrepresented groups become represented in a democracy is to encourage them to go to law school in order to be able to create and interpret the law. “It’s important for a fair and just legal system.”

Delikanakis encourages Boyd School of Law alums, community leaders, and legal professionals to spread the word about the Douglas PreLaw Fellowship; to encourage prospective students to apply; and even to volunteer their time.

“I know that a lot of Boyd alums out there have a lot to add to this program,” he says.

Volunteer opportunities include sitting on the board, speaking, hosting luncheons for students, and simply talking candidly to students about what a career in law actually looks like.

Perhaps ironically, Delikanakis says that the program’s ultimate success would drive it out of existence. “I hope that in 100 years, this program is not necessary because people of all backgrounds join the legal profession as a matter of course. That’s my hope.”

FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM PARTICIPATION

• January 2021: 13 fellows • June 2021: 17 fellows • June 2022: 20 fellows

Justice Michael L. Douglas PreLaw Fellowship Program participants visited a number of community organizations, including the Vegas Golden Knights, where they met the team’s chief legal officer, Charles A. “Chip” Seigel III; and Three Square Food Bank, where they assembled food bins for community members experiencing food insecurity.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO APPLY

IMMIGRATION CLINIC

A World of Difference

Boyd Law’s Immigration Clinic moves into new downtown office for clients’ convenience

BY STACY WILLIS

It’s a simple building: two floors, gray, a single main door with the address marked clearly above it.

The William S. Boyd School of Law’s Immigration Clinic’s new downtown Las Vegas Community Advocacy Office occupies the second floor of 1212 Casino Center Blvd. in the Arts District.

It’s nothing fancy, but its presence here—in contrast to the original Immigration Clinic tucked in the law school’s Thomas & Mack Clinic in the middle of UNLV’s main campus—makes it easier for some new clients to find help, managing attorney Alissa Cooley says.

“We used to have to send the receptionist in a golf cart around campus to find people who were dropped off by an Uber somewhere over by the Thomas & Mack Center,” Cooley says.

The ease of finding the downtown office, which opened in March with a ceremony attended by Governor Steve Sisolak, has shaved about an hour off of intake appointment sessions, she says.

The location has changed, but the important mission remains the same. Cooley and six other employees (and at least one Boyd School of Law student) typically manage about 200 pro bono cases at any given time. They defend unaccompanied children (typically those who entered the U.S. by themselves and now live with a relative in Las Vegas) in their removal proceedings and adults who face deportation while detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Operations are funded by $500,000 from the state and $500,000 from Clark County over a two-year-period. Defense attorney and law school adjunct professor Ozzie Fumo donated the space in the building.

Over time, Cooley says, she has grown to develop friendships with some clients.

She once ran into a former client from the Immigration Clinic at a store, five years after she had helped the individual gain residency as a juvenile. She was thrilled to hear that the client was now speaking fluent English and doing well. Another time, she received a photo of siblings graduating high school after she had helped them gain residency as juveniles.

“I watch some of them grow up,” says Cooley, who first worked for the clinic in 2014. Sometimes, she says, the staff members “become like life

We call it a ceremony. We bring them in and we surprise them with their status documents … and then ask them if they want to do a handprint— and they always do.”

ALISSA COOLEY

IMMIGRATION CLINIC

coaches” as clients try to navigate other facets of their new lives. “We help refer them to other resources, like tax attorneys or social services,” she says.

The original clinic was known for decorating its walls with the painted handprints of clients who gained permanent status. It’s still a tradition in the downtown office’s lobby and conference room.

“Our new clients see them and ask what they are, and they get very excited,” Cooley says. “I shared good news about a work permit with a client last week, and she asked if it was time for her to do her handprint yet.”

But it’s not until a client gains residency, or some other permanent status, that they can get their handprint on the wall.

“We call it a ceremony. We bring them in and we surprise them with their status documents … and then ask them if they want to do a handprint— and they always do.”

ABOUT THE CLINIC

• The oldest case on which the Immigration Clinic is working was opened in 2013 and is still open. • Most clients come from Mexico or Central America. • The youngest client was 18 months old.

HOW TO SEEK HELP

• For unaccompanied children and detained adults, call (702) 476-0750. • For members of the UNLV and CSN communities, make an appointment online. • For DACA renewals, make an appointment online.

For more information, scan this

What’s in a Name?

Everything, to those helped during the law school’s Name Change Clinic

BY MIKE WEATHERFORD

Say or write your name several times a day, and it becomes easy to take for granted a thing that’s so central to our identity.

But what if you need to change it? Greer Sullivan realized the process can be daunting, and can even feel invasive when a legal notice has to be published in the newspaper.

Sullivan’s experience with name changes as a student at William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV put her at the helm of a three-day Name Change Clinic at the law school in April. About 20 people took advantage of the free sessions in which student volunteers and supervising attorneys guided them through a form created by the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.

“Being able to help people with something as important as your name is just really rewarding,” says Sullivan, a 2022 graduate of the law school.

During her first year in law school, Sullivan was part of a team tasked with automating a name-change form. She was drawn into the process even more while she was clerking for the Family Law Self-Help Center at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.

The reasons for a name change range from the mundane to the intensely personal.

“A lot of people, older folk, had been going by names that weren’t their technical legal names for, like, 60 years without knowing,” Sullivan says. Social Security or Department of Motor Vehicles transactions often present the first indications that a change is needed.

Some people were first enrolled in school with a different name than their birth certificate, and they kept using it. Others may never have noticed the name misspelled on their birth certificate.

“A lot of folks can carry on with their lives without changing it for a long while,” Sullivan says. It gets more personal for those who need to sort the multiple legal names that come from more than one marriage or divorce. And it’s a big, meaningful action for those changing their names to match a new gender identity.

“That’s an even bigger self-comfort for them, to be able to legally go by a name that matches something you feel inside,” Sullivan says. Although subject to judicial oversight, gender IDrelated changes don’t require the published legal notice that’s meant to foil creditor dodgers, but the paperwork can be “difficult to understand when it’s something so personal to them,” Sullivan says.

The three-day clinic on campus exposed law students to the namechange process. Three supervising attorneys—Stephanie McDonald and Giovanni Andrade (from the Family Law Self-Help Center) and Cliff Marcek (the Boyd School of Law’s coordinator of community service)— helped navigate the more challenging cases. Christine Smith, then-associate dean for public service, compliance, and administration, was very helpful and involved in the planning and advertising process, Sullivan says.

The clinic was free of charge, so those who attended paid just the $295 filing fee. Perhaps filled with uncertainty when they arrived, they left with the warm assurance that they filled out the form correctly and the priceless confidence that the process was going to be completed.

“Every person who comes in, you can just see how much of a relief it is for them to be getting something that is just so intimate and important,” Sullivan says.

LEGAL WRITING

The Write Direction

Holistic approach makes Boyd School of Law’s legal writing program the best in the country

BY C. MOON REED

For the fifth year in a row, the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV has ranked No. 1 in legal writing, according to U.S. News & World Report’s 202223 Best Graduate Colleges rankings.

What makes the program the best in the nation? For one, its commitment to remaining on the cutting edge of education.

“We’re not just teaching your dad’s legal writing or your grandfather’s legal writing,” professor Kathryn M. Stanchi says. “We are keeping abreast of what lawyers are really doing in the field. Where is writing coming up? How can we prepare students to be able to do all of the different kinds of writing so that they can hit the ground running?”

This fall, a new course debuted to help students prepare for the latest evolution of the bar exam, which focuses less on brute memorization and more on performance. Distinguished Visiting Professor Joan Howarth, dean emerita at the Michigan State University College of Law, and professor Katherine Beckman, assistant director of the Academic Success Program at Boyd Law, co-teach the Lawyering Process III course.

Helping students tackle performance tests is just one component. “We are emphasizing statutory analysis, working under time pressure, and the variety of writing tasks that new lawyers may be expected to produce in practice,” Howarth says.

For her part, Stanchi has built her career around legal writing and thrives on sharing her craft with her students. She loves to teach a course on advanced strategies for persuasion.

Stanchi believes that the Boyd School of Law’s stellar faculty members should be credited for the school’s top ranking.

“They are among the best faculty in the country doing that kind of work,” Stanchi says. “And they’re not just the top teachers, not just people [who are] nationally recognized for both scholarship and service, but some of the most prolific legal writing scholars in the country.”

As one of the newest members of the faculty, Stanchi says she moved from Philadelphia to Las Vegas because she wanted to work with the best people: UNLV law professors, who are authors of some of the top textbooks and scholarship in the field.

“Boyd has, over the course of the last 10 years or so, been on a mission to collect the best writing folks from around the country,” Stanchi says. “This was a dream job for me because of that.”

Another attribute that makes Boyd Law’s writing program spectacular, according to Stanchi, is its holistic approach. “The writing is taught in a context of ‘How can we make you be the best lawyer you can be,’” Stanchi says.

Case in point: Another new LPIII course focuses on writing for trials and advocacy, and is taught by professor Joe Regalia.

“Advanced Trial Advocacy LPIII merges on-your-feet courtroom skills with the fast-paced trial writing that real attorneys use in real civil and criminal trials,” Regalia says. “Usually courses at other law schools focus either on courtroom skills like opening statements and witness examinations—or writing—but not usually both together.”

Stanchi says many students come to law school thinking lawyers go into trial just winging it because they’ve watched a lot of TV and movies. “But that’s often not how a real trial gets conducted,” she says. “Most top-notch trial lawyers have a trial notebook; they’ve written out their motions ahead of time, they are prepared to brief complex trial issues. So that’s just an incredible addition to the curriculum. That’s an area in which many students may not realize that writing is critical.”

Of course, learning how to write is a lifetime pursuit, and it’s OK if students don’t immediately find it easy. But with study, practice, and the help of UNLV’s world-class faculty, the payoff will eventually happen.

The most gratifying moment for Stanchi is when alums reach out to her with writing success stories: “That for me—I could just die happy,” Stanchi says. “Just knowing that you helped somebody to succeed at something hard is pretty amazing.”

Most top-notch trial lawyers have a trial notebook; they’ve written out their motions ahead of time, they are prepared to brief complex trial issues. So that’s just an incredible addition to the curriculum. That’s an area in which many students may not realize that writing is critical.” KATHRYN M. STANCHI

ALUMNI GOLF TOURNAMENT

GENEROSITY PAR FOR THE COURSE

The William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV Alumni Chapter hosted its eighth annual golf tournament September 23 at the Angel Park Golf Club.

The event has been the driving force behind the fully funded Boyd Law Alumni Chapter Scholarship Endowment ($48,000). The endowment allows the chapter to award, at minimum, a $1,500 scholarship annually, in perpetuity, to a Boyd Law student.

The tournament’s net revenue over the last five tournaments has been about $100,000. The chapter, which has built up its reserves over the past five years, was able to survive through COVID-19 when it was unable to host a tournament and had no significant revenue stream.

The chapter also uses funds from the tournament to support student activities, law school events, and alumni networking.