Adjunct Faculty
Jae Barrick is the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution Graduate Fellow. Working alongside Professor Lydia Nussbaum (the Assistant Director of the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution), Barrick provides supervision and mentorship to the law students in the mediation clinic and leads a mediation practicum for law students taking Professor Nussbaum’s family law class. Barrick works closely with students and other faculty in organizing and running ADR competitions at the law school and serves as the coach for teams preparing for regional and national ADR competitions such as the ABA Client Counseling competition and the ABA Negotiation competition. Barrick provides oversight and supervision in UNLV’s Parking Arbitration program where law students are trained and serve as arbitrators in disputes over parking tickets issued on the UNLV campus.
Barrick is a graduate of the William S. Boyd School of Law and a practicing attorney in the law firm of Gallian Welker & Beckstrom LC. Barrick serves on the Outsource Mediation Committee and the CIP Panel of Mediators for dependency actions in the Eighth Judicial District Court.
Barrick believes in empowering the individual through the use of alternative methods for resolving issues and advocates for the use of mediation to empower individuals whenever conflicts arise. Barrick provides pro bono services to foster children, victims of domestic violence and military veterans through the Pro Bono project of Legal Aid of Southern Nevada. Barrick also represents transgendered clients for Nevada Legal Services in obtaining name changes and gender marker changes for new birth certificates. Barrick serves as an Honorary Director to NV CURE, an inmate rights and reentry advocacy organization.
Richard Boulware is a United States District Court Judge, in the District of Nevada. He sits in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the United States Senate in 2014.
Judge Boulware graduated with honors from Harvard College. He received his law degree from Columbia Law School where he was a Stone Scholar and on the Law Review. Judge Boulware served as a law clerk to the Honorable Denise Cote in the Southern District of New York. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Boulware served as an Assistant Federal Public Defender for many years. He was a public defender in the Federal Public Defender’s Office in Las Vegas, Nevada and in the Federal Defenders Office of New York in New York City.
Judge Boulware is a member of the American Law Institute. Judge Boulware is an adjunct professor at the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. Judge Boulware is a past president of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Bar Association. He received a special President’s Award from the national president of the National Bar Association in 2011 as well as the Medal of Justice award from the State Bar of Nevada in 2012.
J. Scott Bovitz is the senior partner of Bovitz & Spitzer in Los Angeles. Mr. Bovitz has been a federal court litigator for 41 years; most of his trials are in bankruptcy court. Mr. Bovitz is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law by The American Board of Certification. Bovitz is also a Certified Specialist in Bankruptcy Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. Bovitz is rated "AV Preeminent" by Martindale-Hubbell. Bovitz has been selected as a Southern California "Super Lawyer" in Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights every year since the program arrived in California. Bovitz is an active lecturer and writer. Bovitz has written or produced 569 original songs and is a member of both the Studio B Lockout Band and the Rick Hascobar Project.
Professor Cain obtained his J.D. from George Mason University.
Jennifer Carr received her B.A. in English magna cum laude in 2003 from the University of Nevada, Reno. She graduated from the Boyd School of Law cum laude in 2006 and is the recipient of the 2006 Barbara Buckley Community Service Award. While attending law school, she assisted with the externship program. She is admitted to practice in Nevada and California.
Patrick N. Chapin is the President and Sole Shareholder of Patrick N. Chapin, Ltd. He has practiced law in Southern Nevada since 1993. He practices in the areas of federal and state commercial and complex civil litigation with an emphasis on employment law. For the past six years his practice has concentrated significantly in the various areas of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). He has served as a neutral (arbitrator) and/or mediator in more than 250 cases. He is an active member of the ADR Section of the Nevada State Bar and previously served as the Section’s Chairperson.
He is licensed to practice before all State and Federal courts of Nevada, Utah, and Indiana. He is also licensed to practice in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and United States Supreme Court. He is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and has received recognition and numerous awards for his employment law advocacy skills and is a frequent lecturer in this area of law. Professor Chapin is rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in their Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. He currently serves as an arbitrator for the Nevada Supreme Court Annexed Arbitration Program. He is an active Judge Pro Tempore for both the Las Vegas Justice Court (Civil) and Short Trial Program for the Nevada Eighth Judicial District Court.
Professor Chapin received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Purdue University and his Juris Doctor from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio. After graduating law school, he served as a judicial law clerk in the Common Pleas Court of Franklin County, Ohio. He has received advanced mediation training at both the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law and Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution, William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada Las Vegas.
Civically, Professor Chapin was a long-time Board Member for Nevada Public Radio and in 2003 was elected Board Chairman Emeritus. In his non-professional life, he is an ordained lay Buddhist Priest and in 2012 received his Master of Divinity in Buddhist Ministry. He is married and has a son.
Tom proudly served the United States for nearly 27 years, retiring in May 2022 from the Department of Justice as Associate Deputy Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). As a career federal agent, he enforced a wide range of federal criminal laws, especially related to firearms, explosives, arson, and violent crime. He worked extensively in undercover assignments and regularly testified in federal court as both a fact and an expert witness. Tom retired as Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ATF and a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES).
In June 2022, Tom joined ShotSpotter, Inc., where he serves as Vice President of Analytics and Forensic Services. Tom leads a team of experienced professionals who support the integrated use of data, precision policing tools, and forensic evidence to detect, investigate, and prosecute gun crimes. His team also helps law enforcement and academic researchers use data to better understand, analyze, and report on gun violence and the effectiveness of crime reduction efforts.
He regularly speaks on matters related to criminal justice, law enforcement, and firearms law to cabinet-level and other high-ranking government executives, industry trade groups, law enforcement officials, and in the national media.
As an Adjunct Professor at UNLV’s Boyd School of Law, Tom teaches “Firearms Law & the Second Amendment,” a viewpoint-neutral examination of the history, constitutional doctrine, and modern state of firearms law in America.
Tom has a BA in Criminal Justice from Marshall University in Huntington, WV; an MS in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond, KY; and a JD from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he was an Articles Editor on Law Review.
Tom is licensed to practice law in Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky.
Nell Christensen currently serves as the Chief of Training and Recruiting at the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, where she has worked since graduating from law school at the University of Minnesota in 2003. She conducts a training program for new deputy district attorneys and runs the office’s internship program, among other duties. Earlier in her career, she worked as a trial attorney, trying approximately 50 felony jury trials, including 13 complex murder cases. She worked on the office’s Repeat Offender Unit and as Chief of the Gun Crimes Unit, among other assignments. She has argued before the Nevada Supreme Court on multiple occasions.
Among other leadership roles, Nell currently chairs the District Attorney’s Hiring Committee, Chief Deputy Promotion Committee, Policy Review Committee, Police Training Committee, and Hope for Second Chances Diversion Program, and is a member of the Legislative Committee.
Nell also holds several leadership and volunteer positions in the legal community. She helped form and now chairs the statewide Nevada Prosecution Best Practices Subcommittee. She works as a Panel Chair for the Nevada State Bar’s Attorney Disciplinary Board. She also volunteers for the Nevada State Bar as a mentor to new attorneys in the Transitioning Into Practice program. Nell teaches Trial Advocacy as an adjunct professor at UNLV Boyd School of Law. She also regularly spends time at Boyd conducting mock interviews, judging mock trials and moot courts, or teaching trial advocacy topics at Boyd’s Trial Advocacy and Opening Statements and Closing Arguments classes.
In 2019, Nell was chosen from hundreds of applicants to join the elite Leadership Las Vegas Program. She now serves as an alumnus, working on a committee to provide future classes insight into criminal justice.
In her off time, she keeps busy with her family. She is married with 4 kids and 2 dogs.
Sean Claggett graduated from University of Nevada Las Vegas (2000) with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. Thereafter, Sean graduated cum laude from Boyd School of Law (2003). After graduating from Boyd School of Law, Sean was employed at a high profile criminal defense law firm. After working for this firm for over two and a half years, Sean made the decision to start his own firm. On January 1, 2005, Sean opened his law firm with a single client and one employee. Today Claggett & Sykes Law Firm has eleven employees, including three attorneys, who are all Boyd School of Law Alumni. Since 2005, Sean has resolved numerous multi-million dollar real estate disputes. Sean has also successfully settled millions of dollars in personal injury claims. Most impressive is the fact that Sean has obtained well over $30,000,000.00 in judgments for his clients through litigation. Since 2012, Sean has been an arbitrator through the Nevada Supreme Court Annexed Arbitration Program.
Sean has achieved an AV Preeminent rating with Martindale-Hubbell. The Martindale-Hubbell® PEER REVIEW RATINGS™ are an objective indicator of a lawyer's high ethical standards and professional ability, generated from evaluations of lawyers by other members of the bar and the judiciary in the United States and Canada. Martindale-Hubbell® PEER REVIEW RATINGS™ reflect a combination of achieving a Very High General Ethical Standards rating and a Legal Ability numerical rating. A threshold number of responses is required to achieve a rating. AV Preeminent is the highest possible ranking, and is a significant rating accomplishment - a testament to the fact that a lawyer's peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.
Uri Clinton is a seasoned professional in the hospitality and casino entertainment industry. His expansive career includes expertise in legal affairs, compliance, business development, entrepreneurship and leadership. He most recently held the position of President & COO of Empire City Casino in New York, providing strategic direction and leadership for the property and continuing to explore development opportunities in Connecticut and New York for MGM Resorts.
Alissa A. Cooley is a native Nevadan and graduated cum laude from the William S. Boyd School of law in 2014. After graduating and passing the Nevada Bar, she accepted a justice AmeriCorps (jAC) fellowship at the Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic. As a jAC fellow, she represented immigrant children, ages two to sixteen, who entered the U.S. without a parent or guardian, in their immigration court proceedings. Over the course of two years, she represented over one hundred children in immigration court and secured asylum, special immigrant juvenile visas, and residency for a significant number of them. Several outlets in the Las Vegas Valley have highlighted Alissa’s and her jAC partner’s work.
In 2016, after Alissa completed her term as a jAC fellow, she joined the Law Offices of Martin Hart. Alissa’s practice areas include immigration, appeals, record sealing, and family law. Immigration—including family-based petitions, VAWA, Non-immigrant U and T visas, Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS), residency, naturalization, removal defense, and asylum—constitutes the majority of her practice. Alissa is a dedicated advocate. She is passionate about her practice and has helped hundreds of Nevada residents obtain immigration status. Alissa has also helped shape Nevada law regarding SIJS in two published Nevada appellate decisions.
Alissa is licensed to practice in Nevada state courts, the Executive Office of Immigration Review, including all immigration courts across the country and the Board of Immigration Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition to her practice, Alissa volunteers her time taking on pro bono cases for the Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, and Nevada Legal Services. Outside the office, Alissa spends time giving back to the community by volunteering for the City of Las Vegas, UNLV, Mi Familia Vota, PLAN, and Asian Community Development Council. She also volunteers for Al Otro Lado's Border Rights Project.
The Honorable Judge Christy Craig is the judge for the Eighth Judicial District Court Department 32. Prior to taking the bench with the Nevada Eighth Judicial District Court, Judge Craig was a Chief Deputy Public Defender at the Clark County Public Defender’s Office for over 20 years. Prior to attending law school, Judge Craig also worked as a medical technician for more than a decade. Judge Craig formerly served as a member of Local Law Enforcement Advisory Committee and the Social Services Citizen's Advisory Committee. She earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), in 1993, and a J.D. from the California Western School of Law in 1996.
Margaret has been licensed to practice law in Nevada since 1991. For over 15 years, Margaret served as a Civil Deputy District Attorney for Washoe County (Reno), Nevada. During that time, she practiced in multiple areas, including labor/employment law, contract law, litigation and administrative law, and in multiple settings such as mediations, arbitrations, administrative hearings and state and federal courts.
In 2009, Margaret founded Crowley Mediation, L.L.C. She has mediated over 600 cases. Margaret’s private practice focuses on elder care, family, employment and general civil mediation as well as mediation & conflict strategies training. Margaret also serves as Program Administrator for the Statewide Dependency Mediation Program. In addition to serving as a Supreme Court Settlement Judge, Margaret has mediated for: The U.S. Department of Interior; the Federal District Court Early Mediation Program for Pro Se Inmates; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Second and Ninth Judicial Districts' Custody Mediation Panels; the Second Judicial District’s Dependency and Guardianship Mediation Programs and the Foreclosure Mediation Program. Margaret has taught 40 hour mediation trainings for the University of Nevada Reno, the National Judicial College and the Nevada Supreme Court, regularly presents to different groups on mediation and writes a bi-monthly column in the Washoe County Bar Association's publication The Writ entitled "Mediation Matters."
Daron Dorsey currently serves Executive Director of the Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers (AGEM), the gaming supplier industry’s trade association. Prior to becoming AGEM’s Executive Director in March 2022, Daron served as a corporate legal officer in the gaming space, most recently as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Group Compliance Officer for Ainsworth Game Technology, from 2015 to 2022, where he also served as an Officer of AGEM, and as General Counsel for William Hill US from 2014 to 2015. Before those in-house roles, Daron was in private practice in Nevada at two well-established law firms, Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. and Jolley Urga Wirth & Woodbury. Daron has been a member of the State Bar of Nevada since 2001 and is admitted to practice before the state and federal courts in Nevada along with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
In addition to his professional roles, Daron also remains engaged with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), his alma mater, and currently serves as a Trustee for the UNLV Foundation, as well as serving on the Alumni Leadership Circle, Dean’s Advisory Council, Gaming Law Advisory Board and Law Fund for UNLV’s William S. Boyd School of Law, where he was honored as the law school’s Alumnus of the Year in 2017.
Adjunct Professor Jennifer Dorsey is a United States District Court Judge for the District of Nevada.
Before her appointment to the bench by President Obama in 2013, she was a partner in the Nevada civil-litigation firm of Kemp, Jones & Coulthard LLP, which she joined immediately after receiving her law degree from the Pepperdine School of Law in 1997. As an attorney, she litigated a wide variety of cases, including complex commercial-litigation and class actions, and she had an extensive appellate practice in both state and federal court.
Judge Dorsey earned her undergraduate degree in communications from UNLV, where she was a member of the debate team. She is currently a member of the American Law Institute, a lifetime member of Scribes–the American Society of Legal Writers, and was named Pepperdine Law School’s Alumnus of the Year in 2016. She has been teaching judicial writing for law clerks and externs since 2014.
Born and raised in Nevada, attorney Riana Durrett, Esq. graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and followed her undergraduate education with a Juris Doctorate from the William S. Boyd School of Law.
Today, she is an attorney licensed to practice in both Nevada and California. Durrett sits on the Board of the Nevada Taxpayers Association and is a member of Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice as well as the Nevada Justice Association. In her spare time, Durrett also volunteers on pro bono legal cases with the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada. In 2018, she was recognized with Vegas Inc.’s 40 Under 40 award.
During her six years with the Nevada Dispensary Association, Durrett established the association as the primary resource on best practices in Nevada's cannabis industry, developing the NDA into the primary voice for the cannabis industry relating to regulatory and government affairs. Durrett developed the association’s education program, coordinated efforts among members on various projects, and advanced legislative and policy agendas on behalf of the industry.
Originally from North Carolina, Seth T. Floyd moved to Las Vegas in 2005 and spent several years as a City Planner and Lobbyist for the City of Las Vegas before attending law school at UNLV. Seth received the William S. Boyd Outstanding Graduate award when he graduated in 2010 and he has practiced in Nevada for over a decade. Seth began his career at a large private firm doing complex civil litigation where he also helped to co-found the Appellate Litigation Section of the State Bar of Nevada. Seth was recognized as one of Nevada's top attorneys (Legal Elite) in Land Use & Zoning, Labor Law and Appeals in 2017. In 2018, Seth rejoined the City of Las Vegas as a Deputy City Attorney, where his practice now includes litigation, public records, open meeting law, purchasing and contracts, land use and zoning, business licensing and other matters as assigned.
Seth has 3 boys with his wife and fellow Boyd alumnus, Elana Lee Graham, and in his free time he enjoys running, mountain biking, and taking trips with his family.
Ozzie Fumo has practiced law in Las Vegas, Nevada for over 22 years. Ozzie has achieved an AV Preeminent rating with Martindale-Hubbell. He has successfully tried every type of criminal case from misdemeanors to capital murder. Ozzie practices in both State and Federal Court. He has successfully argued several cases to the 9th circuit court of Appeals.
In 2014 Ozzie was selected as a Judicial referee in Justice Court Las Vegas. In 2016 Ozzie was elected to the Nevada Assembly. He serves on the Judiciary Committee, Transportation Committee and the Education Committee. Ozzie’s interim committees, awards and associations include the following:
- Clark County District Court Jury Services Committee
- Legislative Committee on Child Welfare and Juvenile Justice
- Advisory Commission on the Criminal Justice Information System
- Nevada Sentencing Commission
- National Conference of State Legislatures Nuclear Legislative Working Group
- Child Support Guidelines Committee
- Black Caucus Education Hero Award 2017
- The American Bar Association
- Federal Mentor CJA new applicants program
- Nevada Trial Lawyers Association
- Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice
- The National Italian American Bar Association
- Past President of the Nevada Society of Italian American Lawyers
- National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Outstanding Service Award (2006) by the State Bar of Nevada
Max Gakh, JD, MPH is an Assistant Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, School of Community Health Sciences. His research focuses on the intersection of public health, law, and policy. He has conducted research on legal authority to address public health issues, public health legal preparedness, and legal mechanisms that incorporate health analysis into non-health sectors. Most recently, he was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Visiting Attorney with the Partnership for Public Health Law in Washington, DC. He has also worked as a non-partisan legislative attorney, assisting state legislators with legal research, analysis, and drafting. Currently, he is collaborating with community partners on a grant-funded project that seeks to study the possible health effects of full-day kindergarten.
John Garman’s background and experience are in the areas of international commercial transactions and alternate dispute resolution. He is an arbitrator/neutral and has conducted educational programs in Europe and the US, addressing issues concerning Diversity, ADR and the international practice of law. Mr. Garman currently teaches as a part time Professor at University of Southern California Law School teaching International Negotiation/Mediation and International Commercial Arbitration and an adjunct Professor at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Boyd Law School, teaching International Commercial Arbitration.
Mr. Garman is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and currently serves as the Vice Chair- Chapters, of the North American Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is a Certified Mediator with the International Mediation Institute and a Neutral on the American Arbitration Association Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Panel as well as a Member of the United States Council for International Business Arbitration Committee, Sole Practitioners Subcommittee. He is also on the Attorney Settlement Officer Panel of the United States District Court, Central District of California and a Neutral with the California Court of Appeals, Second Appellate District.
Mr. Garman previously served on the Executive Committee of the International Law section of the California Bar and the International Bar Association Task Force to study and evaluate the text of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation.
He is “Of Counsel” to Hasch & Partners, an Austrian law firm and has offices in Vienna, Austria and Manhattan Beach, California. Mr. Garman is admitted in California, the District of Columbia and as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.
Gregory Gemignani is an attorney at the law firm of Dickinson Wright. He is also a lecturer and instructor at the International Center for Gaming Regulation teaching courses on Sports Wagering, Gaming Compliance, Gaming Regulation, and Gaming Policy. Mr. Gemignani has provided direct gaming and regulatory instruction to operators, governments, and regulators in dozens of jurisdictions and has provided onsite instruction in South Africa, Japan, Puerto Rico, Oregon, Minnesota, California, and Ghana. Mr. Gemignani’s practice emphasis is primarily on gaming regulatory law, intellectual property law, technology law and online promotions law. Mr. Gemignani has had articles published in several law review journals, gaming industry publications, and has been a guest in radio and televised interviews for several international news organizations on internet law and gaming related topics. Mr. Gemignani has been teaching courses at the Boyd School of Law since 2005. Prior to practicing at Dickinson Wright, Mr. Gemignani was a shareholder at the law firm of Lionel Sawyer & Collins. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Gemignani was a software systems engineer and systems architect with EDS.
Dean J. Gould is the Chief of Staff and Special Counsel to the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education. He is a licensed attorney in Nevada (2001) and Michigan (1979). Immediately prior to joining the NSHE, Gould was the Admissions Director for the State Bar of Nevada. Prior to assuming that role, he practiced commercial real estate and business law in Nevada and Michigan.
Mr. Gould received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan (AB, with high distinction, 1976) and his law degree from Wayne State University Law School (JD, cum laude, 1979), where he was a member of the Wayne Law Review.
He was a founding partner of the law firm of Jackier Gould, PC in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and Las Vegas, NV. His law practice focused on sophisticated commercial real estate transactions, sales, acquisitions and financing of real estate, residential and commercial real estate development, mortgage foreclosures, loan and commercial financing work-outs, and related commercial transactions. Mr. Gould received mediation and alternative dispute resolution training at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution – Pepperdine University School of Law. He is also a member of the Nevada Board of Bar Examiners.
Mr. Gould served as an Impartial Referee and Mediator for the Nevada Department of Business & Industry, Real Estate Division, an Impartial Referee for the Nevada Department of Business & Industry, Mortgage Lending Division, a Nevada Supreme Court Settlement Judge, an Arbitrator for the Eighth Judicial District Court (Clark County, Nevada) Court-Annexed Arbitration Program, and as a Foreclosure Mediator for the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program.
He is AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell and was named a Michigan and Nevada Super Lawyer as well as a Super Lawyer—Corporate Counsel Edition (Real Estate).
Mr. Gould has been an adjunct professor/lecturer at the University of Michigan Law School, the William S. Boyd (UNLV) School of Law and at Wayne State University Law School, where he taught courses on Real Estate Finance, Land Use Planning and Control and Real Estate Transactions.
He is fluent in Spanish, having lived in Bolivia and Mexico.
John R. Harney has been with O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue LLP since his graduation from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1989. Mr. Harney is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the bars of Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Wisconsin. He is admitted to practice in the United States District Courts for the Districts of the District of Columbia, the District of Maryland, the Eastern and Western Districts of Virginia and Wisconsin, the Eastern, Northern and Southern Districts of New York. He is also a member of the bars of the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Fourth and Fifth Circuits.
Mr. Harney represents several of the firm’s labor and employee benefit fund clients in ERISA litigation matters regarding multiemployer fund collection litigation, withdrawal liability, bankruptcy, and fiduciary matters. He also counsels clients on a range of issues related to employee benefit plan administration, including tax and ERISA compliance.
Mr. Harney is the current Union Co-Chair of the Employee Benefits Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Labor and Employment Law and a Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He is also a member of the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans at the U.S. Department of Labor.
Mr. Harney is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and has a Master of Science degree in Industrial Relations from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Currently, Becky Harris is a Distinguished Fellow in Gaming and Leadership with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) International Gaming Institute (IGI) and adjunct gaming law professor. Harris works with regulators, academics, and other stakeholders on a host of gaming and leadership related issues and projects.
Ms. Harris served as the Chair of Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) from 2018-2019. She helped guide the Board through a number of controversial matters including sexual harassment issues, challenges involving the legalization of recreational cannabis and its relationship to gaming regulation, the repeal of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), the emergence of sports betting across the United States, and various Wire Act issues.
Professor Hooks received his J.D. from the William S. Boyd School of Law, Class of '02.
Stan Hunterton practices with Hunterton & Associates, a firm specializing in civil and criminal litigation. Prior to founding this firm, Professor Hunterton served as Deputy Chief Counsel to the President’s Commission on Organized Crime and for ten years prior to that, he was a Special Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. Mr. Hunterton has also served as general counsel to Sierra Pacific Resources (now NV Energy), managing litigation, rate hearings and serving as a senior advisor to the company’s Chairman and CEO. Hunterton is also a fellow of “The American College of Trial Lawyers” and is listed in “The Best Lawyers in America”.
Terry Johnson served two 4-year terms as a Member of the Nevada Gaming Control Board from 2012 to 2021. During his tenure on the Board, Mr. Johnson served as the GCB’s point person on and authored various articles regarding gaming regulation and cannabis, gaming employee work card registration processes and appeals, and live entertainment taxation and regulation. He also participated in multiple investigations and hearings involving sexual harassment issues and policies for the gaming industry, along with overseeing some of the largest mergers, acquisitions and bankruptcies in the history of the gaming industry.
Most recently, he drafted revisions to Nevada’s regulations concerning disputes between gaming patrons and casinos. In addition to proposing and advocating passage of gaming-related legislation before the Nevada Legislature, Mr. Johnson was also instrumental in formulating and overseeing enforcement of the GCB’s policies related to the gaming industry and the coronavirus pandemic.
Over the course of his two decades of public service in administrative law and regulatory compliance, Mr. Johnson has served at the State level as a Cabinet member in the administrations of multiple Nevada Governors. He also served five years as Nevada’s Labor Commissioner, receiving the prestigious Good Government Award from the Nevada Taxpayers Association. At the local government level, he served as the Director of Administration in the Clark County District Attorney’s Office.
Mr. Johnson currently maintains a private law practice, focusing predominantly in administrative law, regulatory compliance, government affairs and employment law.
Marc Kligman is a licensed California attorney and MLBPA Certified Player Agent. Mr. Kligman represents professional baseball players in all aspects of their careers including draft advising, contract negotiation, endorsements, marketing, licensing, and public relations. Mr. Kligman's prominent clients have included All-Star and World Series champion catcher Carlos Ruiz of the Phillies, Dodgers and Mariners; San Francisco Giants pitcher Chris Heston who threw the 1st no-hitter of 2015 as a rookie against the NY Mets; switch-pitcher Pat Venditte, the only full time ambidextrous pitcher of the modern era in the Major Leagues; and Hall of Fame pitcher Gaylord Perry. Mr. Kligman serves on the grievance panel for the MLBPA and is retained by other agents for salary arbitration work. Mr. Kligman defeated the Miami Marlins in salary arbitration for first baseman Justin Bour in 2018 with a unanimous award of $3.4 million. Mr. Kligman worked on the arbitration team for Phillies All-Star and 2018 Cy Young Award Finalist Aaron Nola, All-Star and World Series champion Mike Napoli, former catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, current Mariners pitcher Roenis Elias, and current Dodgers pitcher Yimi Garcia. Mr. Kligman has volunteered as a guest arbitrator and speaker for the Tulane National Baseball Arbitration competition for the last seven years.
Mr. Kligman is a 1992 graduate of The Johns Hopkins University with a degree in International Relations and Spanish and played NCAA baseball at Hopkins. Mr. Kligman graduated cum laude from Tulane Law School in 1995 where he was the 3L Phelps Dunbar Trial Champion. Mr. Kligman began his law career in 1995 as a Deputy Public Defender in San Diego County and then in private practice focusing on criminal defense, professional licensing board actions, estate planning, and sports law. Mr. Kligman has handled all levels of misdemeanors and serious and violent felonies and logged over 50 criminal jury trials.
Mr. Kligman has coached competitive travel baseball for 25 years and is currently the assistant baseball coach for Cimarron-Memorial High School.
John Lambrose has been an attorney in Nevada for 35 years and has practiced law throughout the entire state. From 1981-1988 he was in private practice in Carson City NV primarily handling indigent criminal defense cases there and throughout rural Nevada. In 1988 he became the Chief Assistant Nevada State Public Defender and handled that office's appellate cases while mentoring and supervising the assistant trial attorneys in Carson City and the neighboring rural counties. During that time he participated as counsel in numerous state court appeals and appeared before the court in oral argument many times. Several of those cases resulted in published opinions. From 1990 until his retirement in 2013 he was the Chief Assistant Federal Public Defender and went on to become the lawyer in charge of that office's appellate and non-capital habeas corpus units. During that time he personally handled hundreds of appellate cases and presented over one hundred oral arguments in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Over forty of those cases resulted in published opinions. He supervised many appellate and habeas attorneys throughout that period and created an atmosphere conducive to a team approach to criminal appellate practice. Over the last 35 years he has served as a member of the Board of Governors for the state bar, a member of many Nevada Supreme Court and Ninth Circuit Committees related to appellate practice and has taught a number of Continuing Legal Education courses on appellate practice and procedure. He currently is a member of the Nevada Supreme Court Indigent Defense Study Commission and serves as the Chairman of the Rural Counties sub-Committee. He is also a member of the Nevada federal court panel lawyer selection committee for lawyers taking on criminal indigent defense cases at both the trial, appellate, and habeas corpus level.
Eleissa C. Lavelle is a full-time mediator and arbitrator with JAMS, The Resolution Experts, the largest provider of alternative dispute resolution services in the country. Ms. Lavelle enjoyed a well-established legal practice of more than thirty years as a real estate, commercial and construction litigator and transactional attorney, representing financial institutions, developers of residential and commercial real estate, members of the construction industry, community associations, governmental entities and a variety of businesses.
A 23-year veteran of the Clark County Public Defender’s Office, Ms. Lemcke has dedicated her career to advancing the cause of indigent criminal defense in Clark County, Nevada. Ms. Lemcke has tried numerous felony cases to verdict, including both capital and non-capital homicide cases. She has also litigated and argued multiple cases before the Nevada Supreme Court, including the 2020 landmark bail reform case of Valdez-Jimenez v. Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct.. Ms. Lemcke has also championed various justice-related legislative initiatives in Nevada, including Assembly Bill 267, which established Nevada’s state-wide exoneree compensation fund. Ms. Lemcke’s cases and work have been profiled by various national print and television media, including Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Dateline, and The John Walsh Show.
Ms. Lemcke has served as a member of the Board of Directors for Nevada Attorneys for Criminal Justice; as a member of the Committee to Draft Pattern Criminal Jury Instructions for Nevada; and as the Nevada State Bar Representative to the Clark County Justice of the Peace Judicial Selection Committee. She has lectured at UNLV on various topics relating to criminal justice and has conducted numerous trial advocacy seminars on behalf of legal organizations such as the Clark County Bar Association. She has also served as a judge for the Nevada Center for Civic Engagement’s “We the People” constitutional law competition for Nevada high school students. Recently, Ms. Lemcke was awarded the 2020 Lifetime Achievement Award by Nevada Attorney Attorneys for Criminal Justice; named 2019 Defender of the Year by the Clark County Public Defender; and honored with a 2020 Legal Excellence Award by Vegas Legal magazine.
Ms. Lemcke holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles and a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law.
Lerner, who earned his undergraduate degree from Michigan State University and his law degree from American University’s Washington College of Law, got his first taste of gaming law when he joined the Nevada attorney general’s office in 1983. He was assigned to the gaming division and spent four years representing the Gaming Control Board and Nevada Gaming Commission.
After stints with a statewide law firm and a casino operator, he joined Bally Technologies. The company’s changing nature let Lerner become the longest-tenured general counsel at a gaming manufacturer. Bally’s has been at the forefront of gaming industry technology changes.
The company was awarded Nevada’s first interactive gaming license in July 2012, and Lerner oversaw the licensing process. He participated in what was then a surreal moment at a Gaming Control Board hearing when he used an iPad to play a free game of Internet poker to demonstrate the company’s technology for regulators.
Lerner was one of the authors of a 2011 white paper from the American Gaming Association that detailed 10 broad-based nationwide regulatory reforms.
Katie Lever is the first Chief Legal Officer at Lottery.com, a leading provider of domestic and international lottery products and services, including a platform that enables the remote purchase of legally sanctioned lottery games in the U.S. and abroad. Katie has been Chief Legal Officer or General Counsel to some of the gaming industry’s most influential operators and suppliers, including Scientific Games and its acquired entities, Bally Technology and SFHL entertainment, where she spearheaded the legal strategy for the $1.3B acquisition of SHFL entertainment by Bally Technologies, and, twelve months later, the $5.3B acquisition of Bally Technologies by Scientific Games.
In her role as General Counsel & EVP at the $4.3B Baha Mar luxury resort and casino, she created the foundational structure for the legal, regulatory and compliance and surveillance functions. She has brought together her experience in FinTech, corporate law, and risk management as a Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of the GBank Financial Holdings Inc., one of the top-rated community banks in the country.
Katie is committed to philanthropic engagement within her industry and community and is an Adjunct Professor and a member of Gaming Law Advisory Board at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law, a Board Member of Global Gaming Women, a Counsellor and former President of the International Association of Gaming Advisors and served as a committee member of the William Hill USA Charitable Foundation.
Erin McMullen is an attorney specializing in government affairs with R & R Partners in Las Vegas, where she oversees the development and execution of legislative agendas for the company’s Nevada clients. Prior to joining R&R, she was an associate attorney with the government affairs group of Snell & Wilmer, L.L.P. in Las Vegas, where she specialized in governmental affairs; political lobbying; and administrative and regulatory law for clients in the insurance, health care, energy, banking, taxation and general business arenas. From 2003 to 2005, she worked a legislative correspondent for U.S. Senator Harry Reid in his Washington, D.C., office, assisting Nevada residents with a wide variety of policy issues and legislation ranging from taxes and budget, to labor and housing. She earned her B.S. in linguistics from Georgetown University in 2003, and her J.D. from California Western School of Law in 2008, and is a member of the State Bar of Nevada.
Prof. Myers advises clients on the development, protection, licensing, and enforcement of trademarks and copyrights, domestically and internationally. She has extensive experience in international trademark protection, enforcing clients’ rights on the Internet, and resolving disputes before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and via the Uniform Domain Name Resolution Policy. She has advised clients on securing and protecting trademarks in more than 140 countries around the world and has extensive experience in IP enforcement, including working with U.S. Customs officials to bar the entry of counterfeit goods into the United States and South America.
Prof. Myers represents clients in IP litigation and has negotiated the resolution of hundreds of trademark, copyright, domain name, rights of publicity, and other IP disputes. She also provides counsel on IP transactions, including licensing, option, shopping, publishing, and co-existence agreements as well as performing due diligence, representations and warranties for corporate mergers and acquisitions. Her clients include companies based in the U.S. and abroad in the software, music, entertainment, magazine and book publishing, sports agency, online retail, restaurant, telemedicine, and gaming industries as well as universities and law firms.
Prof. Myers also counsels clients on privacy, defamation, and First Amendment issues.
Judge Mike Nakagawa has served on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada since September 1, 2006. He received his law degree from the School of Law at the University of California in Davis. Judge Nakagawa practiced in bankruptcy and commercial law primarily in California and Nevada until his judicial appointment. He served as Chief Bankruptcy Judge from 2008 to 2015. Judge Nakagawa was reappointed to the bankruptcy bench in 2020. He taught bankruptcy law and business reorganization for more than ten years as an adjunct professor at McGeorge School of Law and Lincoln Law School in Sacramento. Since 2010, Judge Nakagawa has taught courses in basic bankruptcy law and remedies at Boyd School of Law.
Professor O'Mara obtained her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of Law.
Stanford B. Owen earned his law degree from Stanford University where he was a member of the Stanford Law Review. He was a litigator with the Salt Lake City, Utah law firm Fabian & Clendenin for nearly 35 years, but now teaches at the Boyd School of Law (Antitrust, Civil Discovery and Pretrial Litigation), the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University (Antitrust, Pretrial Litigation, Trial Advocacy) and the University of Utah Law School (Pretrial Litigation). He has taught Pretrial Litigation for over 30 years. He has substantial experience litigating large civil cases.
Susan M. Pitz, Esq. is the General Counsel of University Medical Center of Southern Nevada located in Las Vegas, Nevada. UMC, a publicly owned and operated hospital, has been serving the health care needs of Southern Nevadans since 1931. UMC has Nevada’s only Level 1 trauma center, only Pediatric Level II trauma center and Nevada’s only burn center. The hospital is affiliated with the UNLV School of Medicine as its primary teaching hospital and is currently partnering in the formation of a premier Academic Health Center.
Prior to joining the team at UMC in 2015, Susan spent twelve years in private practice, including seven as a principle in Nutile Pitz & Associates, a well-respected health law firm located in Henderson, Nevada. While in private practice, Ms. Pitz regularly advised healthcare entities big and small on general corporate, transactional, and regulatory matters. Ms. Pitz is experienced in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and large and small business startups and has worked extensively with structuring of physician/provider groups, management services organizations and ancillary health care facilities. She also works extensively in the structure of relationships to comply with state and federal laws and regulations, including HIPAA, Fraud and Abuse and Antitrust laws.
Ms. Pitz is Certified in Healthcare Compliance (CHC) and Certified in Healthcare Privacy Compliance (CHPC) through the Compliance Certification Board. She is also an active member in the American Health Lawyers Association, Health Care Compliance Association and the American Bar Association.
Throughout her career, Ms. Pitz has enjoyed participating in numerous speaking engagements on healthcare and business related issues in both the medical and legal communities.
Ms. Pitz is admitted to practice in Nevada and California.
Richard A. Rawson, a founding partner at Ballard Rawson Jorgensen, practices primarily in the areas of business and real estate transactions. He graduated Cum Laude from the William S. Boyd School of Law, where he was an Articles Editor for the Nevada Law Journal. He earned an LL.M. Magna Cum Laude with Concentration in Business Transactions from the University of Alabama School of Law. In addition to practicing law, Mr. Rawson is a shareholder, member of the board of directors, vice president, and corporate secretary of the Blaze Pizza franchisee for southern Nevada.
Jennifer Roberts is the Associate Director of the International Center for Gaming Regulation. Ms. Roberts has practiced gaming law in Nevada since 2003 and was previously a partner in the law firm of Duane Morris LLP. Prior to that, she was a shareholder in the Gaming & Regulatory Department of the Nevada-based law firm of Lionel Sawyer & Collins. Her legal practice included representation of clients in gaming law, including gaming licensing, gaming compliance, and gaming law development. She served as a member of a Gaming Compliance Committee for an international gaming company and was counsel to several gaming compliance committees.
Ms. Roberts’ legal practice also included an emphasis on federal, state, and local alcohol beverage licensing and compliance. She assisted with the licensing of the Container Park and several restaurants as part of the Downtown Project redevelopment within the City of Las Vegas. She has represented major hotel chains, nightclubs, restaurants, and bars. She was also engaged as an expert witness on Nevada alcohol laws. Her legal practice also included practice in land use and zoning, business licensing, and regulatory and administrative law.
Professor Sadowski received his J.D. from the St. Louis University School of Law.
David Sandino served as Chief Counsel for the California Department of Water Resources from 2006-2010 under an appointment by Government Arnold Schwarzenegger and currently serves as senior staff counsel. He has worked on significant water, environmental, tribal, and energy issues during his twenty-year career with the Department. The Department operates the largest state water system in the United States, the State Water Project, which delivers water to 25 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. He has taught water law, environmental law, energy resources law, and local government law at Texas Tech University School of Law, Santa Clara University School of Law, University of San Francisco School of Law, and Golden Gate University School of Law. He also has created and teaches courses at the UC Davis Extension for environmental professionals on California water law and policy, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and Tribal water law. He received a distinguished teaching award from the UC Davis for his contribution to natural science education. He received a 1999 Fulbright Fellowship to teach in Russia, where he taught international environmental law at the Moscow State Academy. He is a graduate of the Santa Clara University School of Law, King's College London, and UC Davis.
David Schwartz is a former Chief Deputy District Attorney for the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. He has been a prosecuting attorney for over thirty years. While at the DA’s office he was assigned to the Major Violator’s Unit where he tried numerous high profile cases including dozens of capital murder cases. In 2001 he received a “Meritorious Service Award” from the Inspector General of the United States Department of Defense for his work on the Arthur Bennett case. In 2014, he received the UNLV "Outstanding Teaching by a Part-Time Faculty" award for his dedicated service. He teaches Trial Advocacy, Death Penalty Seminar and Opening Statements/Closing Arguments and is a consultant on death penalty cases. Mr. Schwartz earned his JD from Brooklyn Law School and his BA from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
David G. Schwartz, a gaming historian, professor and the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, studies gambling and casinos, video games, popular culture, Las Vegas, tourism, and higher education. He is also executive director of the Far West Popular Culture Association.
Schwartz has written several books, including At the Sands, Grandissimo: The First Emperor of Las Vegas, Roll the Bones: The History of Gambling, and Boardwalk Playground: The Making, Unmaking, & Remaking of Atlantic City.
Born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Schwartz earned his bachelor’s degree (a double major in anthropology and history) as well as his master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania before receiving his doctorate in US History from UCLA. His academic interest in gambling stems from his hands-on experience in the casino industry as a security officer, surveillance officer, and Mr. Peanut.
Howard Siegel was senior partner in Pryor Cashman's Entertainment Group until his retirement in 2016. He has more than 40 years’ experience in representing clients in all aspects of the entertainment business, with a particular emphasis on the music industry, during which time he has served as counsel to many of the industry’s most prominent recording artists, songwriters, producers, managers, and executives. He gained a national reputation representing artists such as Aerosmith, the Rolling Stones’ Bill Wyman, Carly Simon, the Backstreet Boys, Steven VanZandt, Todd Rundgren, Jim Steinman and many others. As counsel to several American Idol finalists and winners, Mr. Siegel negotiated a number of significant licensing, publishing and other media-related entertainment agreements.
Mr. Siegel has also been involved in a number of music publishing company sales and acquisitions, as well as having advised on a variety of transactions involving the sale and purchase of master recordings and other entertainment-related assets.
Mr. Siegel is the current Chair of the Nevada State Bar Entertainment Law Section, former Chair and current member of the Nevada State Bar Publications Committee and adjunct Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law. He is the former Chair of the Section on Entertainment, Arts and Sports Law of the New York State Bar Association, former Chair of the New York State Bar Association Committee on the Music and Recording Industry, and an Associate Member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Mr. Siegel is a frequent lecturer for the Practicing Law Institute and served for nearly 20 years as Co-Chair of PLI’s Counseling Clients in the Entertainment Industry program. Mr. Siegel served as judicial clerk at the New York State Court of Appeals from 1970 to 1972. He was an adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School for 24 years and is a member of the Editorial Board of Entertainment Law and Finance and of Multimedia Web Strategist, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of the nationally distributed book Siegel on Entertainment Law, currently in its fifth edition. Howard Siegel is author of several published articles dealing with the entertainment, music and copyright practice
Every year since 2007, Mr. Siegel has been designated as one of the “Super Lawyers” – a ranking of the top 5% of all attorneys in the New York Metropolitan area. He also has been recognized by The Hollywood Reporter as one of the top 100 “Power Lawyers” in the entertainment industry as well as being named one of the "Top Media and Entertainment Lawyers" by Chambers USA for several years.
Mr. Siegel is a member of the Nevada, New York, and California Bars and a summa cum laude graduate of Syracuse University College of Law where he was Order of the Coif, Editor-in-Chief of the Syracuse Law Review (1970) and a member of the Moot Court Board (1969-70).
Roy Smolarz has taught Comparative Asia Gaming Law at the Boyd School of Law; he is a frequent presenter at gaming and gaming regulation conferences and symposia in the United States and abroad, most recently at the 2022 G2E Asia Conference in Singapore on The Future of Asia Gaming Regulation. Mr.Smolarz' prior legal and investment banking experience includes senior roles at PaineWebber/UBS and PriceWaterhouse Coopers and serving as of counsel in the Asia Practice Group at Wilson Elser LLP.
Professor Smolarz' transactional experience in Asia covers PRC, Macau, Vietnam, and The Philippines. In the US, he presently acts as Financial Advisor to two Las Vegas hotel casinos.
Professor Smolarz earned his JD from Seton Hall Law School and his BBA with high honors from Baruch College. He is a licensed CPA and FINRA Registered Investment Banker, is admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey, and serves as the managing member of the Smolarz Law Firm, as senior advisor to the Valtus Capital Group, and as managing director of RS Global Gaming Finance LLC.
Adjunct Professor
Charles Stanton is a graduate of New York Law School and admitted to the NY State Bar in 1983. He worked for the Unified Court System of NY State from 1985-2010. From 2007-2017 he was lecturer in residence at the Loews Landmark Theater in Jersey City, New Jersey. From 2015 to 2017 he taught film appreciation at Marist High School in Bayonne, New Jersey. In 2018 and 2019 he taught cinema at Cathedral High School in New York City. In the fall of 2020 he taught a course on the depiction of social justice thru the art of film at the UNLV Honors College.
Frank P. Sullivan has been the Judge for the 8th Judicial District Court, Family Division since January 2009. Prior to that, he was the Juvenile Hearing Master from 2004 to 2009 and Domestic Violence Commissioner from September 1999 to 2004. Judge Sullivan is also an adjunct faculty in the UNLV Business College. He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Depaul University School of Law in 1984.
With a career spanning nearly 30 years, John Tahsuda has extensive experience in matters affecting Native Americans and tribal governments.
John is a principal with Navigators Global, LLC, a full-service issues management, government relations, and strategic communications firm located in Washington, D.C. John also is the Managing Member of Innovative Tribal Strategies LLC, an Indian-owned consultancy that provides strategic advice to Indian nations on business and government matters.
John also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Kiowa Casino Operations Authority. The Kiowa Casino Operations Authority is a wholly owned economic enterprise of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and is charged with building and operating gaming facilities and ancillary businesses for the Kiowa Tribe.
Before rejoining Navigators Global, John served as Senior Counselor to the Secretary of the Interior after serving two years as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary–Indian Affairs.
In previous positions, John has also served as the staff director of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, general counsel and legislative director of the National Indian Gaming Association, general counsel for the Oneida Indian Nation, and adjunct professor of law at Cornell Law School.
John has worked on a wide range of issues relating to federal policy and legislation affecting federal recognition, gaming, self-governance, natural resources, Indian health care and Indian education. John is dedicated to applying this experience and knowledge to the advancement of tribal sovereignty and the betterment of tribal communities.
John is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. He received a Juris Doctorate from Cornell Law School and B.S. in Organizational Management from Oklahoma State University. John is the proud father of triplets.
Rene L. Valladares is the Federal Public Defender for the District of Nevada. He is an adjunct instructor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Boyd School of Law, and the UNLV Criminal Justice Department. He lectures nationally on various criminal law and procedure topics including the defense of conspiracy cases, the impact of culture in criminal cases, and search and seizure developments in the Roberts' Court. Mr. Valladares serves on the Federal Defenders' Performance Measurement Working Group and the Federal Defenders' Death Penalty Working Group. He is co‐editor of the first edition of the practice manual, Cultural Factors in Criminal Defense, now in its fourth edition.
Laura Vlieg has her JD from William & Mary Law School, and is currently completing her MLIS from the University of Arizona. Laura has experience practicing law in the aviation industry, and worked as a Research Librarian in Boyd's law library from 2016-2018.
District Attorney Steve Wolfson brings many years of legal experience to the District Attorney’s Office. After starting his career in the D.A.’s office in 1980, where he served as a Deputy District Attorney, Wolfson then served as a Federal Prosecutor. In 1987, he entered the private sector where he practiced criminal defense for 25 years.
Wolfson joined the Clark County District Attorney's Office in February of 2012, upon appointment by the Clark County Board of Commissioners. He was chosen to serve the three years remaining on a four-year term vacated by the previous district attorney who retired. Clark County voters elected Wolfson to the position in November of 2014 and he began serving his first full four-year term in January of 2015.
Wolfson has been active with the State Bar of Nevada by serving on the Board of Governors, the Judicial Ethics and Campaign Election Practices Committee, and other bar-related committees. Additionally, Wolfson was chairman of the State Bar of Nevada Ethics 2000 Committee, a blue ribbon committee established by the Nevada Supreme Court, to review and bring up-to-date all Supreme Court rules involving attorney conduct.
Wolfson received his bachelor's degree in criminal justice from San Diego State University and a Juris Doctorate from California Western School of Law.
Mr. Wong currently works as an associate at a Las Vegas criminal defense firm, Vegas Golden Law. Mr. Wong previously served as an assistant federal public defender in the District of Nevada and the Eastern District of California.
Mr. Wong moved to Las Vegas in 2015 to clerk for a federal magistrate judge. After a brief stay in Fresno, California to serve as an assistant federal defender, Mr. Wong moved back to Las Vegas in 2018 to continue his working with indigent criminal defendants. As an assistant federal public defender, Mr. Wong primarily represented clients charged with gun crimes, drug crimes, supervised release violations, immigration crimes, and federal misdemeanors.
Mr. Wong has successfully litigated dozens of motions to suppress and motions to dismiss in federal court. Many times, these motions would result in a favorable resolution to the case or outright dismissal.
In addition to his federal criminal defense practice, Mr. Wong serves on the State Bar of Nevada’s Disciplinary Board for Southern Nevada and the State Bar of Nevada’s Fee Dispute Resolution Committee.
Professor Young received his J.D. from Brigham Young University, J. Reunen Clark Law School.
Judge Gregg Zive was sworn in as a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of Nevada in its Reno office on January 23, 1995 and was reappointed in 2009. He was the Chair of the Ninth Circuit Conference of Chief Bankruptcy Judges from October 2005 to September 2006. He retired effective December 31, 2010, and has been recalled on a full time basis since January 1, 2011.