The William S. Boyd School of Law is an American Bar Association accredited law school. It is located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada and is the only law school in Nevada. The school is also home to the Wiener-Rogers Law Library, the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution and the Nevada Law Journal. It awards the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree and has a student body of approximately 470 students. Boyd School of Law has a small student body, and a low student to faculty ratio. All first-year law students are required to participate in a Community Service Program and spend substantial time providing legal information to people in the community who do not have access to lawyers. In partnership with Clark County Legal Services and the Clark County Pro Bono Project, law students prepare and present workshops at numerous locations in our community, on basic legal matters such as small claims court procedure, family law and procedure, bankruptcy, guardianship and paternity/custody matters.
The current dean of Boyd School of Law is John V. White, who succeeded Richard Morgan in 2007.
In its 2009 publication, U.S. News & World Report ranked the Boyd School of Law as one of the top 100 law schools in the United States. Additionally, the school's legal writing program is ranked 3rd, the dispute resolution program is ranked 9th, and the clinical program is ranked 12th in the magazine's rankings of programs at law schools.
History
In 1997, then Governor Robert Miller signed into law a bill authorizing the creation of the William S. Boyd School of Law of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). One year later, in 1998, the Boyd Law School opened its doors to 140 charter class students and the school moved into its permanent facilities in August, 2002. In 2000, the school secured provisional American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation and, in February 2003, secured full ABA accreditation. The first class graduated from the Boyd School of Law in May, 2001. In January 2004, the William S. Boyd School of Law of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas joined the Association of American Law Schools. In 2001, the Nevada Law Journal published its inaugural issue.
Wiener-Rogers Law Library
The Wiener-Rogers Law Library has a collection of approximately 300,000 volumes or volume equivalents and is the largest law library in Nevada. The Wiener-Rogers Law Library is located on the third floor of William S. Boyd Hall and on the third and fourth floors of the James E. Rogers Center for Administration and Justice. It serves as a training ground for Boyd students, as a research center for Boyd faculty, as a major resource for the legal profession, and as a source of information for members of the public who are interested in learning about their legal rights and obligations.
Saltman Center
The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution was established in 2003 at the William S. Boyd School of Law in order to provide a venue for advanced study of the nature of conflict and the methods through which conflicts may be resolved. The work of the Center encompasses conflicts arising out of regional, national, and international concerns, and involving both the public and private sectors. The Center places particular emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and resolving disputes.
The vision of the Saltman Center mirrors the tripartite mission of UNLV’s Boyd School of Law -- research, teaching, and public service – with the addition of a practice component that seeks to provide hands-on experiences to law students. In keeping with that mission, the Saltman Center aspires: (1) to stimulate scholarly research and exchanges on the nature of conflict and the methods for avoiding and resolving disputes; (2) to provide law students with a high level of professional training in the theory and practice of dispute resolution; and (3) to provide information and educational opportunities to facilitate the resolution of public and private sector disputes imbued with the public interest.
The Saltman Center hosts scholarly presentations and other special events devoted to such topics as theories of conflict, substantive analysis of specific conflicts that affect the public interest, and methods of conflict avoidance and resolution. Past presenters have included distinguished dispute resolution scholars , as well as prominent practitioners. The Center collaborates with the Nevada Law Journal, Boyd Law School’s academic journal, to publish a variety of articles, as well as conference and symposium proceedings, arising from these activities.
In conjunction with the Wiener-Rogers Law Library at the Boyd School of Law, the Saltman Center is developing a collections of library materials devoted to conflict resolution. This diverse array of research materials is available for use by students, academics, legal practitioners, and the public.
As a matter of policy, the Center pursues opportunities to sponsor or co-sponsor continuing education programs and public forums on topics in conflict resolution that are of interest to the legal community and the larger community, including conflicts that arise in both the public and private sectors. These outreach programs include Continuing Legal Education programs that satisfy the requirements of the State Bar of Nevada and the bars of other states as well. In addition, the Center undertakes collaborative programs with other dispute resolution organizations at the local, regional, and national levels.
Thomas and Mack Legal Clinic
The mission of the Thomas and Mack Legal Clinic offers students integrated academic and practice-based educational experiences, to teach them to be reflective practitioners and multi-disciplinary professionals, to improve the quality of and access to legal systems, and to provide service to communities in need of legal assistance in Nevada. The Thomas & Mack Legal Clinic offices are located on the first floor of Boyd Hall, adjacent to the main entrance, on the (UNLV) campus in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Nevada Law Journal
The Nevada Law Journal (NLJ) is a journal of legal scholarship dedicated to analyzing the law and policy implications of significant case law, legislation, administrative regulations and important legal events. The NLJ publishes at least three issues per year and includes submissions by legal practitioners, professors, and students of the William S. Boyd School of Law. Additionally, topics concerning legal symposia, surveys, and tributes to important figures of the law are included. In 2007, the Nevada Law Journal was ranked 91st by author prominence.
Faculty
The Boyd School of Law has drawn experienced, well-known scholars and teachers from law schools at the Universities of Illinois, Indiana, Florida State, Louisiana State, South Carolina, Houston and Arizona State as well as junior scholars and teachers. Faculty members have graduated from highly ranked law schools such as Yale, Harvard, Michigan, Duke, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, U.C. Berkeley, Texas, U.C. Hastings, UCLA, Arizona and the University of Southern California. Many have clerked for federal judges, on the district courts and the Courts of Appeals.
Over the past four years, the faculty has published:
• 48 books (with another 13 books in press)
• 28 book chapters
• over 189 law review and other scholarly articles
• dozens of bar publications.
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