Directory
University of Nevada, Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
Law School Pro Bono Programs
Contact Information
Lydia Nussbaum
Associate Dean for Experiential Legal Education
[email protected]
(702) 895-2454
Category Type
Pro Bono Graduation Requirement--Community Service Graduation Requirement
Description of Programs
The law school requires first-year students to participate in a community service program. Working with Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and Nevada Legal Services, teams of students prepare and conduct weekly workshops for unrepresented people on basic procedures in family or small claims court and on paternity, custody, guardianship, tenants' rights and bankruptcy matters. This program offers students the chance to educate groups of people in a general way without giving specific legal advice. Students are required to attend approximately five hours of training and the student teams conduct weekly, two-hour workshops. In the second half of their law school careers, students will have the opportunity, under direct faculty supervision, to represent real clients in a variety of externships and in-house legal clinics, as well as to work one-on-one with an attorney mentor on cases in consumer law, child welfare, family law and tax law. By so doing, they gain valuable training and experience. Moreover, these sorts of experiences should help to reinforce the students' commitment to community service, while demonstrating to the students that there is a large unmet need for legal services in our society today. We hope that Boyd School of Law students and graduates will be a positive force - throughout their careers - in meeting this need and in making their community a better place.
Location of Programs
With the Clinical/Externship Program
Staffing/Management/Oversight
The Law School has a part-time attorney assigned to the program. Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada and Nevada Legal Services assign staff attorneys to supervise the students teaching the community free legal education classes.
Funding
The program is funded by the law school.
Faculty and Administrative Pro Bono
The Law School places heavy service demands upon its faculty and encourages pro bono legal representation, testifying before legislative committees, teaching continuing education courses, educating non-lawyers about the law and our legal system, serving as a mediator or arbitrator, participating in professional associations and many other activities. Such activities are not only good in and of themselves, they can inform both teaching and scholarship as well as contribute to the intellectual life of the legal community.
Awards/Recognition
The School conducts a reception each semester honoring all students who participated in the Christine Smith Community Service Program. Outstanding students in the program are awarded certificates and scholarships for their service. Additional annual awards are the Barbara Buckley Community Service Award awarded to an outstanding graduating student who contributed significantly to the outside community and to the law school community and the Clark County Outstanding Student Pro Bono Award awarded to a student for outstanding pro bono contributions in the legal community.
Alternative Winter or Spring Break Projects
None Listed.
Law School Public Interest Programs
Contact Information
Nikki Harris
Interim Assistant Dean of Career [email protected]
702-895-2742
Certificate/Curriculum Programs
None.
Public Interest Centers
None.
PI Career Support Center
None.
Loan Repayment Assistance Programs (LRAP)
None
Fellowships
https://law.unlv.edu/admissions/public-interest-fellowship
8/14/2023