Pre-Graduation Job Offers Increase Again for Boyd Students

Despite the tough economy, the Boyd School of Law has seen an upward trend in the percentage of its students finding employment before graduation. For the past three years job placement of Boyd students before graduation has increased steadily: 77 percent in 2007, 78 percent in 2008 and 81 percent in 2009.

Each year, over 90 percent of Boyd graduates are employed within nine months after graduation. Over 94 percent of last year's graduates, the class of 2009, were employed within nine months after graduation.

To assist Boyd students and alumni with their career goals, the law school's department of career services offers a great number of resources including resume and cover letter review, reciprocity with law schools in other geographical areas, job banks, mock interviews, workshops, and one-on-one counseling.

With 147 students graduating this year, here's a look at where some of them have landed jobs.

This is the first of a series of stories featuring 2010 Boyd graduates and their plans after graduation.

Casey Perkins
Snell & Wilmer

After Perkins graduated from Oregon State University in 2000, he was commissioned as an Air Force officer through the Reserve Officer Training Corp. He stayed in the Air Force for seven years as a pilot. Throughout his time in the military, Perkins deployed to the Middle East three times flying missions into Iraq and Afghanistan.

He moved to Las Vegas when he was relocated to Nellis Air Force Base and decided to attend the Boyd School of Law after learning about the law from his wife, who is an attorney.

During his time at Boyd, Perkins worked in the mediation clinic, and he participated in the Clark County Moot Court Competition and the law school's in-house negotiation competition and client counseling competition. He was also a senior staff member of the Nevada Law Journal and did his externship with U.S. District Judge James Mahan.

Throughout his law school experience, Perkins has learned that he is most intrigued by commercial litigation. He spent his summers working with his wife's law firm and working at Snell & Wilmer. Perkins wrote memos and drafted pleadings and motions for Snell & Wilmer. After working as a summer associate at the firm in the summer of 2009, Snell & Wilmer offered him a full-time job following graduation.

In his free time Perkins enjoys golfing, watching college sports and running. Perkins and his wife of seven years have both participated in the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in 2008, raising $3,500 each for the cause. Recently, Perkins trained to run a half marathon, 13.1 miles, at Lake Havasu on April 10.

Shannon Rowe
Clerkship with Justice James N. Hardesty, Nevada Supreme Court

Rowe was born in Las Vegas and graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2005 with a degree in broadcast journalism. She made the decision to go to law school because it was related to writing and she wanted to continue her education.

During her time at Boyd, Rowe was a senior staff member of the Nevada Law Journal and an articles and notes editor of the UNLV Gaming Law Journal. She also has been a research assistant for Professor Jeffrey Stempel.

Rowe discovered the job opening for Justice Hardesty through e-mail announcements sent out by the law school. She applied for the job in May 2009 and started clerking after graduation. After her clerkship ends, she would like to pursue career opportunities as a government attorney.

Kelly Stout
Bailey Kennedy

Stout graduated from Northwestern University in 1999 with a degree in History and Women Studies. After completing her bachelor's degree, Stout went into social work to help children. Stout herself was adopted from Korea at 13 months and is the oldest of 11 adopted siblings.

She discovered a passion for social work and law while she was in high school by  participating in Teen Court, a program where volunteer teens perform the roles of the prosecuting and defense attorneys, bailiff, clerk and jury in trials of other juveniles charged with misdemeanors. During college, Stout worked at an adoption agency. Stout made the decision to attend law school because social work limited the ways she could help her clients and she wanted a change.

During her time at Boyd, Stout externed with the Las Vegas City Attorney's office, was an articles editor for the Nevada Law Journal, competed in the National Appellate Advocacy Competition for the Society of Advocates, was president of the Organization of Women Lawyers (OWLS) and worked in the Juvenile Justice Clinic. Stout worked at Bailey Kennedy during the summer of 2009 and at the end of the summer, they offered a full-time job beginning in May 2010. Stout feels that she has made wonderful friends at Boyd and that the faculty are accessible and interested in the success of the law school.