Jason Frierson, current U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada, will serve as the William S. Boyd School of Law’s commencement speaker for the class of 2023.
Born and raised in Compton, California, Frierson is the first African American to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada. He was nominated by President Biden on November 15, 2021 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 27, 2022.
Frierson graduated from Boyd Law School in 2001 as a member of the inaugural class. During his time in law school, he served as President of the Student Bar Association and Special Projects Editor of the Nevada Law Journal.
“From his days at Boyd Law School and throughout his career beyond, Jason has been a shining example of what we try to bestow upon our students as they enter the world after graduating - from finding purpose and serving others to working to make the world a better place,” Leah Chan Grinvald, Dean and Richard J. Morgan Professor of Law at Boyd Law said. “We are thrilled to welcome Jason back home to the Boyd Law School so that he can spread that same message to the class of 2023.”
After graduating from Boyd Law School, Frierson completed a clerkship in 2002 with former Nevada Supreme Court Justice Myron E. Leavitt. Later, he became the first African American to serve as the Speaker of the Nevada Assembly.
Prior to his appointment as U.S. Attorney, Frierson most recently served as both the Speaker of the Nevada State Assembly, the first African American to serve as Speaker, and an Assistant Public Defender in the Clark County Public Defender’s Office. From 2012 to 2014 and from 2017 to 2019, he served as a Chief Deputy District Attorney in the Clark County District Attorney’s Office. Frierson was a partner at Surratt Law Practice in Las Vegas from 2014 to 2017.
The Class of 2023 will receive their degrees on Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m. at the Artemus Ham Concert Hall. The ceremony will feature the conferring of Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Masters of Law (LL.M.) degrees.
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