Three Boyd Professors Named Bellow Scholars

UNLV Boyd School of Law professors Fatma Marouf, Michael Kagan, and Elizabeth MacDowell have been named Bellow Scholars for 2013 by the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in honor of empirical research projects that promise to improve access to justice for underserved communities.

The awards were announced at the AALS annual conference in New Orleans, which took place Jan. 4-7.

Professors Marouf and Kagan were honored for a joint study they are conducting with UNLV Political Science Professor Rebecca Gill on gaps in the way the federal appellate courts adjudicate immigration appeals. They are focusing on gaps that can put immigrants in danger of deportation when they have valid appeals still being considered in court. Their ultimate goal is to better protect immigrants with valid legal claims – especially those in danger of persecution and torture – from errant deportations.

Kagan and Marouf direct the immigration clinic at Boyd. Marouf has litigated many immigration cases in the federal courts of appeal as a private attorney. Her recent research has focused on the application of international law in U.S. courts and the impact of U.S. immigration policy on ethnic and race relations.

Kagan spent a decade in the Middle East developing legal aid programs for refugees, and has published many articles about international refugee law and immigration adjudication. His work in the legal aid movement was recently profiled in a book titled