FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: David Tanenhaus

David Tanenhaus is the James E. Rogers Professor of History and Law. He is nationally recognized for groundbreaking work in the fields of American legal history and the history of juvenile justice.

What are you working on? I'm collaborating with several colleagues (Eric Nystrom from ASU, Rebecca Gill of the UNLV Political Science Department, and Jeanne Price at Boyd) to create an open access database and digital tools that will allow scholars to analyze patterns and trends in legislation across all 50 states. In our current project, we're studying the spread of "Get Tough" juvenile laws across the nation during the 1980s and 1990s.

If you could recommend one of your recent publications for us to read, what would it be? I'd recommend my book The Constitutional Rights of Children: In re Gault and Juvenile Justice (University Press of Kansas, 2011). It's an amazing story about the pursuit of justice that takes the reader from a small mining town in Arizona all the way to the inner workings of the Supreme Court. I absolutely loved researching and writing this book. I tear up every time I explain the forgotten role that Traute Mainzer, a Holocaust survivor who had taught Anne Frank and her sister to garden, played in shaping this history. Next year, in fact, is the 50th anniversary of the Gault decision. I look forward to helping the ABA commemorate the case that Chief Justice Earl Warren called "the Magna Carta for juveniles."

How do your scholarly and other interests affect your teaching? For the first time, I'm teaching juvenile law at Boyd. The casebook includes materials drawn from my legal-historical studies of juvenile justice. Contextualizing the cases, I believe, helps law students to better understand the evolution of juvenile law and to see how competing conceptions of adolescence shape the administration of juvenile justice. Similarly, last fall I taught Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy in my seminar about the Long Civil Rights Movement. It's a cross-listed course that brings together law students and graduate students from the UNLV History Department. Stevenson's book is a riveting account of self-discovery through advocacy for those who have been condemned to die. His book reminded me why it is essential to remain hopeful, and taught me to oppose the death penalty without exception.

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Matthew Tsai

You're an accomplished violinist. What lessons did you take away from studying music? Playing the violin was one of the best decisions of my life. Ever since I started playing at the age of nine, I have learned the importance of patience, discipline, and work ethic. Furthermore, as a violinist, I had the opportunity to play in orchestras all across the country and made many great friends along the way. It was really an invaluable experience.

As a second-year student, you were a teaching assistant for Professor Linda Berger's Lawyering Process I course. What was cool about that? The coolest thing about being a TA for Professor Berger was that I was able to work for Professor Berger, who is the definition of cool, as well as be a part of one of the best legal writing programs in the country. Also, since we're on the topic of legal writing and coolness, I just want to give a shout-out to Professor Pollman, who is also just as cool and taught a great legal writing class.

Any other memorable moments in your time at Boyd? It is difficult to narrow down specifically to any one moment, so I will just say that the last three years at Boyd have really been a great time. I still remember being really nervous and stressed out during orientation, wondering to myself if going to law school was a mistake. However, I could not have asked for a better educational experience here at Boyd, and if I could, I would do it all over again (maybe).

You graduate in May. What's up next? After I graduate from Boyd, I plan to take the bar. In September I will be joining Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, and I look forward to working at the firm.

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT: Michael Gianelloni '12

Michael Gianelloni is the Assistant Director of the Academic Success Program for the William S. Boyd School of Law.

Tell me about your decision to attend the Boyd School of Law. That was an easy decision. I knew I didn't want to leave Las Vegas, so I applied to only one law school: Boyd. I'm glad they took me. I have no idea where I would be or what my life would be like had I not gone to Boyd.

Do you have certain memories about law school that you want to remember? And others you want to forget about? I want to remember the people I met and the friends I made. Law school stress made us do some hilarious and pretty dumb things. Some of those memories are good and others are not so good, but they're my memories and I wouldn't trade them for anything.

What drew you to work at Boyd and what do you like most about your work here? Some of my fondest law school memories include helping other students – either as a teaching assistant or as a CASE mentor. The instant gratification of helping a student and seeing that student finally understand a complex issue is very rewarding to me. Now I'm lucky enough to have that feeling all the time as a full-time member of Boyd's Academic Success Program.