UNLV law school dean says school will be tops

Friday, Sept. 19, 1997 | 8:55 a.m.

Richard Morgan said the Boyd School of Law will begin admitting students in January and that 140 to 150 full- and part-time students will make up the first class.

"This law school will be a great law school from Day One, and that is my plan and my commitment to you," he told attorneys at a Clark County Bar Association luncheon Thursday. "When we open the doors of this law school in August of 1998, it will be a great law school."

Morgan, who was hired from Arizona State University to start the school, said he plans to hire a "seasoned core of faculty from good law schools" to teach students.

So far, some 1,200 people have called the university to find out about the law school, which was approved by the 1997 Legislature after more than 20 years of discussion.

Morgan, who led ASU's law school since 1990, said he believes UNLV's law school is the first state-supported law school to open in the last two decades.

Morgan said the school will reach out to the local legal community and the rest of the state by offering pro-bono work, educational programs and internships in governmental and private law offices as well as in Nevada's courts and Legislature.

Morgan also discussed creating a nontraditional law school curriculum that introduces students to law history and professional conduct, and requires them to perform community service work in the first semester.

"I want the students to have a heavy dose of the history of this profession and a heavy dose of professionalism right at the start of law school," he said.