Twenty-five years ago Rich Myers returned from an American Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) board of delegates
meeting tasked with establishing a "people's law school," which was a public
education venture to bring the trial lawyer to the general public and give the
public a chance to learn about the law and better connect with local attorneys.
With a "let's see how this goes" attitude, little budget and limited model,
Rich depended on his own contacts and called in favors from community leaders
and other lawyers. He named himself dean and moderator and made Barbara Buckley,
his then legal secretary, the registrar. Bob Lyle was the dean in Reno. Nevada Trial Lawyers Association (NTLA)
PLS became one of 36 in the nation. We could not have possibly known that this
outreach would be so successful, do so much to promote community goodwill, and
provide education to so many, remaining popular for 25 years and reaching
several thousand participants in northern and southern Nevada.
The first year NTLA offered PLS for 12 weeks both in Reno and in Las Vegas.
Both programs opened to a full house. Later we hosted the courses north and
south...every other year in Las Vegas, Carson City or Reno venues. Each evening
a moderator introduced the two 45-minute presentation by local experts on legal
topics including the Political Process; the Judicial System; Rights of the
Accused; Personal Injury Rights; Employment Rights; Real Estate/Landlord Tenant
issues; Workers Compensation; Insurance Consumer Rights; Taxation; Social
Security Claims; Wills, Estates and Probate; and Juvenile Justice. Sexual
Harassment; Right to Die, Environmental Law; Family Law; Elder Law and
Alternative Dispute Resolution were other popular classes. Some of our
presentations were straight forward, and others, like the evenings with Pat
Murphy, were just a little lighter. In order to keep their attention, Pat
sometimes tossed paper airplanes or balls into the audience, making a direct hit
on some that were about to doze off.
From the beginning the south associated ourselves with UNLV, meeting first
in classrooms and moving to larger and more modern facilities as the campus
grew. Construction, parking, lighting, a/c, taping issues were the norm, and as
I took over moderating duties, I found myself a janitor, emcee, baliff and last
minute fill in through the years. I was joined in these duties by several
attorneys with Tim Williams and Larry Springberg sharing most of the
responsibilities. Cal Potter and Pat Murphy, filled in occasionally. Larry
currently serves as the southern moderator.
In the early years we taped all of the classes and offered Distance
Education through public access television. Dina Titus, a professor of political
science at UNLV, hosted a round table discussion with the lawyers featured that
week. Because those programs aired over and over during the year, at times
state-wide, trial lawyers, guest speakers and politicians found it a prominent
forum.
PLS did not have a permanent home up north but continued to fill different
venues over the years with different moderators including Valerie Cooney, Tom
Bradley, Tom Drendel and others. Our students came from a wide background
including administrative assistants, self-employed, social workers, court
reporters, contractors and the retired. Doctors, reporters, other lawyers and
their families, politicians and eventually law students from the Boyd School of
Law came to learn. Even my own family members participated. I remember that my
father-in-law took pride in receiving his diploma and that many felt the same
way, appreciating the handout materials which included course descriptions
prepared by speakers and organized by our staff.
The People's Law School has always been offered free of charge and is now
funded by Nevada Foundation for Consumer Education (NFCE). It continues to be a very
unique program, with it's broad based selection of subjects and instructors,
geared to the laymen's needs, covering topics which affect our daily lives and
providing attendees with the tools to obtain legal help if and when they are in
need. The People's Law School helps improve the administration of justice by
ensuring that future jurors are better educated regarding the legal system,
helps citizens make more informed choices about any legal representation that
they need and enables voters to be able to better analyze public policy
questions.
We did not intend for all that to happen, but it did. Let's see what can
happen in the next 25 years. Watch NFCE's People's Law School 2012 at: Cox Cable Channel 110 beginning July 2012 or on the Nevada Justice
Association website.
Click here to be taken to Nevada Justice Association (NJA), formally known as NTLA, where the streaming
video is available by session.
Gerald M. Welt, Esq.
