CCLF Accepting Liberty Bell Award Nominations

The recipient of the award should be someone who upholds the rule of law, contributes to good government within the community, stimulates a sense of civic responsibility and encourages respect for the law in the courts. The recipient's contribution should demonstrate dedication to providing community service programs integrated with law-related education throughout southern Nevada. Recent past recipients include Judge Allan Earl, Secretary of the Senate David Byerman and Judge Gloria J. Sturman.

Nominations must include the nominee's first and last name, address and phone number, and a brief description of the person/organization and how he or she has contributed to the community, meeting the criteria above. Submit nominations by Monday, March 16 to Sarah K. Suter, CCLF Liberty Bell Award Committee Chair, Clark County Law Foundation, 725 S. 8th St., Las Vegas, NV 89101, or email to ssuter@ryanlitigators.com. 

Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution Hosts Sixth Summer Institute

The Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution at the UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law will host its sixth Summer Institute in dispute resolution. The institute gives law or graduate students, attorneys and other professionals an opportunity to take intensive, short courses on dispute resolution in Las Vegas.

This year's offerings include: Dispute System Design, Settling Legal Disputes - Negotiation & Mediation Advocacy, Multiparty Negotiation and Decision Making for Lawyers. Each course is taught by an expert in the field and offers one to two law school credits or 12 to 24 hours of Nevada CLE credit.

The application deadline is Friday, March 27. For more information about the Summer Institute, visit UNLV's website.

Practice Tips: Sharing Office Space

There are many benefits that come with office share arrangements: in large cities, where office space can be expensive, the arrangement is ideal for solo practitioners. But be warned, there are unique ethical, malpractice and insurance coverage concerns that arise all too easily in office-share situations.

Sharing a common reception area, for example, can mislead visitors into thinking that all of the solo attorneys in the building are part of a single firm; this means if a single attorney is sued for malpractice, the other attorney occupants of the building may find themselves named in the suit. Malpractice policies generally exclude coverage for any and all claims that arise out of, or in connection with, any act, error or omission committed by an attorney with whom the insured shares common office space, and who isn't covered by that attorney's own policy; that means those office-sharing attorneys may be on their own in such situations.

Problems like these are not insurmountable, however, and office-sharing is still a viable work model for attorneys. Attorney Mark Bassingthwaighte, of ALPS, shares some practice-saving advice for those considering office sharing in his article "When Sharing Office Space, Make Sure You Have Your Ducks in a Row." The complete article is available on the state bar's website.