September's Scoop

An Evening With the Nevada Supreme Court on September 7th, 2017
We are excited to announce that on Thursday, September 7th, NNWLA will co-host an event with the Appellate Litigation Section of the State Bar of Nevada for a discussion with the Supreme Court of Nevada Justices.  This event is a great opportunity to meet our Nevada Supreme Court Justices.  Hors d’oeuvres will be served at 5:15 p.m.  A panel discussion with the Justices will begin at 6:00 p.m.  The event will be held at the Supreme Court, located at 201 S. Carson Street, Carson City.  1 hour CLE credit is pending approval.  

This is always one of our most popular events.  If you register by Friday, August 1st at 5 p.m., the cost of the event is $25.  Registration after September 1st is $30. Advanced registration is available using the Paypal link on our Events page (http://www.nnwla.com/events.html).  To pay by check, please RSVP to nnwla.rsvp@gmail.com and send your check to Jenna Garcia, P.O. Box 40953, Reno, NV 89504.
 
If you are interested in sending questions for us to ask the Justices, please email them to nnwla.rsvp@gmail.com by Thursday, August 31st.  We hope to see you on September 7th for the event!

 
​October Social With the WCBA on October 26th at 5:30 p.m.
Join us on October 26th at 5:30 p.m. for a social event with the Washoe County Bar Association at Napa-Sonoma South, located at 7671 S. Virginia Street in the Longley West Shopping Center in South Reno.  Enjoy one of their exquisite wines from their extensive collection while mingling with fellow NNWLA and WCBA members.  We will provide light appetizers and one drink ticket to our participants.  No RSVP is necessary.

​Save the Date: Holiday Events
Celebrate the holiday season with NNWLA at our annual holiday party!  Judge Lynne K. Simons has graciously offered to host this event again at her lovely home on December 13th at 5:30 p.m.  We will also be collecting donations and requesting volunteers for our shopping event benefiting children from a local elementary school.  More details will be forthcoming.

​New York's Solution to Encouraging Women in Leading Roles During Court Proceedings
A recent New York Time's article, entitled A Judge Wants a Bigger Role for Female Lawyers.  So He Made a Rule, discusses the frustration that judicial officers in New York have with the lack of female lawyers in significant roles in court proceedings.  According to the article, a judge in Federal Court in Brooklyn, Senior Judge Jack B. Weinstein, issued a courtroom rule in an effort to combat this issue.  As stated on his court website, Senior Judge Weinstein decided to issue this rule "following recent reports of and studies of underrepresentation of female attorneys and minorities in court proceedings."  He hopes that the rules will encourage junior attorneys, specifically women and minorities, to take a larger role during hearings in his courtroom.

The rule states:
​"Junior members of legal teams representing clients are invited to argue motions they have helped prepare and to question witnesses with whom they have worked. Opportunities to train young attorneys in oral advocacy are rare because of the decline of trials. Where junior lawyers are familiar with the matter under consideration, but have little experience arguing before a court, they should be encouraged to speak by the presiding judge and the law firms involved in the case. This court is amenable to permitting a number of lawyers to argue for one party if this creates an opportunity for a junior lawyer to participate. The ultimate decision of who speaks on behalf of the client is for the lawyer in charge of the case, not for the court."  
Do we have a similar concern regarding the role of women attorneys in the courtroom in Northern Nevada?  Should the judiciary have a role in attempting to encourage female attorneys in having a larger role in court proceedings?

To read the article, please go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/23/nyregion/a-judge-wants-a-bigger-role-for-female-lawyers-so-he-made-a-rule.html?mcubz=1.
To read Judge Weinstein's "Individual Motion Practices and Rules", please visit: https://img.nyed.uscourts.gov/rules/JBW-MLR.pdf. 

Awaken Banquet: November 4th at 5:00 p.m. at the Peppermill
Awaken is hosting their 6th Annual Banquet and Silent Auction on November 4th at 5:00 p.m. at the Peppermill.  This event will feature a catered dinner, speeches from the AWAKEN team, and a silent auction benefiting this program that supports our community by working to end commercial sexual exploitation in our area.  They are a non-profit organization that has helped over 300 women and children by providing crisis prevention, education, legal assistance, education, job training, and other valuable services.  

To learn more about AWAKEN or purchase tickets, please visit their website: https://awakenreno.org/6th-annual-banquet/ 

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​Member Corner
If you have new contact information, exciting news to share, a job opportunity, an organization seeking volunteers, or information about an event members would be interested in, please let the NNWLA Board know. Please send your submissions to Kendra Bertschy at kbertschy@washoecounty.us.

​Membership Renewal
​Just a friendly reminder to all members to pay your 2017 NNWLA membership dues if you haven’t yet done so this year. Members not only get special pricing on events, but coming soon, NNWLA is working on setting up a webpage where members can look to get and give referrals.  Please click on this link to be directed to our membership page.