May's Scoop

NNWLA's Lawyer in the Library Event & Law Day Information
Over the past few years, NNWLA members have staffed a large lawyer in the library event.  This year we are holding our event on Law Day, which is Tuesday, May 1st.  Thank you to everyone who has signed up to volunteer for this event.   We look forward to seeing you all at this event tonight.

The theme for this year's Law Day is "Separation of Powers: Framework for Freedom.  The American Bar Association explains that this year's theme "enables us to reflect on the separation of powers as fundamental to our constitutional purpose and to consider how our governmental system is working for ourselves and our posterity."  

If you are interested in reading more about Law Day, please go to the American Bar Association's Website: ​www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/initiatives_awards/law-day.html.

Thank you to Professor Mary Beth Beazley
Thank you to all who attended our April event.  We had a very informative and thought provoking discussion with Professor Mary Beth Beazley from Boyd School of Law.  It was very interesting to hear her opinion and research on the impact that digital platforms have on the cognitive aspects of legal reading. 
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Taking a Break For June
It is customary for NNWLA to take a month off from events during the summer.  We are not hosting an event for June of this year.  But, be sure to check out our fun July and August events!  We hope to see you at those events.

July 19th Reno Aces Event
Please join us for a family friendly event on July 19th watching the Reno Aces baseball team play the Tacoma Rainiers.  We had so much fun at this event last year, we decided to do this event again.   The game begins at 7:05 p.m. on July 19th.  Watch the game with us in luxury in the Bugsy Sports Bar/Overlook area, complete with great views and padded seats.  Please RSVP by July 3rd at 5pm by using the PayPal link on our website at www.nnwla.com/events.
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Save the Date: August 16 at 5:30 pm
​On August 16, 2018 at 5:30 p.m., we will host a garden party honoring the NNWLA Past Presidents  at the home of the Honorable Lynne Simons.  Light refreshments will be provided.  This will be an event that you will not want to miss!
 
Please RSVP by emailing [email protected] by August 9, 2018. 

If you are a NNWLA Past President, please keep an eye out for an invitation to the event with an earlier RSVP deadline of July 13, 2018.  We will be doing something special for our Past Presidents at the event, which will require a little more advance notice. 

​We are looking forward to celebrating 40 years with the Past Presidents that got us here and our membership.

​Congratulations to Our New Judges!
Please join NNWLA in congratulating Paige Dollinger and Carla Higginbotham!  Ms. Dollinger was selected to fill the vacant Court Master position.  She will preside over the juvenile docket at Jan Evans.  Ms. Higginbotham was appointed to replace the Honorable Valerie P. Cooke as a United States Magistrate Judge in Reno.  Congratulations and best of luck to both of you!

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AMAZING OPPORTUNITY FOR ONE OF OUR MEMBERS
The  Nevada State Bar is offering one of our members a half-price registration for the Annual Meeting this year.  In order to qualify for this opportunity, you must be an NNWLA member and a first time Annual Meeting attendee. The Annual Meeting is in Chicago from July 12-14th.  We would like to offer this opportunity to the first member who emails us at [email protected]. 

Sustaining Member Spotlight
- by Amanda Sage

​With a 37-year attorney-client relationship on her resume and a 38 year marriage, NNWLA Sustaining Member Ann Morgan clearly values the professional and personal relationships in her life.  But do not mistake that loyalty and longevity with complacency.  “Have a sense of curiosity,” Ann says – advice she’s clearly followed in her own impressive career.
 
Ann originally planned to be a librarian.  Instead, she took a risk and followed her future husband, Chief Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Beesley, to McGeorge School of Law.  “I am blessed with a great spouse,” Ann said.  “I just lucked out and got a great guy who was equally committed to the law.”  That dual commitment allowed Ann the freedom to explore and grow in her own career.

After finishing a clerkship with Justice Gordon Thompson at the Nevada Supreme Court, Ann accepted a position with Guild, Hagen and Clark and found an early mentor in Clark J. Guild, Jr.  “He was the best mentor I could ever ask for,” Ann said.  Guild took Ann and her husband to events around Reno and introduced them to others lawyers in the area.  “Many of the people I know today I met when I first started practicing law almost 40 years ago, because of Clark Guild.”

That first position also exposed Ann to several areas of civil litigation.  “When I got the job with Guild, Hagen and Clark, you just did what the firm did and at that time, I did everything,” Ann said.  “Litigation uniquely suits you for doing things you know very little about because almost every civil case is in an area that you don’t know anything about.  My first jury trial was about point of sale cash registers and the fast food business.  I knew nothing about that – but I did by the time I finished.”

Leaving Guild, Hagen and Clark presented Ann with many new opportunities.  In her career she has practiced on her own (which she did not enjoy), and practiced with well-known names in the Nevada legal community, like Justice Kristina Pickering, who Ann describes as “the smartest attorney of any gender [she’s] ever met.”  Ann also lends her talents and knowledge to numerous boards, bar associations, and professional groups.  From the Nevada State Bar Association Board of Governors to serving as Chair of the Airport Industry Legal Affairs Group for North America (ACI-NA), Ann stays busy. 

When asked what she enjoys doing in her free time, Ann laughs long and loud before discussing her weekly piano lessons and quest to see every Shakespeare play.  She also makes time to see her sister, and fellow attorney, Sara Beth Brown for weekly manicures.  “She’s my very best friend in the whole world,” Ann says.  “Our father was an accountant and didn’t like lawyers. But he loved us and was really proud of us.”
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As a Sustaining Member of NNWLA, Ann remembers the beginning years of the organization, when the small membership allowed for meetings in living rooms. Remembering the help she received from women throughout her career, Ann says she feels a strong commitment to pay that help forward.  “Don’t put up your own barriers,” Ann advises. “It’s amazing how short we run because we say I can’t run any farther – not because somebody else told us we couldn’t run any farther.”  Suffice it to say, Ann’s career is a testament to running the distance. 

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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 [email protected].

Membership Renewal
There is still time to renew your NNWLA membership for 2018.  Members not only get special pricing on events, but NNWLA is also working on a webpage where members can look to get and give referrals.  Please click on this link to be directed to our membership page or print the attached form by clicking on this link.  You can email the form to [email protected] or mail it to Jenna Garcia, P.O. Box 40953, Reno, NV 89504. 

Please make sure to send us your membership form so that you can be added to our members referral page!