Each biennium, UNLV places legislative interns and externs in Carson City to assist lawmakers with various duties such as tracking bills, conducting research, and meeting with constituents. The experience takes the classroom to the community, empowering students to have real-world impact on some of Nevada’s most critical issues. The opportunity is open to all UNLV majors, though most participants are political science and law majors.
Each week during the legislative session, we will introduce you to one of UNLV’s interns or externs. This week, we are highlighting an extern from William S. Boyd School of Law:
Name:
Nina Machin
Hometown:
Las Vegas, Nevada, (Born and Raised!)
Major:
UNR-B.S in Public Health, B.A in Spanish, May 2021
William S. Boyd School of Law, J.D Candidate, May 2024
Role in Session:
Legislative Extern with Rowe Law Group
What excites you most about the legislative session?
I have always been fascinated by the political process, especially when it comes to the passage of laws. As a law student, it is amazing getting a behind the scenes look at how the laws that shape our field are passed and what actually goes into them. My day-to-day work as an extern involves sitting in on hearings and drafting memos for our clients; it is rewarding to know that the work I do during hearings goes directly to clients, which differs from typical legal work where clients usually don't directly see what is being filed with the court.
What do you hope to learn?
To risk sounding cheesy-- I want to learn as much as I can this session. Much of my law school career has been centered around learning the doctrine of the law-- what makes the law, the law. The best thing that we are required to do though in law school is to extern, getting the practical experience that cannot be taught in a classroom. This is my second semester externing and each time, I have found it highly valuable to helping me decide what type of attorney I want to be and what area I ultimately will practice in. During my time with Rowe Law Group during this legislative session, I want to learn anything and everything I can, from bettering my writing skills, to learning how to navigate the legislative session itself.
Which legislative proposal do you find most interesting and why?
One of the coolest classes I have taken thus far in law school was Bioethics and the Law. In this class we looked at the intersection between the law and bioethical issues ranging from organ donation, stem cell research, to health care. The area that stuck with me the most was the rights of an individual to their body after they die, particularly in the area of organ donation. The most fascinating thing that I took away from our organ donation questions in particular is that after we die, we can choose if we want to "gift" a specific individual an organ. This is a contentious area of law, and I was excited to see that this legislative session, they are hearing SB.109, which revises the provisions governing anatomical gifts. I find this area of law absolutely fascinating as it asks whether a balance can exist between individual autonomy and greater public health demands.