Program approved for 1.5 Nevada MCLE credits

Presenters will discuss Mack v. Williams, an opinion issued by the Nevada Supreme Court in December of 2022 establishing that (1) some rights under the Nevada Constitution, including Article 1, Section 18, are self-executing, (2) a plaintiff who brings suit for a violation of a self-executing right may seek damages for the violation, and (3) a government official who violates a self-executing right under the Nevada Constitution may not assert qualified immunity as a defendant.

The presentation will consist of a brief opening lecture by Nathan Lawrence and Travis Barrick discussing the history of Mack v. Williams and their experience litigating the case. The presentation will then open into a broader panel discussion with Chris Peterson (Legal Director of ACLU of Nevada) moderating while Nathan Lawrence (Senior Associate at Gallian, Welker, and Associates who represented Plaintiff Sonja Mack), Travis Barrick (Partner at Gallian, Welker and Associates who represented Plaintiff Sonja Mack), Andrea Vieira (Civil Rights Attorney at The Vieira Law Firm), and John Valery White (Ralph Denton Professor of Law, William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV) discuss the precedent set by Mack, the practical differences between litigation brought under Mack versus 42 USC §1983, and areas for potential future litigation.