William S. Boyd School of Law: Thaddeus "Toby" J. Yurek

Toby Yurek’s career reflects a steady focus on community-first leadership. Over the years, he has supported the Las Vegas community in multiple roles — as a police officer, government official, practicing attorney, and mentor.

His training at the William S. Boyd School of Law gave him the practical tools to broaden his work, showing how a legal background can serve as a foundation for diverse public roles.

What does being selected as the 2026 William S. Boyd School of Law Honoree mean to you? 

Boyd has given me considerably more than I have ever given Boyd. When I started law school, I had a background in ministry and nearly a decade on the police force. For four years, I worked full-time on daytime shifts, drove straight to evening classes, and spent almost every weekend studying. That schedule was only possible because of the sacrifices my wife, Carrie, made at home while helping raise our three young sons.

An honor like this arrives with your name on it, but it is never about one person. My professors, my wife, my partners at GGRM all made opportunities possible that I couldn't have imagined pursuing alone. I accept the recognition, but I certainly didn't earn it on my own.

Looking back at your career across policing, law, and the Nevada Legislature, what has each role taught you about leadership?

Policing taught me that leadership is granted by the people you lead, not by the rank on your collar. When I commanded the Tactical Response Bureau (SWAT Team), I asked officers to go into situations most people run from — you earn that trust long before it counts.

Practicing law taught me that advocacy starts with listening. Managing a firm taught me the importance of being an effective leader. Serving in the Legislature put all of that to the test. Carson City moves fast, and you quickly learn that getting anything useful done means sitting down with people across the aisle and finding common ground. Representing District 19 taught me that my job was to serve everyone in the district, whether they voted for me or not.

Looking back across all three careers, none of it was ever about being in charge. It was just public service in three different uniforms.

Was there a defining moment when you realized your legal education would allow you to make an even greater impact?

As a police officer, I found that almost every attorney I encountered was on the other side of the adversarial line. What changed was my understanding of why we have the adversarial system. When you carry authority over another person's liberty, someone has to stand on the other side and test what you did. That is not an obstacle to justice; that is the design, and it only works if the person on the other side is competent and willing.

In my workers' compensation practice, I see people every week up against a system that is not built to say yes. They need someone whose entire job is to be their voice. Law school turned out to be the exact tool that allowed me to outlast the moment.

Your firm recently established a $1 million scholarship for first responders at Boyd Law. What inspired that commitment?

First responders already arrive with the one thing law schools can't teach: years spent walking into other people's worst days, understanding real human trauma firsthand. What they usually lack is simply the financial means to go to school. They are working grueling shift work, raising families on public service salaries, and trying to figure out how to make ends meet.

I know that struggle because I lived it. I worked long hours and had to go to a classroom at night and sit long hours. I remember how exhausted I was, but I also remember the professors who took a chance on a cop with a ministry degree and gave me a shot.

The partners at GGRM established this $1 million scholarship endowment for officers, firefighters, paramedics, EMTs, and dispatchers to make sure money doesn't stand in the way of people who have already proven their heart for service.

At the end of the day, I just want to make the road a little easier for the next person sitting in that patrol car dreaming of law school. What I hope for in the long term is simple: a generation of Nevada lawyers who have run toward the emergency and who are leaving this state better served than before.