Georgetown University Law Center

University of Nevada-Las Vegas

Stuyvesant High School

First Assistant Attorney General, State of Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada, United States

- Serve as Second-in-Command to Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, and make decisions on behalf of the Attorney General in his absence■ Provide legal and policy advice to the Nevada Attorney General■ Act as surrogate for Attorney General Ford at some official and community events■ Manage team of over 100 attorneys through direct supervision of 8 Division Chiefs, in a role akin to Managing Partner in a private sector firm■ Serve on Executive Team responsible for vision, management, and administration of the Ford Administration ■ Manage legal representation of over 100 state agencies, divisions, boards, and commissions, including high-profile entities such as the Nevada Gaming Control Board, Nevada Gaming Commission, Nevada Athletic Commission, and Cannabis Compliance Board■ Oversee all civil litigation where the State of Nevada is a named party, with the exception of habeas petitions, Consumer Protection litigation, and matters under the jurisdiction of the Nevada Solicitor General■ Serve as Tribal Liaison between the Office of the Attorney General and Native American tribes to promote inter-sovereign relationships and facilitate meaningful conversations between the State of Nevada and tribes on issues of shared concern

Nevada Attorney General's Office

First Assistant Attorney General

- Seconded from the Office of the Attorney General to Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak to serve as the Governor's General Counsel for a six month period, while simultaneously fulfilling my duties as First Assistant Attorney General■ Provide legal advice and counsel to the Governor, Office of the Governor, and executive branch agencies, divisions, commissions, and boards■ My period of service included the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic collapse, and the largest earthquake in Nevada in 66 years, requiring expert navigation of uncharted legal issues■ Developed an emergency response framework that consolidated the Governor's inherent executive powers, authority granted to the Governor by the Nevada Constitution, and emergency powers granted to the Governor by the Legislature, allowing the executive branch to rapidly respond to each emergency   🡆 Work closely with Attorney General litigation team to defend legal challenges to executive orders issued pursuant to this framework and authority■ Served as bridge between the Governor's Office and Office of the Attorney General to create synergies between the offices that amplified the legal resources available to the Governor's Office ■ Highlights of my service as Interim General Counsel include:    🡆 Identifying a legal mechanism to grant mass pardons of at least 15,000 persons previously convicted of minor marijuana possession crimes, and working with the Justices of the Nevada Supreme Court to vet that mechanism   🡆 Assisting with the settlement of litigation between the State of Nevada and the U.S. Department of Energy regarding weapons-grade plutonium illegally shipped to Nevada   🡆 Assisting the Nevada Cannabis Compliance Board as regulatory authority over cannabis was transferred from the Department of Taxation to the newly-formed Board

Office of the Governor - State of Nevada

Interim General Counsel

- Serve as liaison between the Attorney General’s Office and law enforcement entities statewide.■ 	Serve as liaison between the Attorney General’s Office and prosecuting attorneys statewide.■ 	Serve as counsel to the Nevada District Attorney Association.■ 	Serve as Executive Director to the Technological Crimes Advisory Board pursuant to NRS 205A.070.■ 	Serve as Executive Director to the Advisory Council For Prosecuting Attorneys pursuant to NRS 241A.060.■ 	Serve as Attorney General’s designee to the Substance Abuse Working Group under NRS 228.800.■ 	Serve on Attorney General’s legislative team, drafting legislation submitted to the state legislature pursuant to NRS 218D.175, meeting with stakeholders to address concerns regarding bills, testifying before legislative committees and bodies, and coordinating testimony between law enforcement agencies on behalf of the Office.■ 	Organize and host biannual law enforcement summit.■ 	Organize and host annual Prosecutors Conference.■ 	Serve as Attorney General’s surrogate at appearances, meetings, and events.

Special Assistant Attorney General/Counsel for Prosecuting Attorneys

- Chief legal counsel to Congressman, advising on legal questions and pending matters.	■ Provide oversight on office policies, procedures, and practices to ensure compliance with House Rules and federal law.■ Coordinate with House Legal Counsel, House Ethics, and House Employment Counsel on matters.■ Manage staff in District Office to ensure high visibility, active constituent and community engagement, and effective constituent case management.■ Coordinate with federal, state, and local agencies on issues affecting Congressional District.

U.S. House of Representatives

District Director & Senior Counsel to Rep. Ruben Kihuen, NV-04

- Serve as Mineral County Chief Deputy District Attorney while maintaining civil litigation practice.  Simultaneous civil practice authorized by NRS 252.070.■ Work closely with law enforcement agencies including the Mineral County Sheriff's Office, Nevada Highway Patrol, Nevada Department of Public Safety's Investigation Division ("NDI"), Walker River Tribal Police, police departments in other jurisdictions, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Work includes collaborating on investigations, providing legal counsel, and filing criminal complaints based on work conducted by these agencies.■ Prosecute criminal matters through all stages of prosecution (vertical prosecution) on behalf of the State of Nevada, including preliminary hearings, bench and jury trials, and appellate practice.■ Defend all suits brought against the County.■ Serve as acting District Attorney during elected District Attorney's incapacity, disability, or inability to perform duties of office.■ Gained substantial Justice Court and District Court courtroom experience by representing the State of Nevada during arraignments, status checks, preliminary examinations, bench trials, jury trials, and sentencing.■ Negotiate charges, sentencing, or fact stipulation with defense counsel to reach mutually satisfactory equitable resolutions when possible.■ Seek creative solutions consistent with "community justice" principles whenever possible.

Mineral County District Attorney

Chief Deputy District Attorney

- Litigation and trial attorney at an AV-Rated law firm.  The scope of my practice is primarily defense-oriented civil litigation, but has also included plaintiff-side matters.■ Participate in all phases of numerous jury trials, including witness preparation, witness examination, and cross-examination.■ Conduct depositions with such skill that opponents offer to write written apologies for bringing suit.■ Draft motions and pleadings so beautiful that they will bring tears to your eyes and make opposing counsel cower in fear.■ Channel the spirit of Clarence Darrow in the courtroom, crushing the arguments and spirit of opposing counsel when necessary.■ Uncover and wield arcane provisions of law to my clients' advantage, forcing opposing counsel to scurry to law treatises and hornbooks in futile search for counter arguments.■ Do this all with a smile on my face and glee in my heart that I am a trial, not transactional attorney.

Hall Jaffe & Clayton

Attorney at Law

- Previously Legislative Assistant, and Legislative Fellow with this office.■ Advised Congressman on issues within my legislative portfolio, and subject matter expertise. This position often required quickly researching unfamiliar topics and developing new expertise on short notice. Legislative portfolio included (but was not limited to) National Security/Homeland Security, Cybersecurity, and Financial Services.  In Financial Services, my emphasis was housing policy.■ Counseled the Congressman on policy positions, legislation pending in the House, and his legislative agenda. Produced policy briefs, original research documents, or dispensed oral advice depending on the circumstances.■ Drafted legislation "in-house" to ensure language best served legislative intent of the Congressman. Signature legislation drafted was HR 3560 - "The Universal RESPECT Act," which amended the Homeland Security Act to attach certain conditions to DHS grant funding. The bill gained 69 cosponsors in the House, including Ranking Members Thompson and Conyers, who joined as original cosponsors.■ Worked with Democratic Leadership on Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) bills in both the Senate and House. Specifically drafted §4104 of S. 744 in the Senate, which was incorporated into the House version of CIR (HR 15) as §4104. Because of his work on CIR, Rep. Horsford was one of only 5 original cosponsors when HR 15 was introduced.■ Served as Congressman's staff liaison to the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). This involved working directly with other Members of the Caucus and their staff on issues relevant to the CBC. In this role, I had the opportunity to work with the ambassadors of each of the CARICOM nations.■ Developed strong working and personal relationships with numerous members of staff while working on "The Hill."

Congressman Steven Horsford, NV-4

Senior Advisor

- While at Georgetown Law, capitalized upon my strong technology and science background by focusing on Intellectual Property Law (18 credits).  Took IP classes across a broad range of topics including "Patent Law, "Patent Litigation," and "Intellectual Property and Medicines."  ■ My technical background allowed me to effectively participate in Georgetown Law's innovative Legal Expert Systems courses (think TurboTax for legal issues).  The capstone project for these courses was the development of software designed for real clients to solve specific legal issues. These projects were presented in a competition-style format against other teams of student developers.  I twice won this "Iron Tech Lawyer" competition with software written in "Neota Logic" and "CALI A2J."    ■ Supplemented my experience staffing Rep. Horsford's on the Homeland Security Committee through formal National Security and Cybersecurity courses at Georgetown Law (12 credits).  In these classes, I had the opportunity to learn from renowned experts in National Security Law including Mary DeRosa, former Deputy Counsel to the President for National Security Affairs, and Judge James Baker, former Special Assistant to the President and Legal Advisor to the National Security Council.■ From 2012-2014, I served as a "Resident Fellow" at Georgetown Law, and acted as a liaison between Georgetown Law students residing on campus, and the Office of the Dean of Students.  In this role, I functioned as a first responder to emergency situations, some of which required coordinating a response with Georgetown Law's Department of Public Safety or Emergency Medical Technicians.  The less stressful elements of the role including advising students on adapting to the demands of law school, including time management, stress control, and balancing work and personal life.■ 2012-2104 Thomas V. and Mary B. Heyman Scholar

JD Law Student

- Chief Executive of UNLV's Graduate Student Government, which represented students enrolled in Graduate, MBA, Law, and Dental Programs.  In this role, I served as the organization's signature authority for spending authorizations, and managed a budget of over $450,000.  ■ While serving as President, I chaired the body's Government Relations Committee, and acted as the GPSA's lobbyist to the Nevada State Legislature, Board of Regents, and Nevada's Executive Branch.■ As GPSA President, I served on the University President's "President's Advisory Committee (PAC)" which functioned as a "Kitchen Cabinet" to provide insight and input from various campus stakeholder groups.  This positioned required regular direct communications with the University President, and entailed a mix of strong advocacy, and compromise.  ■ The GPSA President also sits (in an unofficial capacity) at meetings of the Board of Regents of the Nevada System of Higher Education, and articulates the position of the UNLV Graduate student population to the Board, and to the Chancellor of the System.  The role of the GPSA President in this capacity was to serve as both advisor to Board and Chancellor, and advocate on behalf of students.■ Worked on major and minor issues affecting the quality of life of Graduate and Professional students, as well as the larger UNLV community.  During my term, we developed the "UNLV Cares" Food Pantry to serve members of the UNLV community in need - particularly state employees affected by Nevada's substantial cuts in salaries and benefits.  We also created Medical Hardship Grants of up to $500 to assist graduate students facing unanticipated medical expenses.  Of lower importance, during this term, the GPSA also worked with the President's office to redesign the academic regalia for graduating Doctoral students.

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

President

- Chaired the statewide association of Student Body Presidents of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE).  Although numerous student groups advocate on behalf of students, the Nevada Student Alliance (NSA) is sanctioned by the NSHE Board of Regents to serve as the official voice of NSHE students to the State Legislature and Executive Branch.  ■ In my role as Chair, I in turn represented the NSA to these bodies, serving as the voice of over 115,000 students.  I was a registered lobbyist to the Nevada State Legislature, and met frequently with Assembly and Senate leadership (on both sides of the aisle), and the Governor's office.  I also testified frequently before the legislature on issues of concern to the NSHE student body: ↳ Testified to Nevada State Legislature on behalf of “Millennium Scholarship”  ↳ Delivered 1 hour presentation on NSHE to Joint Session of the State Senate and Assembly Education Committees ↳ Organized record statewide turnout for first Town Hall meeting of Legislative Session ↳ Organized largest protest rally at State Legislative Building in Nevada's history■ My role as Chair was also administrative.  As Chair, I streamlined operations of the NSA by spearheading a revision of the body's constitution, which strengthened its collective voice to the Board of Regents, and codified position of Chair as official representative of body to the State Legislature and Governor's Office.  I then worked with the Chancellor's office and the Board of Regents to ensure passage of the revised Constitution. ■ As spokesman for the NSA, I coordinated the organization's media presence by developing a cohesive press strategy, developing talking points, and drafting press releases.  Each member of the NSA was tasked with conducting interviews with their local press to advance the NSA's agenda.  I personally participated in numerous press interviews, including appearing on NPR (Mar. 18, 2011), and Face to Face with John Ralston (Mar. 25, 2011).

Nevada Student Alliance

Chair

- As Vice President of the GPSA, I served on the Executive Board, and assisted the President in shaping and advancing the GPSA's agenda.  The Vice President served as the President's proxy when necessary, and presided over the body in the president's absence.■ I served as the first chair of the GPSA ad-hoc Government Relations Committee, which was formed in response to significant budget cuts to higher education funding proposed in the Governor's budget. In this role, I registered as a lobbyist to the 75th Regular Session of the Nevada State Legislature, and had the opportunity to testify on floor of the Nevada State Assembly on behalf of Higher Education.  I also testified before several legislative committees, including the Interim Finance Committee, Assembly Ways & Means Committee, and Senate Finance Committee.  I also participated in numerous press interviews, including Face to Face with John Ralston (Dec. 2nd, 2008).■ The GPSA Vice President serves as Chair of the Grants Committee, which awards over $120,000 in grant funding to qualified Graduate student applicants.  These grants are used to assist graduate students with expenses related to their research or their academic program, including attending conferences, and purchasing research supplies.  As Chair of this committee, I developed a quantitative scoring rubric to ensure that all applications were being scored impartially.■ During my term, I revised the bylaws pertaining to grant funding to streamline the application process and increase the maximum grant award.  I also reduced paper usage by over 80% by modifying grant application submission requirements; shifting from a paper-based application system to an electronic system.

Vice President

- Honed my strong analytic skills as a research scientist in the physical sciences.  My research area was at the intersection of solid state physics and physical chemistry, and primarily focused on the electronic structure of materials utilized in solar energy applications.■ Research focused on two category of materials known as "III-V" and "transition metal oxide" semiconductors, used to split water molecules using solar energy in a process called "photoelectrochemical hydrogen production."■ Collaborate with research partners at other institutions, including the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Stanford University, University of California Santa Barbara, and University of California, Santa Cruz.■ Experimentally measured electronic band gap and band edge positions of semiconductor devices at UNLV lab using a variety of techniques, including Ultraviolet Photoelectron Spectroscopy (UPS), Inverse Photoemission Spectroscopy (IPES), and UV-Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis).■ Conducted experiments at Beamline 8.0 at the Advanced Light Source of the Berkeley National Lab, including spectroscopic measurement using X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray Emission Spectroscopy (XES).■ Versed in a wide variety of other scientific methods including: X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Optical microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Soft X-ray Fluorescence (SXF), Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS).

Research Scientist/PhD Student

- Started at TechSkills as an Information Technology Mentor (Instructor) at the San Antonio location, and quickly became Lead Instructor.  Transferred to sales/enrollment division to advance into a management role.  Within a few months of moving into sales, I was one of the top ten salespersons corporate-wide, generating over $1 million in sales.  Transferred to Tempe, AZ in April, 2002 to open new corporate location.■ Achieved profitability in Tempe by June, 2002 through a combination of aggressive sales, debt collection, and expense management.  To increase sales, I shifted my team's focus from individual sales, to corporate opportunities.  Leveraged numerous employee benefits education programs to recruit new students at  no out-of-pocket costs to the individual.  ■ As a result of my successes in Tempe, I was transferred to our Las Vegas branch in April, 2003 to rehabilitate the location (which had never generated a profitable quarter).  At this location, I restructured the staff, implemented formal processes and policies geared toward a more professional environment, and utilized the tactics that had made the Tempe branch successful.  I also implemented a business-to-business strategy to evaluate and service technical training needs of corporate information-technology departments. Under my management, the Las Vegas branch generated its first profit within one year.   ■ In the Fall of 2014, I enrolled at UNLV as a full-time student to earn my bachelor's degree, with the long-term goal of attending law school.

TechSkills LLC

Campus Director

- Answered design and technical issues related to the global rollout of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's new software used to create presentation documents for the Investment Banking Division. This software was referred to as "New Look," and was developed to standardize the bank's corporate identity in its documents.  ■ Provided guidance on New Look software protocol and standards, including advanced PowerPoint, Word and Excel functions.   ■ Designed and wrote PowerPoint and Excel training manuals and assessment tests.  ■ Responsibilities also included training and evaluating Creative Services' Presentation Operators.  ■ Resigned due to relocation to San Antonio, TX.

Morgan Stanley

Creative Services IBD Redesign Floor Support Team (Consultant)

- Directed the activities of the Desktop Publishing Department to ensure timely and professional production of “pitch books” used by the Investment Banking Division to sell multimillion dollar IPO’s to investors.  ■ Provided first level technical support to the Desktop Publishing and Investment Banking teams.

Merrill Lynch

Desktop Publishing Department Shift Supervisor

- Designed and managed market research projects throughout all stages; from conception to final analysis.  ■ Position required strong analytical skills applied to statistical principles and marketing research theory.

Kyle George