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Online Faculty
Faculty

Michael Kovac

Assistant Professor
Legal Writing

Michael Kovac

Biography

Professor Michael Kovac teaches legal writing for Vermont Law and Graduate School. Previously, he taught legal writing for Penn State Law. As an adjunct faculty member, Professor Kovac has taught law and criminal justice courses for several schools, including the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, Arizona State University, Texas A&M University School of Law, the University of New Mexico (Gallup), and Nevada State College.

Professor Kovac is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and California. Before he began teaching full-time, Professor Kovac was the Chief Deputy Attorney General for the Criminal Prosecutions Division of Nevada’s Office of the Attorney General. In that position, he prosecuted and supervised the prosecution of criminal cases throughout Nevada. Before that, he worked for the same office as a deputy attorney general and senior deputy attorney general. He handled a wide variety of criminal cases, ranging from fraud to murder. 

Prior to his work as a prosecutor and adjunct professor, Professor Kovac worked in numerous additional positions in, or related to, the legal profession. Specifically, he served as a law clerk for the Court of Appeals for the Second Judicial District Court of the United States (New York, NY), the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas’ Commerce and Complex Civil Litigation Center (Pittsburgh, PA), and the Las Vegas Township Justice Court (Las Vegas, NV). Prior to completing law school, he worked as a paralegal specialist for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and as a probation officer.

Professor Kovac received his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class and was a member of the Duquesne Law Review. He received his M.A. (in criminal justice), with distinction, from Arizona State University. He received his B.S. (majoring in education) from the University of Pittsburgh (Johnstown).

Publications

To Free a Predator: The Flawed Rationale for Overturning Bill Cosby’s Conviction, 129 Dickinson L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming)

“Hired Guns”: Establishing the Scope of Proper Cross-Examination and Argument Relating to Expert Witnesses’ Compensation in Criminal Trials, Georgia Criminal Law Review: Vol. 2: No. 2, Article 2 (2024)

Cold Cases and Serial Offenders: A Case Study Examining Practical and Legal Issues that Can Make or Break Prosecutions, 46 Campbell L. Rev. 1 (2023)

Case Study | A Case of Alleged Stategraft in Nevada: Stephen Lara v. State of Nevada, et.al, Wisconsin Law Review Forward (Nov. 26, 2023), https://wlr.law.wisc.edu/a-case-of-alleged-stategraft-in-nevada-stephen-lara-v-state-of-nevada-et-al/

O Papel Do Promotor Publico Nos Estados Unido [The Role of the Public Prosecutor in the United States], Revista Academica da Escola Superior Do Ministero Publico Do Estado Do Ceara, Revista 2020 – Ano XII – Numero 1 – Semestral (2020)

Joinder, Conspiracy, and Racketeering: Charging Issues Arising in the Prosecution of Staged Accident Insurance Schemes, 17 Nev. L.J. 459 (2017)

Presentations

Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI)8th Annual National SAKI Grantees Meeting (December 2023 – Washington, DC)

Keynote speaker (one of three): A Multi-Decade Sexually Motivated Serial Killer

 

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Cannabis Financial & Business Writing Investigation Program (September 2021 – Las Vegas, NV)

 Presenter: Money Laundering and Bribery (session one); Financial Investigations & Issues Relating to Parallel Proceedings (session two)

 

Nevada Office of the Attorney General, 2021 Legislative Review – Changes Affecting the Office of the Attorney General (August 2021 – NV)

Presenter: Criminal Prosecutions Division

 

University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Fraud Examination course (April 2021 – Las Vegas, NV)

Presenter: Fraud Prosecutions

 

Nevada Office of the Attorney General, Internal Training for Investigators (recurring – NV)

Training Presenter: Brady Discovery Obligations

 

Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, Overview of Foreclosure in Nevada (May 2020 – NV)

Panelist: Potential Criminal Issues

 

International Association of Prosecutors, 24th Annual Conference (September 2019 – Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Panelist: Organizational Barriers to Effective Cooperation and How to Overcome Them

 

Nevada Office of the Attorney General, Internal Training for Deputies Attorney General (June 2019 – NV)

Training Presenter: Prosecuting White Collar Crimes

 

Conference of Western Attorneys General, Mexican Interdisciplinary Exchange for Prosecutors, Investigators and Forensic Experts (January 2019 – Las Vegas, NV)

Training Coordinator and Mock Trial Judge

 

Nevada Office of the Attorney General, Internal Training for Deputies Attorney General (June 2018 – NV)

Training Presenter: Jury Selection

Awards & Accomplishments

Awards, Honors or Grants

Recipient, 2015 Nevada Office of the Attorney General “Making a Difference” Award, awarded annually to “an individual who made a difference either internally, making it a better place to work or, making a difference to the citizens of Nevada through their work with the Attorney General’s Office.”

Recipient, 2017 Nevada Office of the Attorney General L.E.A.D.E.R. Award, awarded annually “to recognize outstanding performance of an attorney.”

Recipient, 2018 SOAR (Safety Officer Award Recognition) Award, awarded by The Rotary Clubs of Southern Nevada for leading the prosecution of a 24-defendant insurance fraud ring.