Nancy B. Rapoport

Nancy B. Rapoport is the UNLV Distinguished Professor and Garman Turner Gordon Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and an Affiliate Professor of Business Law and Ethics at the Lee Business School. She has held significant academic and administrative roles, including Dean at the University of Nebraska and University of Houston Law Centers, and Interim Dean at Boyd. She has also served in high-level university leadership positions at UNLV, including Acting Provost and Special Counsel to the President.

• B.A., summa cum laude, Rice University (1982)
• J.D., Stanford Law School (1985)
• Clerk, Honorable Joseph T. Sneed III, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
• Practiced bankruptcy law at Morrison & Foerster, San Francisco

Her research focuses on bankruptcy ethics, corporate governance, law firm behavior, and the depiction of lawyers in popular culture. She has published extensively on ethical challenges in legal practice, particularly in the context of artificial intelligence, fee structures, and conflicts of interest. Her work bridges law, business ethics, and public perception, often addressing the evolving role of technology in legal services.

Her recent publications explore AI and the billable hour, data analytics in legal ethics, conflicts in bankruptcy, and cognitive biases in corporate scandals. These works reflect a strong trend toward interdisciplinary scholarship that connects legal doctrine with behavioral science, technology, and organizational ethics.

• Fellow, American College of Bankruptcy
• Fellow, American Bar Foundation
• Lawrence P. King Award (2017)
• NAACP Legacy Builder Award (2018)
• Editors’ Prize for Outstanding Article (2023)
• Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year, UNLV (2022)
• Faculty Member of the Year, Boyd Law Students (2021, 2024)

Rapoport has advised on major bankruptcy cases as fee examiner or chair of fee review committees (e.g., Toys R Us, Caesars, Station Casinos). She has received multiple teaching and leadership honors and continues to influence legal education and practice through her scholarship, public speaking, and policy engagement. She has served on the boards of the Mob Museum and Claremont Graduate University and is active in professional organizations such as Phi Kappa Phi.

She is also known for her public appearances, including in the Academy Award–nominated documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and for her achievements in ballroom dancing. Her work remains highly relevant to contemporary debates on legal ethics, AI, and institutional accountability.