Faculty

Erwin Chemerinsky is Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He has been a professor, teaching Constitutional Law and related subjects for 46 years, and has been on the faculty of DePaul College of Law, University of Southern California Law School...

Dr. Aberasturi has a Master’s in Clinical Psychology, an Educational Specialist Degree in School Psychology, a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, and a Post-Doctorate in Neuropsychology.She is a licensed Psychologist in the state of Nevada, a school psychologist, a counselor, and a teacher. She holds a certification for the State of Nevada as...

Dr. Kristen Davis-Coelho is a clinical psychologist in private practice, a faculty member in the University of Nevada-Reno School of Medicine, and an award-winning author and speaker.  Committed to creating systemic solutions, she is vice-Chair of the Washoe Regional...

Ronna J. Dillinger has been a forensic psychologist for nearly 20 years. She has a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and was board certified in forensic psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology in 2012. Her career has primarily focused on forensic psychological assessments. She first joined state service in Nevada as...

Jennifer Highsmith, PhD, is a Psychologist specializing in neuropsychology with a private practice in Reno, Nevada. Jennifer received a Master's Degree and a Ph.D. from the Cognitive and Brain Sciences program in the Psychology Department at the University of Nevada, Reno. She studied neuroscience, including...

Dr. Pamela B. Payne, CFLE, CA is an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) in Human Development Family Science and Extension with additional appointments in the Interdisciplinary Social Psychology and the Judicial Studies programs. She joined the faculty at UNR in 2018, after receiving her doctorate in 2010 from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ, and spending several years...

Steve Zuchowski bio: Dr. Zuchowski is a long-time clinical professor in forensic psychiatry at the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Medicine, as well as a senior psychiatrist at Lake’s Crossing Center since 2004. He has served on the Competency Certification Committee for many years and is currently responsible for the initial certification course...

Drew Cross serves as Nevada’s Statewide Forensic Director. A proud Nevadan, he began his career in health care after earning his nursing degree and working as an intensive care unit nurse, where he gained valuable experience in a fast-paced, high-pressure clinical environment. He later joined the state’s behavioral health system as...

Jacki Hallerbach served as Executive Director to Tru Vista Foundation since July 2020. She applies her decades of non-profit management experience to improving outcomes for families in child welfare, a position she finds both rewarding and challenging. Jacki writes and manages grants for government contracts to fund this work, manages all administrative work and advocates for...

Judge Jacqueline M. Bluth was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, and later moved to Las Vegas to attend the William S. Boyd School of Law. During her third year of law school, she served as President of the Student Bar Association.While in law school, Judge Bluth worked for the...

Judge David M. Connors (ret.) was appointed to Utah's Second District Court by Governor Jon M. Huntsman, Jr. and took office in January 2008. He served Davis, Morgan, and Weber counties. Judge Connors earned a law degree from Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School where he was a member of the Law Review and...

Judge Gall serves on the Eighth Judicial District Court, Clark County, Nevada, which is Nevada’s trial court and court of general jurisdiction. She has split docket of civil and criminal cases, including business court and problem gambling diversion court. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Gall was a partner at the law firm of Ballard Spahr LLP, where her practice included representing state court appointed and federal equity receivers.

The Hon. John Romero served as a District Court Judge in the Children’s Court Division of the Second Judicial District Court in Albuquerque, New Mexico for 17½ years.  His docket included juvenile justice and child welfare cases. He served as a Therapeutic Court Judge for the Program for the Empowerment of Girls (PEG), an intensive multi-agency juvenile probation program...

Crystal Hallock has provided peer-to-peer mentorship to parents with child dependency cases since 2007. She brings a wealth of lived experience; having gone through a child welfare case herself and then raised nine children including...

David Snyder is an appellate attorney at Claggett & Sykes Law Firm. David graduated from the William S. Boyd School of Law and clerked for the Honorable Elissa Cadish at the Supreme Court of Nevada...

Professor Joe Regalia is an associate professor of law at the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV, which is consistently ranked as the number one legal writing programs in the nation. He is also the author of the bestselling book...

Veronica Bath Wright is a staff attorney at the Nevada Supreme Court, where she specializes in criminal matters. Veronica began her legal career in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, where she prosecuted numerous felony courts-martial and served as the Chief of Military Justice for the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center. She later served as...