Boyd School of Law Student Yanez Seeks Sixth Degree from UNLV

(This posting is one in a series devoted to Boyd School of Law 2009 first-year law students who have unusual or especially interesting backgrounds. Boyd has been highly successfully not only in attracting students with outstanding academic credentials, but also in appealing to students with a noteworthy diversity of experiences.)

Alejandro Patricio Yanez, Ph.D., ‘13

Not satisfied with a mere five degrees from UNLV, Alejandro Patricio Yanez, Ph.D., begins study this fall for his sixth as a first-year student at the Boyd School of Law.

His UNLV career was launched in 1995 with two B.A.'s: one in psychology and one in political science. Two master’s degrees followed: an M.S. in marriage and family counseling and an M.A. in clinical psychology. In 2006, he earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, followed a year later by part-time teaching in the UNLV psychology department.

Immediately after earning his doctorate, Dr. Yanez was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in psychology at Yale University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry, where he conducted therapy and research in Spanish with a Latino population.

His interest in law was stimulated when in 2007 he was appointed by the Board of Governors to a three-year term as a lay member of the State Bar of Nevada Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board charged with reviewing allegations of attorney misconduct.

A licensed psychologist, Dr. Yanez has published articles in scholarly and professional journals.

He said he chose Boyd School of Law because “it’s an excellent law school that is ’up-and-coming;’ it is situated in my hometown, and it has provided me the opportunity to go to law school part-time at night while working during the day as a clinical psychologist.”

Eventually, Dr. Yanez plans to practice as both a psychologist and an attorney.