Investigative Reporter Begins First Year of Law School

(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.)

Colleen McCarty ‘13

As an investigative reporter for KLAS-TV, Channel 8, Colleen McCarty is likely the most widely-recognized student in the 2009 entering class of the UNLV Boyd School of Law.

She was bitten by the investigative bug early in her journalism career and further developed those skills when she worked as a producer of A&E Television’s innovative investigative show “Cold Case Files.” Episodes of the show have been lauded by law enforcement agencies across the country and are used as models for investigative technique in training seminars.

The winner of numerous media awards, Colleen was nominated fourteen times for an Emmy, which recognizes excellence in television, and awarded one outright for her coverage of a Nevada soldier listed as MIA during the Vietnam War. In addition, she was named a Public Health Hero by the Clark County Health District for her investigative stories on the plight of the valley’s homeless youth.

The investigative bug also accounts in part for Colleen’s interest in attending law school. She said, “My favorite stories to cover have always been those that involve some connection to the legal system; whether it be a consumer investigation that leads to a civil action or an armed robbery that prompts an examination of juvenile certification, I enjoy observing the system at work.”

Not surprisingly, therefore, she adds, “I believe a law degree will enhance my understanding of the people and the issues I cover.”

Colleen selected Boyd School of Law because it offers her “the best of both worlds.” As a part-time, four-year student, she expects to continue working as an investigative reporter while simultaneously pursing her J.D. She explains, “I hope to combine my law degree with my journalism skill set to continue pursuing both passions.”

Colleen earned a B.A. in mass communications, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of California, Berkeley, and an M.S. in broadcast journalism from the widely-acclaimed Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She has worked for TV stations in, Minneapolis, Henderson, and Pocatello, ID.