UNLV law students and others stand Tuesday as state Supreme Court Justices Jim Hardesty, William Maupin and Mark Gibbons enter the classroom, where they heard arguments. Left to right, state Supreme Court Justices Mark Gibbons, William Maupin and Jim Hardesty hear arguments Tuesday at the Boyd School of Law on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Photos by Clint Karlsen.

Kenneth Rex may only be in his first year of law school at UNLV, but on Tuesday he had a morning most veteran lawyers would envy.

Rex got a front row seat as a three-judge panel of the Nevada Supreme Court heard appeals argued on campus at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Boyd School of Law.

Then, Rex got to question the justices about how they do their jobs.

"I thought it was pretty neat," Rex said. "Maybe someday I'll be arguing a case in front of them."

Such optimism for a courtroom career is exactly what officials at the Boyd School of Law hope to foster by having the state's highest court hear appeals on campus.

Law school Dean Richard Morgan said seeing the state Supreme Court justices listen to real attorneys helps students understand how important appellate decisions come to be.

Perhaps just as important, the students are also given a chance to interact with the justices, and a Supreme Court justice's words of advice carry a lot of weight with a young law student.

"To hear it from the justices, it has a far greater impact," Morgan said.

The law school, which is just seven years old, is already highly regarded. The American Bar Association gave full accreditation to the school in 2003, just five years after it opened.

The Supreme Court heard cases Monday and Tuesday, and it will finish hearing appeals at the school today.

On Tuesday morning, prosecutors and defense attorneys argued the validity of the murder conviction of David Alvarez, who was found guilty of killing a woman at the Western Hotel in Las Vegas.

Attorneys on both sides of the case debated the application of important United States case law, including a defendant's right to confront and cross examine accusers and the standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding prosecutorial misconduct in closing arguments.

After the case was heard, the justices held a question-and-answer session in which they gave the students a little friendly advice.

Justices William Maupin, Jim Hardesty and Mark Gibbons told the students that one of the most important skills they will learn in law school is how to write legal briefs and pleadings in a concise fashion, free of cumbersome legal jargon.

"You have to communicate -- if you are arguing to a jury -- in plain language," Maupin told the students. "Plain language is better than legalese."

Morgan and Maupin both said they expect the law school and the state Supreme Court will continue to team up in the coming years, and more cases are likely to be heard by the court at the school.

Terrill Pollman, a law professor who teaches students legal writing, lawyering skills and ethics at Boyd, said having her class sit in on the court's proceedings Tuesday was a remarkable experience for her students.

"It could not have been better," Pollman said. "They (students) can see that they can become very competent lawyers. They also see that it's difficult and you have to be prepared. It's not TV lawyering.

"But they also end up saying to themselves, 'I can do that,'" Pollman said.