Learning ropes in rural court

Bobbie Neal was working in Washington, D.C., for a legal contractor for the Department of Justice. For two years, she was practicing land rights advocacy law.

It was very specific and Neal found herself yearning for a more well-rounded view of the law. She got on the Internet and found the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Law School Web site.

There was an opening for a law clerk for District Court Judge Robert Lane in Pahrump. It was thousands of miles away from Washington, D.C., from a distance standpoint and even further ideologically.

But Neal was determined to find something more general than what she was doing. The interview with Lane went well. She got along well with the judge's secretary, Melanie Florio. Still, it was going to be a huge culture shock. The fact that she thought she would like to work with Judge Lane and that her parents were living in Gardnerville were determining factors when Neal accepted the position.

"I argued with myself for a long time," Neal, 28, said. "I had good friends, but I wasn't happy with my job. I had never been here. But I decided I was going to do it. I wanted to move to a warmer climate, and to get away from so many people.

"This puts me a lot closer to my dad, who was sick last summer. I wanted to be able to see my parents more often.

"Everyone here is so nice," she said. "The people are wonderful, but it is an adjustment."

Neal arrived in Pahrump two weeks ago with her 5-year-old dog, Piper. Lane was happy to welcome her to the District Court office where her official title is a law clerk for Nye County.

"I'm glad to have her on board," Lane said. "She's already started to do a lot of work that will help the community. For example, I have assigned her as my right-hand man for the drug court I'm trying to start."

Lane is gone for three weeks taking a mandatory class in Reno. But Neal is hard at work on a variety of projects. In addition to her research, she is planning on observing drug courts in Las Vegas and Reno. That's fine with Lane.

"She will do a lot of groundwork to get the drug court started," Lane said. "That will save us a lot of money in the long run. I will work with Bobbie on a lot of those types of projects. She will work with juvenile court and on domestic violence cases.

"Also, she will be doing a lot of civil and criminal research for me," he said, "so when we go into court we'll be very prepared on the law and issues. We'll visit prisons, boot camp and juvenile detention facilities so we can become more familiar with their operations."

Neal, a North Dakota native, is a graduate of Minnesota State University. She went to Tulane Law School in New Orleans where she studied general law.

Uncertain of what she wanted to do, Neal moved to San Antonio, Texas. She passed the state law bar at the University of Texas in Austin. After one year, working mainly as a waitress, Neal took her first law job in Washington, D.C.

Neal is no stranger to small towns. She grew up in Bottineau, N.D., population 3,000. Thus, she figures to get used to Pahrump. She loves to read and is training for her second marathon, the Chicago Marathon, in the fall.

"I'm looking forward to working with her," Lane said. "She's going to be my right-hand man, my confidant. I try to be active in the community but I can only look at things from the perspective of a white male. This will give me another perspective."

It figures to give Neal another perspective, too -- of law, Western style.