Neal Hyman was born in New York in 1970. He moved to Reno, Nevada with his family in 1977 when his father worked on the MGM Grand job as a wallpaper and painting contractor. Little did he know that Nevada would be where he called home. Neal graduated from Reno High School and the University of Nevada (UNR). While at UNR, Neal studied criminal justice, business and psychology. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity (TKE). It was at UNR when Neal knew that being a lawyer was his future. Neal attended his first year of law school back east at Quinnipiac College School of Law in Hamden, Connecticut (formerly Bridgeport School of Law). He achieved high grades and made law review. Knowing that he desired to be back west, Neal transferred with honors to California Western School of Law in San Diego, California. There he achieved high grades, made the Dean’s Honor List, was a member of the legal honor fraternity Phi Delta Phi and achieved the American Jurisprudence Award (Am. Jur.) in Federal Courts (the highest grade). Neal’s strengths were civil and criminal procedure, constitutional law, torts/personal injury, trial practice and ethics. During law school, Neal interned for two federal judges, the Honorable Phyllis Halsey Atkins and the Honorable Edward C. Reed, Jr.
After law school, Neal moved back to Reno and clerked for the Honorable Peter I. Breen, Senior District Judge for Washoe County. As a law clerk, Neal worked closely with the judge and saw many behind the scenes decisions. His first job as a lawyer was with Hardesty, Bader & Ryan in Reno (Nevada Supreme Court Justice Hardesty’s old firm). There he handled various cases, including first amendment/media law, commercial litigation and civil rights/discrimination matters. Wanting more court experience, Neal joined the District Attorney’s Office in Reno as a criminal prosecutor. There he handled various criminal cases, including DUI’s, traffic offenses, property/theft crimes, assault and battery cases and even serious felony cases like burglary, kidnapping and robbery. Neal was in court almost every day and had numerous trials. During this time, Neal served on the State Bar of Nevada’s Consumer Protection Committee and was a member of the esteemed Bruce R. Thompson Inns of Court (an organization where top lawyers are invited to discuss legal issues and make presentations). Wanting to get back into civil law, Neal took a job with Blick, Doty & Gill in San Diego, California. There he learned the in’s and outs of insurance coverage law as he represented large national and international insurance carriers when deciding insurance coverage issues.
