Michael C. Kovac

Michael Kovac is an Assistant Professor of Legal Writing. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and California.

Prior to joining Penn State Law in 2022, Professor Kovac was the Chief Deputy Attorney General for the Criminal Prosecutions Division of Nevada’s Office of the Attorney General. In that position, he prosecuted and supervised the prosecution of criminal cases throughout Nevada. Before that, he worked for the same office as a deputy attorney general and senior deputy attorney general. He handled a wide variety of criminal cases, ranging from fraud to murder. 

While working as a prosecutor, Professor Kovac also taught law and criminal justice courses for several schools, including the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law, Arizona State University, the University of New Mexico (Gallup), and Nevada State College.

Prior to his work as a prosecutor and adjunct professor, Professor Kovac worked in numerous additional positions in, or related to, the legal profession. Specifically, he served as a law clerk for the Court of Appeals for the Second Judicial District Court of the United States (New York, NY), the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas’ Commerce and Complex Civil Litigation Center (Pittsburgh, PA), and the Las Vegas Township Justice Court (Las Vegas, NV). Prior to completing law school, he worked as a paralegal specialist for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania and as a probation officer.

Professor Kovac received his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, where he graduated in the top 10% of his class and was a member of the Duquesne Law Review. He received his M.A. (in criminal justice), with distinction, from Arizona State University. He received his B.S. (majoring in education) from the University of Pittsburgh (Johnstown).