S.J. Quinney College of Law - University of Utah

Congratulations to Arturo Thompson, assistant dean in the Career Development Office, for receiving a Utah Business Living Color award! The award honors individuals and organizations working toward a more equitable and inclusive state.

https://www.utahbusiness.com/arturo-alejandro-thompson-2024-living-color/

Utah Law Professor Emerita Linda Smith and her husband, Lee Schuster, have been attending PEAK classes at the University of Utah for nearly 25 years. Check out this U Health profile about them!

U of U’s PEAK Health and Fitness Program Helps Couple Stay Fit as they Age Linda Smith and her husband, Lee Shuster, started attending Peak fitness classes in 1999. Decades later, they're still enjoying what Peak Health & Wellness has to offer.

“This award embodies my hard work, passion, and commitment to public service. I also feel honored that S.J. Quinney values my potential, community-oriented perspective, and strong desire to use my law degree to increase access to justice. With the Arc to Justice program, I can confidently pursue a legal education, gain access to additional mentoring support, and become the first person in my family to earn a law degree.”

Meet Arc Fellow Valeria Jimenez and find out how her career path led her to Utah Law: https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/part-of-utahs-legal-legacy-meet-arc-fellow-valeria-jimenez/

We're excited to announce that Utah Law is establishing the Wagner/Holbrook Presidential Chair in Negotiation, which will support recruitment and retention of tenured or tenure-track faculty in the field of negotiation, thanks to a $5 million gift from the I.J. & Jeanné Wagner Foundation.

Learn more about Izzi Wagner (right, pictured with wife Jeanné in 1942) and Professor James Holbrook, for whom the award is named, and their legacy in negotiation. (Photo courtesy Salt Lake County Arts).

https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/utah-law-establishes-wagner-holbrook-presidential-chair-in-negotiation/

Professor John Ruple recently returned from a two-year appointment as senior counsel in the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), where he helped to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley and Springfield Race Riot National Monuments, among other accomplishments. He will be discussing his CEQ appointment at a Wallace Stegner Center Green Bag on Thursday, Oct. 3, from 12:15-1:30 p.m.

"We cannot undo the wrongs of the past, but we can learn from the lessons of the past and, in doing so, create a more just and equitable world,” he says.

Learn more about Professor Ruple's appointment and his role as director of the Stegner Center's Law and Policy program: https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/research-professor-john-ruple-discusses-ceq-appointment-and-law-and-policy-program/

Young alumni: If you graduated between 2014 and 2024, join us at Squatters Pub on Thursday, Oct. 3, from 6-8 p.m. Come eat, mingle, and reconnect with your fellow alums and meet the S.J. Quinney College of Law Young Alumni Association board.

RSVP here: https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/wwnaa8n

Do you know the student leaders who edit and publish the Utah Law Review? Find out how often it's published, how students get involved, and how editors select articles for each issue.

https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/student-editors-share-behind-the-scenes-action-of-the-utah-law-review/

Join us Sept. 27 from 12:15-1:30 p.m. for a book talk with Professor Leslie Francis and healthcare and health law expert panelists. Francis will discuss her new book States of Health: The Ethics and Consequences of Policy Variation in a Federal System, written with Professor John Francis.

Panelists include Kif Augustine-Adams, Justice Christine Durham, and Phillip Singer, and Professor Daniel Aaron will moderate.

Learn more and register: https://www.law.utah.edu/event/faculty-book-talk-states-of-health/

We've achieved our highest-ever ranking in the 2024 Scholarly Impact of Law School Faculties study, placing #30 overall! This milestone also positions the College among the top 10 public law schools in the country and reflects our faculty's significant contributions to the legal field.

Learn more: https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/utah-law-ranks-among-top-10-public-law-schools-in-scholarly-impact-study/

Tennessee native Kiersten Vandervelde says she was so focused on doing everything right and studying as much as possible when she started law school. Now that she's in her final year, she realizes she's grown more because of the relationships she's built.

“I have made some of my closest friends in law school and have also had time to travel, see family, and pick up new hobbies. Law school does require a significant amount of time, but the rewards it brings are far beyond the classroom.”

https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/medical-malpractice-in-the-mountain-west-3l-kiersten-vandervelde-recalls-her-law-school-experience/

Our dean of admissions and financial aid, Reyes Aguilar, retires today after 32 years at Utah Law.

"For the past five years, I have heard one amazing story after another about how Reyes has changed lives over the last 32 years. Having admitted thousands of law students to the S.J. Quinney College of Law over the past three decades, he leaves behind an impressive legacy. He is well-known for his generosity, high ethical standards, and willingness to treat every candidate with dignity and respect," Dean Elizabeth Kronk Warner said of Aguilar.

We will miss Dean Aguilar but hope to still see him longboarding around campus from time to time. Learn more about his career, his experience attending the College of Law, and how you can contribute to a new scholarship in his honor: https://www.law.utah.edu/resgestae-issue/admit-one-reyes-aguilar-discusses-his-32-years-as-associate-dean-of-admissions/

Research Professor Danya Rumore, who also directs the Environmental Dispute Resolution program, says it's an honor to work at a center named after Wallace Stegner.

“Not only is he an iconic and inspirational figure for the American West, but he was a believer in cooperation. He is commonly cited as talking about the West as the native home of hope and about the need to create a ‘society to match its scenery’ in the West.”

Learn more about Professor Rumore and her passion for helping people work together: https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/extra-dialogue-required-get-to-know-edr-director-danya-rumore/

"Through the law school, I was able to complete clinics and an internship at Hill Air Force Base (in nearby Ogden, Utah). After that experience, I knew I wanted to be an Air Force JAG. That decision has taken me to Oklahoma, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, another deployment to southwest Asia, and now my current station in Okinawa, Japan.”

Find out why alum Jeff Baldridge finds his career as an Air Force JAG so rewarding—and check out the rest of the Public Interest Law Week events, including the Equal Justice Works info session Aug. 28 and a career fair Sept. 3!

https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/alum-jeff-baldridge-builds-rewarding-career-as-jag-in-u-s-air-force/

Join us TOMORROW, Aug. 28, for Professor Amos Guiora's panel discussion about his new book, "The Complicity of Silence." Guiora’s book shows how a network of enablers + bystanders allowed a proven predator to access children at schools from 1975-2001.

Panelists include Michelle M. Oldroyd, director of professional education at the Utah State Bar, Adam Sorenson, associate at Gross & Rooney, and Ken Wallentine, chief of the West Jordan Police Department.

Register now: https://www.law.utah.edu/event/faculty-book-talk-the-complicity-of-silence/

Public Interest Law Week kicks off next Monday, Aug. 26! This is your chance to discuss public interest careers, including prosecutors, public defenders, university general counsels, Title IX attorneys, and the JAG Corps, and meet members of the Career Development Office, Public Interest Law Organization (PILO), Pro Bono Initiative, and Experiential Education.

RSVP for these events using the QR codes on posters throughout the building, and learn more in this article: https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/celebrate-public-interest-law-week-aug-26-sept-3/

Join us next Thursday, Aug. 29, from 12:15-1:15 p.m. for the Wallace Stegner Center Green Bag. Dr. Kimberly Terrell of Tulane Law School will share her recent and ongoing work about environmental disparities in industrialized communities, particularly those in Louisiana’s “Cancer Alley.”

Learn more and register now: https://www.law.utah.edu/event/catching-up-to-lived-experience-cancer-risky-births-and-missing-jobs-in-fenceline-communities/

Welcome back, students! Did you know Utah Law's new SBA president once ran for mayor in Texas? Get to know more about Seth LaPray (including his love for ping pong): https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/from-mayoral-candidate-to-sba-president-3l-seth-lapray-seeks-to-serve-his-community/

Aaaaand that's a wrap! Our Class of 2027 is officially done with 1L Orientation, and it's been a great week.

We can't wait to see the entire law school community again when the semester starts next week. It's been a heck of a summer—see you Monday, SJQ ☀️

✨There's nothing quite like brand-new law student energy! ✨

1L Orientation is here, and we've got to say that our Class of 2027 is AMAZING. Welcome to the Utah Law family, 1Ls—it's gonna be a great year!

Congratulations to the following graduates from the class of 2024, who have been elected to Order of the Coif by College of Law faculty (pictured from left to right):

Alyssa Florack-Hess
Tatiana Aniko Follett
Emma Leah Alexandra Grissom
Molly M. Hemenway
Carlie A. Lythgoe
Claire Malarkey
Anna Elizabeth Meredith-Edman
Jack William Nunn
Diana Pogosyan
Drake E. Walker

The Order of the Coif is an honorary scholastic society that recognizes law students who attained a high grade of scholarship and high distinction for their scholarly or professional accomplishments.

We're excited to welcome Professor Lincoln Davies back to Utah Law! Davies will be co-directing the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment and also teaching Civil Procedure, Administrative Law and Energy Law.

Learn more about Professor Davies: https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/professor-lincoln-davies-returns-to-utah-law-and-co-directs-stegner-center/

Master of Legal Studies alum John Seegrist unexpectedly pivoted in his career after finishing his degree and is now working toward his LPP. Find out why the MLS program had a positive impact: https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/john-seegrist-finds-new-opportunities-with-mls-degree/

Our newest grads are taking the Utah Bar Exam today and tomorrow—​and we know they're going to absolutely ace it!

Go forth and conquer, class of 2024. You'll be members of the bar before you know it. 💪 😤

Rising 3Ls Paulina Barboza, left, and Seth LaPray were both featured in The University of Utah's Humans of the U series! Find out why they are attending law school at S.J. Quinney.

https://www.law.utah.edu/news-articles/paulina-barboza-and-seth-lapray-featured-in-humans-of-the-u/

Professor Brig Daniels and Professor Lincoln Davies have been named co-directors of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment. Daniels and Davies began jointly leading the Stegner Center on July 1 and assumed leadership from outgoing director Robert Keiter, who has led the center since its founding in 1994 and who will remain on the college’s faculty.

Stegner Center names Daniels and Davies as incoming co-directors - S.J. Quinney College of Law The S.J. Quinney College of Law is pleased to announce that professors of law Brigham Daniels and Lincoln Davies have been named co-directors of the Wallace Stegner Center for Land, Resources and the Environment. Daniels and Davies began jointly leading the Stegner Center on July 1. Together, they w...

Environmental Dispute Resolution Program Director Danya Rumore wrote an opinion piece for The Salt Lake Tribune about achieving true inclusivity.

"The reality is the world isn’t zero-sum and, I know from two decades of studying and helping people navigate conflict, when we effectively advocate for their fundamental needs and concerns and work together to problem solve, we can expand the proverbial pie and create value for everyone involved."

https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/07/17/opinion-i-resolve-conflict-living/