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

06/04/2026

“We are fortunate in Utah to have such an active and close legal community, and the women in that legal community are exceptional. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with many of them in my years of being involved with Women Lawyers of Utah (WLU) and seen WLU’s services directly benefit our members so they can thrive. Growing our numbers in the Bar and expanding women’s roles in every corner of the legal profession is key.”

Check out this Res Gestae article featuring Holly Nelson (JD ' 09) and Ashley Gregson (JD '11), who are both Women Lawyers of Utah leaders!

Since 1981, Women Lawyers of Utah (WLU) has provided opportunities for women lawyers to develop and advance their careers. We're highlighting past WLU president Holly...

06/02/2026

Stephen Dent (JD '14) has been appointed by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox to fill one of two new vacancies on the Utah Supreme Court, subject to the Utah Senate's consent. Dent is an assistant U.S. attorney who has prosecuted drug, immigration and murder cases. He previously worked at the Washington, D.C., firm of Gibson Dunn before joining the Department of Justice as a federal prosecutor.

Learn more in The Salt Lake Tribune:

Gov. Spencer Cox nominated an LDS Church attorney and a federal prosecutor to fill two new Utah Supreme Court seats.

06/02/2026

Lecturer Professor Amos Guiora, who leads Utah Law's Bystander Initiative, has published an op-ed in The Hill.

In December 2024, while sitting at home outside Jerusalem, I received the most extraordinary email possible. The subject line was the name of my late grandfather, murdered in Auschwitz in May 1944.…

05/29/2026

Professor Jorge Contreras was quoted in The New York Times about a U.S. state court in North Dakota that issued an anti-suit injunction (ASI) against Greenpeace's prosecution of a Dutch freedom of expression action in a U.S. tort case involving protests over a pipeline. The ASI has now been upheld by the ND Supreme Court.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/28/climate/greenpeace-energy-transfer-north-dakota-injunction.html

05/28/2026

Lecturer Professor Amos Guiora, who directs Utah Law's Bystander Initiative, was quoted in The Guardian about Epstein assistant Lesley Groff and whether she knew about Epstein's crimes.

The long read: She was quick, polite, relentlessly positive, military-grade efficient. A trawl through the Epstein files raises the troubling question: what did Lesley Groff know?

05/27/2026

Utah Law ranks no. 8 among public law schools on the American Bar Association's Ultimate Bar Passage report, which includes all 2023 graduates who passed a bar exam within two years of graduation (including alternative pathway graduates).

Check out this TaxProf Blog post for the full list:

Following up on my previous post, Law School Rankings By First-Time Bar Passage Rate (2025): here is the ranking of law schools based on Graduation Year 2023 Ultimate Bar Pass Data from the ABA’s spreadsheet. The Ultimate Bar Pass rate includes all 2023 graduates who sat for a bar exam and passed ...

05/27/2026

Join the Young Lawyers Division of the Utah State Bar on Saturday, May 30, from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. at the Park City Police Department to help first responders with essential estate planning documents, including wills and healthcare directives. No estate planning experience is necessary.

The YLD team will provide onsite training on the basics of estate planning andits software, which qualifies for one CLE credit.

Sign up here: https://www.utahbar.org/wills-for-heroes-events/

05/22/2026

We’re lucky enough to welcome summer associates to our firm each year and, this week, seven talented law students from the S.J. Quinney College of Law - University of Utah, and BYU Law School joined us for the summer!

Kirton McConkie’s summer associate program emphasizes hands-on legal experience, giving each participant the chance to work alongside our attorneys on actual billable work that helps prepare them for success in the legal industry after graduation. We’re excited to have them with us for the next several weeks!

05/21/2026

Professor Teneille Brown, an evidence expert, was interviewed on this Australian ABC Listen podcast about Utah woman Kouri Richins' sentencing. Richins has been sentenced to life in prison for poisoning her husband.

https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/lawreport/america-s-erin-patterson-the-kouri-richins-poisoning-case/106643160

05/20/2026

In 1976, the 100th woman was admitted to the Bar in Utah. Now, 50 years later, we're celebrating a few of those women, including Susan Taylor Hansen (JD '76). Learn more about her career in environmental law in this article from our winter 2026 issue of Res Gestae.

Susan Taylor Hansen (JD '76) was always hanging around her father's law practice as a teen and wanted to go to law school as well—despite...