Law Week Activities Oct. 16-20 at UW

The John Burman Student Government at the University of Wyoming’s College of Law has scheduled a number of activities for Law Week Oct. 16-20.

For over 20 years, the College of Law has hosted Law Week, where law professionals from across the country present a variety of law-related topics to students and community members. All of this year’s events, unless otherwise specified, are free and open to all students, staff, faculty and the public.

On Thursday, Oct. 19, the Wyoming Supreme Court will hold oral arguments from 9 a.m.-noon in Room 178 of the College of Law Building.

“This is a rare opportunity in which the five justices from the Wyoming Supreme Court visit the College of Law to hear the oral arguments from practicing attorneys,” says Chandler Helvey, vice president of the John Burman Student Government.

Following the arguments, the justices will hold a question-and-answer session with audience members. The court’s docket topics have not yet been announced.

On Friday, Oct. 20, the College of Law dean’s office will host a presentation and question-and-answer session from 9-10:30 a.m. in Room 178 with Chief U.S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl. He will give a short presentation about his journey to becoming a federal judge and then open the floor to questions.

Law Week will wrap up with the Trelease Dinner Friday from 6:30-10:30 p.m. at the Wildcatter Club and Suites in War Memorial Stadium. The dinner honors Frank Trelease, who was a premier Western water law scholar, a professor for 33 years and dean of the UW College of Law for 12 years. 

The evening will consist of a social hour; a dinner catered by Altitude Chophouse; and a presentation by Reed Benson, a professor of law and director of the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Program at the University of New Mexico. There, he teaches water law, natural resources and administrative law.

Benson has published dozens of articles on Western water law and policy. He was a Fulbright Scholar in 2015, serving as visiting chair in water and the environment at the University of Lethbridge in Canada. Additionally, Benson worked in a private law practice for the Environmental Protection Agency, conservation groups in Colorado and Oregon, and on the UW College of Law faculty from 2002-08.

Tickets to the Trelease Dinner are $25 each and may be purchased by visiting https://forms.office.com/r/hbp99qz9CGTickets.

Throughout the week, additional presentations are planned during the lunch hour and in the evenings. To read about the talks currently scheduled, visit www.uwyo.edu/law/law-week-2023.html. More presentations may be added.

For more information, email Helvey at chelvey@uwyo.edu or Darby Clark at dclark31@uwyo.edu.