College of Law
1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3035
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: 307-766-6416
Fax: 307-766-6417
Email: lawadmis@uwyo.edu
Kenneth D. Chestek
Emeritus Professor of Law
Former Assistant Director, Legal Writing Program
Former Assistant Director, Center for the Study of Written Advocacy
B.A., Pennsylvania State University (1975)
J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1979), cum laude and Order of the Coif
Email: kchestek@uwyo.edu
Kenneth D. Chestek joined the University of Wyoming College of Law faculty in the summer of 2012. He graduated cum laude from University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he was Editor in Chief of the Law Review. He practiced law for 21 years in Pennsylvania in a variety of settings, from solo practice to managing attorney for a branch office of a large law firm. While in practice, he also served for 18 years as Chief Civil Counsel to Erie County, Pennsylvania.
From 2010 to 2012 he served as President of the Legal Writing Institute (LWI), an organization of more than 2700 legal writing professionals in the United States and around the world. Previously, he served as a member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of LWI. From 2005-2008 he co-chaired the ALWD/LWI Annual Survey Committee, and from 2004-2008 he served as a member of the Editorial Board of Legal Writing: The Journal of the Legal Writing Institute, a peer-reviewed academic journal.
He has published and given lectures on a wide variety of subjects, including metaphor, persuasion, teaching methods, tax exemption policy, hospitals and the uses of computers in law offices. His current scholarly interest is in the emerging discipline of Applied Legal Storytelling, which examines the role of narrative reasoning and storytelling in how judges decide cases.
Professor Chestek is one of three co-authors of a textbook for first-year courses in legal persuasion. All three authors are former Presidents of LWI. The second edition of the book, Your Client's Story: Persuasive Legal Writing, was published by Aspen in 2018.
College of Law
1000 E. University Ave., Dept. 3035
Laramie, WY 82071
Phone: 307-766-6416
Fax: 307-766-6417
Email: lawadmis@uwyo.edu