2016 Honors Banquet

The University of Wyoming College of Law will be hosting the annual Honor’s Banquet on Friday, April 1^st, 2016 at the Marian Rochelle Gateway Center in Laramie. The Honor’s Banquet will commence at 6:00 pm with a reception and cocktail hour, where visitors will have the opportunity to mingle with current law students. The Banquet will begin at 7:00 pm and will recognize named scholarship recipients in the current law school classes, the Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, the Thurman Arnold Distinguished Supporter of the Law School Award recipients, as well as the inductees of the Order of the Coif, Honorary Order of the Coif, and the announcement of the prestigious Clarence A. Brimmer Scholarship recipient.

Each year, the Advisory Board, which also serves as the Law Alumni Board, selects recipients for our Distinguished Alumni and Support Awards. This year, the Board has selected Gregory C. Dyekman and Richard R. Bostwick as the Distinguished Alumni, and Colorado trial attorney William Trine, and Charles Abourezk of South Dakota as the joint recipients of the Thurman Arnold Distinguished Supporter of the Law School Award.

Greg Dyekman is a partner in the firm of Dray, Dyekman, Reed & Healey, P.C. in Cheyenne, where he has built a 36 year career practicing law. He is well versed in a wide variety of practice areas, but most notably has experience in high dollar transactions involving corporate and business law. A life-long Wyoming resident, he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Wyoming in 1977, followed by his Juris Doctor in 1980.

Mr. Dyekman believes strongly in giving back to his community and state and has served in leadership roles for many community organizations and projects. He has received several awards for his legendary civic commitment such as the Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year Award and the Wyoming Bar Foundation Pro-Bono Public Service Award, and was chosen as a University of Wyoming Distinguished Alumni for his professional achievements and community service in 2012. He has served as a member of the University of Wyoming Foundation Board since 2003, serves on the College of Arts and Sciences Board, and has been a principal member of the University of Wyoming College of Law Dean’s Advisory Board.

The late Richard “Dick” Bostwick was a famed defense attorney in Wyoming. Bostwick attended the University of Wyoming on a football scholarship where he was quarterback from 1939-1941. While in undergraduate school, he received an R.O.T.C. Commission of 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and graduated from University of Wyoming in 1943. He entered law school and after one year was called for active duty and attended Army Intelligence School at Camp Richie, Maryland graduating in 1944. During World War II, Bostwick served under General Patton in the 94^th Division in Europe.  After the war, he returned to the University of Wyoming School of Law and graduated with his Juris Doctor in 1947.

Bostwick practiced law in the firm of Murane & Bostwick in Casper for 46 years, specializing in medical malpractice defense work. He served as the Natrona County Bar Association President, as well as a past President of the Wyoming State Bar Association. He is also credited with starting the Pro Bono Program in Wyoming.

The Thurman Arnold Distinguished Supporter of the Law School Award is awarded annually to a non-alumnus that has gone above and beyond the norm to promote and develop the UW College of Law. The UW College of Law is fortunate in the connections it has made throughout the years of such dedicated allies. This year, the College of Law is pleased to bestow this Award upon two outstanding trial lawyers who have served as pillar faculty members for the Summer Trial Institute, Bill Trine and Charles Abourezk.

Bill Trine graduated from the University of Colorado Law School in 1959, and is a senior partner in the law firm Trine & Metcalf, P.C. in Boulder, Colorado. He is listed in all editions of The Best Lawyers in America, is co-author of the bestselling book, Winning Medical Negligence Cases, and the author of more than 75 published articles on various legal topics. He has been on the faculty of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College since 1994. He is a past president and founder of Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, a public interest law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C., and a past president of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association which honored him with a Lifetime Achievement award in 1996, and the Access to Justice Award in 2014 for his work on prison reform.

Mr. Trine has participated every year in the Summer Trial Institute at the University of Wyoming since its inception in 2010. He often dedicates multiple days teaching the program and has been reviewed by the participating students as a favorite. Additionally, he has been a supportive donor to Wyoming to support student scholarships.  

Charles Abourezk is a trial attorney and trial consultant in Rapid City, South Dakota. He is also a writer, documentary filmmaker, a current Justice of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Supreme Court, and a member of South Dakota Advisory Committee to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. He graduated from the University of South Dakota Law School in 1992 and has had a robust practice as well as other teaching endeavors. He trains and teaches courses in group dynamics and group psychology as a consultant, and is an adjunct faculty member at Black Hills State University. He also teaches elementary and secondary teachers in Rapid City, SD in continuing education courses on racism, American Indian issues, and group dynamics.

Like Trine, Abourezk has served as a faculty member in the Wyoming Summer Trial Institute for the past 5 years. He teaches the coveted Voir Dire section of the course, and has served as a faculty member of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College.

The Order of the Coif is a national honorary society that recognizes excellence in legal education. Membership is limited to students who graduated in the top 10% of their class, and to honorary members selected by schools with a Coif chapter. The University of Wyoming became a Coif chapter in 1985, however, the faculty selects one honorary member each year to induct into the society that graduated prior to the Wyoming chapter.

This year’s recipient is Terry W. Mackey. Mackey is a 1970 graduate of the University of Wyoming College of Law, and also earned his Bachelor’s degree from Wyoming in 1968. He is an attorney in Cheyenne with a general civil and criminal trial practice. He also handles state and federal appeals. His practice areas include negligence, wrongful death, personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice and aviation law. A perennial faculty member of the Western Trial Advocacy Institute, Mr. Mackey enjoys a reputation as one of the top trial lawyers in Wyoming.

Mr. Mackey is actively involved with the College of Law and serves on the College of Law Dean’s Advisory Board and the Campus Advisory Board. He was honored in 2014 as the College of Law Distinguished Alumnus, and is one of the founding creators and faculty members of the Summer Trial Institute.

The College of Law is excited to recognize the achievements of these deserving honorees. The Honors Banquet is an open event and we strongly encourage anyone who wishes to attend the Banquet to do so. We ask that guests please RSVP to the event by emailing Jadeen Mathis at Jadeen.Mathis@uwyo.edu.