Gilbert, Morton Named Brimmer Scholars

For their excellence in academics, service and leadership, Miles Gilbert of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Hailey Rai Morton of Broomfield, Colorado, have been named Brimmer Scholars for 2024-2025.

The Brimmer Scholarship was established in 2011 to honor the career and service of Judge Clarence A. Brimmer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. It continues his legacy by recognizing top law students throughout their legal education and careers. In addition to Gilbert and Morton, this year’s finalists were Emily Harmon and Jacy Rudloff of Cheyenne and Lainee Jones and Karlee Salas of Pueblo, Colorado. (See past recipients here.)

Morton and Gilbert exemplify how service to the larger legal community often begins during law school. Morton founded the Suit Up program, which ensures all UW law students have access to professional attire. Gilbert has shown himself to be a fierce advocate for clients and fellow students in the college’s Defender Aid Clinic.

Morton says during her first-year summer internship at the Wyoming Office of the Attorney General, she found she lacked the wardrobe she needed. A small loan from her grandmother helped her overcome this, but the experience made her realize others might be encountering similar challenges.

Morton and fellow law school student Mary Bennett began gathering suits, dresses, shoes, accessories and monetary donations. Suit Up—a free professional clothing rental service—officially opened at the start of spring semester last year. “It swiftly established itself as a vital resource,” says Morton. Word has spread, and the College of Engineering and College of Business have both sought guidance on implementing their own Suit Up programs.

Gilbert’s initial encounter with advocacy came during an internship at Colorado Village Collaborative, a Denver nonprofit dedicated to addressing homelessness. He says he saw first-hand  how those who could not prove their worth with status, wealth or power were at the mercy of society, regardless of how great their need.

“For the people I worked with,” he says, “that meant beleaguered public defenders and legal aid groups admirably working against well-resourced adversaries.”

At the College of Law Defender Aid Clinic, Gilbert works in post-conviction relief for incarcerated people. “I interview my clients and their family to assemble persuasive and human stories highlighting how my client is more than their offense. Throughout the process, I try to affirm the inherent worthiness of my clients, even if they feel overlooked by our legal system.”

Morton is working this summer at Davis Graham in Denver in the Trial Advocacy Department. She will be serving as an extern in the fall with Judge Gregory Phillips of the 10th Circuit Court and in spring 2025 with Chief Justice Catherine Fox of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Gilbert is a summer associate with the Spence Law Firm in Jackson. During 2024-25, he will be student director of the Defender Aid Clinic and student mentor in the College of Law Ambassador Program.

Both Morton and Gilbert have been named to the editorial board of the Wyoming Law Review as article editors.

Judge Brimmer practiced law in Rawlins before serving as Wyoming Attorney General from 1971 to 1974 and U.S. Attorney for the District of Wyoming in 1975. He was nominated in 1975 by President Gerald Ford to the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming. He took senior status in 2006 and continued serving until his death in 2014. 

The Brimmer Scholars are selected from finalists who interview before the Brimmer Scholarship Selection Committee, which includes representatives from the judiciary, the bar, the College of Law, former clerks of Judge Brimmer, and members of the Brimmer family.