Giving and receiving awards at the recent UW College of Law honors banquet were,
from left: William Hill, former chief justice of the Wyoming Supreme Court; attorney
Mark Macy, accepting on behalf of his father, distinguished alumnus Richard Macy;
Kate Fox, current chief justice of the state Supreme Court; Order of the Coif honoree
Mike Davis, former justice of the state Supreme Court; College of Law Dean Julie Hill;
Order of the Coif honoree Frank Mendicino, managing director emeritus for Access Venture
Partners; former state Supreme Court Justice Marilyn Kite; distinguished alumna Lynne
Boomgaarden, justice of the state Supreme Court; and Michael Golden, former justice
of the state Supreme Court. (UW College of Law Photo)
A current Wyoming Supreme Court justice and a deceased former member of the state’s
high court have been selected as 2025 distinguished alumni by the University of Wyoming
College of Law Alumni Association.
Justice Lynne Boomgaarden, a 1991 UW law graduate, was honored at the college’s recent
honors banquet, along with former Justice Richard Macy, who died in 2022. Distinguished
alumni are selected by the college dean’s advisory board, which functions as the College
of Law Alumni Association.
Boomgaarden was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Gov. Matt Mead in 2018. She
will become the court’s chief justice next month.
Before joining the court, Boomgaarden was in private practice; served as director
of Wyoming’s Office of State Lands and Investments; and was an assistant professor
in UW’s College of Law. The Wyoming native also earned a bachelor’s degree from UW
in 1983.
Macy, a 1958 graduate of the College of Law, was appointed by Gov. Ed Herschler to
the state’s high court in 1985 and served until retirement in 2000, including two
years as chief justice. He practiced law in Sundance for 27 years and served as the
Crook County attorney for 15 years before his appointment to the Wyoming Supreme Court.
The Korean War veteran graduated from Greybull High School and also earned a bachelor’s
degree from UW in 1955.
Three other attorneys also were honored at the college’s recent award ceremony.
Former Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Mike Davis and former Wyoming Attorney General
Frank Mendicino were inducted into the Order of the Coif, a national honorary society
that recognizes excellence in legal studies. Membership is limited to those who graduated
in the top 10 percent of their classes and to honorary members selected by schools
with Order of the Coif chapters. UW’s law faculty annually selects honorary members
who graduated before the creation of UW’s chapter in 1985.
Davis served on the Wyoming Supreme Court from 2012-2022, including three years as
chief justice. The U.S. Army veteran graduated from UW’s College of Law in 1980. He
practiced as a civil trial lawyer for 28 years before being appointed as a Laramie
County district judge in 2008.
Mendicino earned his law degree from UW in 1970 and also served in the U.S. Army.
Currently the managing director emeritus of Access Venture Partners, an early-stage
venture capital fund, Mendicino has over 40 years of experience investing on behalf
of limited partners. Before entering the venture capital business, he served as state
attorney general and as a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives. He recently
retired from the UW Foundation Board of Directors.
Finally, the Thurman Arnold Distinguished Supporter of the Law School Award was given
to the late Joel Selig, a 28-year member of the UW College of Law faculty. The award
is given annually to non-UW alumni who have gone beyond the norm to promote and develop
UW’s law school. Selig died in 2022 after retiring from UW in 2011. Before coming
to UW, the Harvard Law School graduate worked as a civil rights attorney, including
in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
