Madison Gallegos, a rising 3L from Aurora, CO, reflects on how her clinical experience in the Criminal Defense Clinic has prepared her for her summer job at the public defender's office in Adams County. Her insights highlight the transformative impact of the hands-on legal training provided by the Clinical Program. With her sights set on a career in public defense, Madison's journey illustrates the significant benefits of practical legal experience.

Did your clinical program prepare you for your summer job? How so?

"Oh my gosh yes! I felt so much more prepared than I would have if I didn’t do the defense clinic," Gallegos states. She describes how the clinic provided practical skills that were essential for her summer role, including writing motions, conducting bond arguments, and preparing for trial. "Law school is very academic, but the clinic taught me how to handle real cases, which made a huge difference when I was given 20 cases during my internship."

How did the practical experience in the clinic differ from your classroom learning?

"Classroom learning is theoretical, focusing on why laws are made and their underlying principles," she notes. "The clinic was about the practical application of these laws. We learned how cases actually move through the system and how to apply legal knowledge to real-life situations."

Did the clinics influence your career aspirations or areas of legal interest?

Gallegos entered law school with a desire to pursue public defense, and the clinic solidified this path for her. "The practical experience with real clients confirmed that public defense is where I want to be. Seeing Ann England’s passion and expertise also reaffirmed my commitment to this field."

Were there any specific mentors or experiences within the clinical program that influenced your career path?"

"Ann England was a huge influence. She cares deeply about the clients and about us as students," Gallegos says. "She was always available to answer questions and encouraged us to develop our own styles. Every lawyer is going to have a different style and she is so good at letting us find ourselves and encourages us to see what we could become. She encourages us to become the best version of ourselves."

"I also learned a lot from Jamie Ray with the Korey Wise Innocence Project. She’s been amazing and her knowledge about prisons and prison reform has given me a wholistic perspective of the system as a whole."

How did the clinical program help you develop practical legal skills?

"The clinic was crucial for developing client communication, case management, and advocacy skills," Gallegos notes. "Practicing bond arguments and motion hearings in the supportive environment of the clinics helped me build confidence and refine my skills."

What advice would you give to current law students considering participating in clinical programs?

"Ask as many questions as you have," Gallegos advises. "Faculty are there to help you understand and grow. Don’t be afraid to seek guidance—they won’t make you feel stupid. For the sake of your clients, it’s better to ask questions and learn as much as you can."

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Widely recognized for its intellectual diversity and originality, the faculty at Colorado Law encompasses an array of prominent legal scholars who are widely cited, both in academia and throughout the national media landscape. We invite you to catch up on the latest faculty publications and media mentions with this weekly round up.

Scholarly Publications 

Jonathan Booth,  Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books (April 2024). 

Alexia Brunet Marks,  24 Nev. L. J. 1029 (2024). 

Margot Kaminski,  71 UCLA L. Rev. Discourse 176 (2024). 

Michael Pappas & Mark Nevitt,  58 Ga. L. Rev. 1603 (2024). 

William T. Pizzi [Professor Emeritus],  SSRN.com (April 22, 2024). 

Blake E. Reid & Brett M. Frischmann,  TechReg Chronicle 1 (May 2024). 

Blake E. Reid,  22 First Amend. L. Rev. 408 (2024). 

Scott Skinner-Thompson,  JOTWELL (June 5, 2024) (reviewing Ignacio Cofone, The Privacy Fallacy: Harm and Power in the Information Economy (2024)). 

Media Mentions 

[James Anaya], Jorge Valencia,  New York Times (June 11, 2024). 

[Deep Gulasekaram], Erin Davis,  Spectrum News One (June 7, 2024). 

[Vivek Krishnamurthy], Raisa Patel,  Toronto Star (June 5, 2024); Nick Taylor-Vaisey & Kyle Duggan,  Politico Canada (June 11, 2024). 

[Harry Surden], Business Insider (June 6, 2024). 

[Getches-Wilkinson Center Conference], coverage includes Shannon Mullane,  Colorado Sun (June 7, 2024); Marianne Goodland,  Colorado Politics (June 6, 2024); Tony Davis,  Arizona Daily Star (June 10, 2024)(Lexis login required); Alex Hager & Erin O'Toole,  KUNC (June 11, 2024); Shannon Mullane, The Daily Sun Up Podcast (June 11, 2024). 

[Silicon Flatirons Conference], Rick Weber, , Inside Washington (June 14, 2024)(Lexis login required). 

Faculty and Staff Activities 

Rabea Benhalim (presenter),  (Law & Society Association, June 6, 2024). 

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (June 1-14, 2024), blog posts  

T. Markus Funk (Colorado Law Adjunct),  (The Federal Judicial Center – Handbook) was recently listed on SSRN's Top Ten download list for: International, Transnational & Comparative Criminal Law eJournal. 

Jennifer Hendricks (presenter),  & (participant)  (Law & Society Association, June 6-8, 2024). 

Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss (presenter),  Law & Society Association (June 8, 2024). 

Maryam Jamshidi,  LPE Project Blog (June 4, 2024). 

Margot Kaminski (speaker),  (European University Institute, June 6-7, 2024). 

Vivek Krishnamurthy (testimony),  (Canadian Heritage Committee June 11, 2024) via the "watch" button under the "Meeting 124" tab.) 

Suzette Malveaux filed an amicus brief in support of Henrietta Lacks’s family and in opposition to Ultragenyx’s motion to dismiss, arguing that the statute of limitations should be tolled, and the court has denied defendant’s motion to dismiss in  , No. 1:23-cv-02171-DLB (D.Md., May 20, 2024), see  Baltimore Banner (May 21, 2024) for coverage. 

Suzette Malveaux (presenter),  (Law & Society Association, June 8, 2024). 

Suzette Malveaux has also been  for the Outstanding Non-Traditional Career Award 

Amanda Parsons (presenter}, (Law & Society Association, June 8, 2024); featured on  

Carolyn Ramsey (presenter),  (Law & Society Association, June 8, 2024). 

Andrew Schwartz (presenter),  Czech Association of Crowdfunding Platforms (Prague, May 27, 2024). 

[Scott Skinner-Thompson], Lawrence Solum, Legal Theory Blog (June 4, 2024)(Solum calls Privacy Without the State "very interesting and recommended".) 

Scott Skinner-Thompson(participant)  (reader),  (Law & Society Association, June 7-8, 2024). 

Sloan Speck,  TaxProf Blog (June 7, 2024). 

Sloan Speck (presenter},  (Law & Society Association, June 7, 2024); featured on  

Doug Spencer, (presenter),  (Law & Society Association, June 8, 2024). 

Andrew Teegarden [GWC], House Bill 1379 Signed into Law, GWC (May 31, 2024). 

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Widely recognized for its intellectual diversity and originality, the faculty at Colorado Law encompasses an array of prominent legal scholars who are widely cited, both in academia and throughout the national media landscape. We invite you to catch up on the latest faculty publications and media mentions with this weekly round up.

Scholarly Publications 

Scott Skinner-Thompson, , 104 B.U. L. Rev. 1043 (2024). 

Media Mentions 

[Gabrielle Daley, Schaden Experiential Learning Program], Joel Leighton, , Broadbrand Breakfast (May 30, 2024). 

Faculty and Staff Activities 

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (May 25-31, 2024), blog posts  

Frannie Monasterio [GWC], Reflections on River Rally 2024, GWC (May 30, 2024). 

Andrew Schwartz,  Columbia Law School Blue Sky Blog (May 30, 2024). 

Harry Surden (speaker),  (King's College London, upcoming, June 24, 2024). 

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Widely recognized for its intellectual diversity and originality, the faculty at Colorado Law encompasses an array of prominent legal scholars who are widely cited, both in academia and throughout the national media landscape. We invite you to catch up on the latest faculty publications and media mentions with this weekly round up.

Faculty Publications 

T. Markus Funk [Colorado Law Adjunct],  92 U. Cin. L. Rev. 1080 (2024). 

Media Mentions 

[Paul Campos & Doug Spencer], Natasha Lovato,  USA Today (May 16, 2024). 

[Helen Norton], Lillian Mongeau Hughes,  USA Today (May 15, 2024). 

Mark Squillace, Michael Blumm, & Sandi Zellmer,  Denver Post (May 13, 2024).

[Mark Squillace], Bobby Magill,  Bloomberg Law (May 13, 2024). 

Faculty Activities  

Paul Campos, Lawyers, Guns, & Money (May 10-17, 2024), blog posts  

Margot Kaminski (panelist), "Standards in the US Approach to AI",  European University Institute (May 15, 2024). 

Suzette Malveaux, May 15, 2024). 

[Amanda Parsons], Paul Caron, , TaxProf Blog (May 16, 2024). 

Harry Surden (speaker), Artificial Intelligence and the Law,  Committee on Science, Law, & Technology (May 13, 2024). 

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On March 12, the Byron R. White Center for American Constitutional Law and the American Constitution Society (ACS) at Colorado Law hosted a lunch talk on “Reclaiming the Constitutional Text from Originalism” with Georgetown Law Professor Victoria Nourse.  Professor Nourse is former Chief Counsel to then-Vice President Biden, U.S. Civil Rights Commissioner, and writer for CNN and Ms. Magazine. Professor Nourse shared her research on the Supreme Court’s continuing trend towards originalism, potential ways to respond to originalist approaches, and how the Justices have applied originalist principles in their decisions. 

The event brought an enthusiastic audience of students, staff, faculty, and community members. Byron White Center Director Professor Suzette Malveaux opened the event, thanking Professor Nourse for her important critique of originalism’s use of textualism, especially in the context of understanding executive power. ACS’s incoming president M.R. Dickey then introduced Professor Nourse, who presented her research and statistics on the increased presence of originalist references and principles in the Supreme Court’s opinions since 2019.  

Touching on subjects such as abortion, gun rights, the right to privacy, and presidential immunity, Professor Nourse remarked, “No area is free from originalism.” Contextualizing the Court’s recent decision in Trump v. Anderson, Professor Nourse noted: “Originalism is not consistent, the Courts will hone in on one word and take it out of context. While originalism is lauded as a theory to reduce judicial bias, in practice, judges adding their own meaning increases the risk of bias.” 

Following her presentation, the White Center’s Student Senior Fellow Michaela Calhoun engaged Professor Nourse in a fireside chat, asking her about executive power, combating originalism in practice, and similar topics.  

Reflecting on the event, 3L Austin McCreary remarked, “This has been one of my favorite White Center events. I truly enjoyed the statistical data that illustrated the impact and use of originalism in SCOTUS decisions.” 

This sentiment was shared by numerous attendees, as Mary Slosson, 3L, shared, “This was my favorite White Center event this year; I wanted the talk to continue because I was learning so much!”  

This month, the White Center is excited to host constitutional law events with the American Constitution Society and the Federalist Society—organizations of different political stripes. This initiative is a testament to the Center's commitment to fostering the expansion of knowledge and stimulating public discussion on matters of Constitutional law. As Professor Nourse stated to a student inquiring about what to do in the courts as originalism becomes more prevalent, “the doctrines are up for grabs.” 

The Byron White Center is eager to foster and nurture these discussions, encouraging a greater understanding of ideas surrounding originalist approaches.  

In fact, as 1L Victoria Matson stated, “Our Constitutional Law professor attended the talk, and later that afternoon we applied Professor Nourse’s principles of constructive responses to originalism. Particularly, we applied Professor Nourse’s discussion of contextualizing originalism to a case where the originalist evidence was inconclusive and required adjusting our approaches to the problem to a more contemporary meaning.” She continued, adding “it was great to see the concept applied in an engaging way!”  

Prof. Malveaux, echoed, “This is the kind of impact and engagement the Center is proud to offer to our students and the larger community.”  

The White Center thanks Professor Nourse for her groundbreaking research and engaging presentation on originalism.  

View a recording of the event

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The University of Colorado Law School is pleased to announce that Native American rights attorney and Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund, John Echohawk, will be the speaker for the Colorado Law Class of 2024 commencement recognition ceremony.  

The ceremony will take place on Friday, May 10 beginning at 10 a.m. 

“We are honored to welcome John Echohawk as the 2024 commencement speaker,” said Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss. “His profound influence on Native American rights has had an impact on Indigenous communities across the nation and globe, and we couldn’t be more pleased to have him speak before our graduating class.” 

John Echohawk, Pawnee, is the Executive Director of the Native American Rights Fund. He was the first graduate of the University of New Mexico’s special program to train Indian lawyers in 1970, and was a founding member of the American Indian Law Students Association while in law school. Echohawk has been with NARF since its inception in 1970, having served continuously as Executive Director since 1977. 

He has been recognized as one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America by the National Law Journal and has received numerous service awards and other recognition for his leadership in the Indian law field including the 2023 Thurgood Marshall Award from the American Bar Association. 

Additionally, Echohawk serves on the Boards of the Association on American Indian Affairs, the Indigenous Language Institute, Natural Resources Defense Council, Grand Canyon Trust, Native Ways Federation, Water Foundation, Keystone Policy Center, and the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.  

He holds a B.A. from the University of New Mexico, and served as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow from 1970-72.  

In addition to Echohawk’s remarks, Colorado Law will also present an Honorary Order of the Coif to a member of the legal community.   The English Order of the Coif, an ancient and honored institution of the Common Law, was an association of distinguished lawyers consisting appointed by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. For centuries, they had the exclusive right to be barristers in that Court. The American Order was formed in 1911 for the purpose of promoting scholarship among law students.            

The University of Colorado Law School, one of the 81 member law schools, became a member in 1942. Under the Order’s constitution, only the top 10% of the school’s graduating class is eligible for membership. Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss has selected David W. Stark ‘73 as the 2024 Honorary Order of the Coif Recipient.       

Stark – a retired partner at Faegre Baker Daniels --represents lawyers and law firms in professional responsibility and ethics matters.  Stark served as chair of the Colorado Supreme Court Attorney Regulation Committee and is currently chair of the Colorado Supreme Court Attorney Regulation Advisory Committee, which oversees the Colorado Attorney Regulation System. He is a member of the Colorado Supreme Court Standing Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct, the CBA/DBA Professionalism Coordinating Council, the Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice's Commission on Professional Development, and the Executive Committee of the Colorado Lawyers Committee. 

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The University of Colorado Law School is pleased to announce that Prof. Andrew Schwartz will deliver the Schwartz will speak on “Digital Shareholders” on Thursday, April 11 at 5:30 p.m. in Wittemyer Courtroom. A reception will follow at 6:30 p.m.  

Schwartz's lecture will draw from his new book Investment Crowdfunding, recently published by Oxford University Press. In this book, Schwartz details the recent reforms that have changed federal law to allow the general public to participate in the online investment of startup companies—a venture from which they were formerly excluded.  

Are these investments safe? Are they lucrative? Should you join the millions of Americans that have already taken the plunge, investing billions of dollars in thousands of companies from coast-to-coast? Come learn about the opportunities – and dangers—of this new market from the Colorado Law professor and Fulbright scholar who wrote the book on the subject. 

“The point of investment crowdfunding is to invite the general public—’the crowd’—to take their chance and invest in startup companies alongside wealthy angel investors and professional venture capitalists, so I'm particularly excited to present this lecture to the public. Everybody is welcome, everybody is invited, and I will offer lots of practical advice. Plus it will be funny.” 

One general CLE credit pending for Colorado attorneys.   

Named for Austin Scott, a member of the law school faculty for 20 years, this annual lecture features a member of the Colorado Law faculty selected by the dean who is engaged in a significant scholarly project. This year's Scott Lecture is co-sponsored by Silicon Flatirons. 

Please contact lawevents@colorado.edu or (303) 492-8048 for any questions you may have about the event.  

Learn more about the Austin W. Scott Jr. Lecture. 

More about Andrew Schwartz 

Andrew A. Schwartz joined the Colorado Law faculty in 2008 and was promoted to full professor in 2017. He teaches and publishes on corporate, securities and contract law, and has become an internationally recognized expert on investment crowdfunding. In 2017, Professor Schwartz served as a Fulbright Research Scholar and visiting professor at the University of Auckland Law School in New Zealand. Read Prof. Schwartz’s full bio   

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Lolita Buckner Inniss, Dean and Provost’s Professor of Law, is pleased to announce the appointment of another professor to Colorado Law’s full-time faculty: Laura Dolbow. 

“We are truly fortunate to welcome Prof. Dolbow to our law school,” said Dean Inniss. “The future is bright at Colorado Law, and we are filled with gratitude for the knowledge and inspiration she will bring to our students and colleagues on the faculty!” 

Meet Colorado Law’s newest professor:  

Laura Dolbow 

Laura Dolbow researches the intersection of patent law, health law, and administrative law. 

Her work has been published or is forthcoming in the Michigan Law Review, the Vanderbilt Law Review and the Administrative Law Review. Her law school note won a 2018 Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing and was cited by the Patent Office in a final rule regarding claim construction standards in post-grant review proceedings. Her article, Agency Adherence to Legislative History, won the 2017 Gellhorn-Sargentich Law Student Essay Competition and the Weldon B. White Prize. 

Dolbow currently is a Sharswood Fellow at Penn Carey Law. Before that, she practiced in the appellate and patent litigation groups at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, DC. She clerked for Judge Judith Rogers on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and for Judge Timothy Dyk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. She received her J.D. and B.A. from Vanderbilt University, where she won the Founder’s Medal for her law school class and served as Senior Articles Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. Before law school, she taught middle school math through Teach for America in Nashville, TN. 

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We are excited to share that Professor Suzette Malveaux was recently awarded the National Civil Justice Institute (NCJI) 2024 Scholarship Award for her article, "Is it Time for a New Civil Rights Act? Pursuing Procedural Justice in the Federal Civil Court System," 63 B.C. L. Rev. 2403 (2022) ().  The Officers and Trustees unanimously selected "Is It Time for a New Civil Rights Act?" as the best law review article among the submissions from legal academics nationwide.  Malveaux received a monetary stipend, framed certificate and paid trip to Austin, Texas where she was honored for this prestigious recognition.  We sat down with her to learn more about her groundbreaking work.

Can you talk about the article that is being recognized by the NCJI and what it was about? 

The fundamental premise of my article is that over the last half century, the U.S. Supreme Court has incrementally and quietly stripped away the procedural rights of everyday Americans, making it increasingly harder for vulnerable populations to get their “day in court” and vindicate their substantive rights.  This is an important civil rights issue that often flies under the radar.  While we usually focus on substantive rights, they are futile without robust procedural rights.  I argue that Congress should address this regressive trend and enact a new civil rights act, to counter this dangerous and ubiquitous trend.

My article explores the conditions and catalysts that led to other restorative civil rights laws, specifically the sweeping Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the targeted Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act.  The sheer amount and gravity of regressive caselaw, acute dissension within the Court, and groundswell of political pressure has led to a tipping point.  My article breaks new ground by arguing for a new procedural civil rights act and setting forth what exactly that would look like.

How did this article build on some of your previous work? 

This article is, in many ways, a culmination of years of work.  I proposed this new procedural civil rights act after extensive work at the intersection of civil procedure and civil rights.  My scholarship includes books, articles, testimony, appellate briefs, op-eds, and media commentary that explore this intersection.  I have taught in the areas of Civil Procedure, Complex Litigation, Employment Discrimination, Civil Rights and Constitutional Law for the last two decades.  As chair of the AALS (American Association of Law Schools) Civil Procedure section last year and director of the Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law the last six years, I’ve benefited from programming that explore these subjects.  Moreover, as a class action specialist and civil rights attorney for eight years before entering the legal academy, I have practice experience that informs and grounds my work.

This was a highly competitive selection process from a heavy hitting legal organization.  What does receiving this award mean to you as a scholar? 

I’m honored to be part of this extraordinary group of scholars, judges, and lawyers who care deeply about the civil justice system and model excellence in so many different ways.  We need to support and celebrate each other, especially in the face of such profound challenges to democracy and rule of law today.

I’m grateful to the NCJI for believing in my work and helping get the word out.  It’s gratifying to know that my ideas are getting traction and having an impact.

On a lighter note, I also had a lot of fun!  As academics, we don’t often get a lot of kudos.  I usually have no idea what to do with the box of article reprints I have in my office.  This year, I ordered extras and literally autographed them and handed them out like hot cakes to the NCJI Trustees and Board members at the awards ceremony!  That was a first!  (Laughing)

Can you tell me a little bit about the process of writing this article? 

On the one hand, the research and writing process can be extremely gratifying.  You get to think, learn, create and push yourself intellectually.  And if you’re lucky, you get to have real-world impact.  On the other hand, the process can be challenging, slow and solitary.  And you can be unsure if you’re making a difference.  Writing requires you to be patient, vulnerable, uncomfortable and at times, even courageous.

While writing requires discipline and independence, it ironically takes a village.  I am indebted to many villagers for this article’s success!  I have been fortunate to be supported by the administration.  Former CU Law Dean Jim Anaya selected me to deliver the 46th annual distinguished Scott Lecture in December of 2020, where I vetted my research with the Colorado legal community and benefitted from the feedback of my colleagues.  More recently, I’ve received support from the current CU Law Dean Lolita Buckner Inniss, who awarded me the Gilbert Goldstein Faculty Research Leave, giving me time to focus on my research without teaching responsibilities.  The administration also supported my article, selecting it for an Honorable Mention for the 2023 Milstein Award—which provides a certificate and monetary stiped to a member of the faculty for excellent legal scholarship.  

My peers have also been very helpful in my writing and editing process.  I workshopped my paper at a number of conferences: the Duke Law School Race and Reform in 21st America Conference, the Fourth Annual National People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference, the Public Citizen and American Constitution Society Civil Justice System Summit, and the Lutie Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Writing Workshops.  Each forum made my article stronger!

I also belong to a special group of female scholars who were brought together remotely during COVID for a writing bootcamp four years ago.  The four of us followed a structured program on Zoom for one semester and decided to stick together for weekly check-ins once the program officially ended.  We continued informally and through our myriad of personal and professional challenges, we bonded and encouraged each other.  We even organized a three-day retreat where we met each other in person for the first time!  The day before I received the NCJI award, I received the heartbreaking news that one of our dear members passed away.  So it was through tears that I accepted the NCJI award, dedicating it to her and our crew and thanking them for getting me across the finish line. 

And finally, my students have been invaluable to the article’s success.  My research assistants and anyone whose taken Civ Pro from me has contributed to my growth and helped vet my ideas.  They ask tough questions and keep me honest!

How do you hope to build on this work going forward? 

I’m looking forward to building on Is It Time for a New Civil Rights Act?  One of the encouraging developments that took place while writing this article was Congress’s passage of the bi-partisan Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Claims Act of 2021.  Despite common gridlock and hyper-partisanship, Congress firmly passed this Act to protect victims of sexual assault and sexual harassment from being shut out of court and forced into arbitration—a forum that often provides less procedural protections.

My next article argues that, while groundbreaking, this legislation is not enough.  Victims of racial harassment and discrimination should also be allowed the freedom to choose where and how to challenge such wrongdoing and to have their “day in court.”  My work challenges the difference in treatment between race and sex when it comes to procedural protection in the civil court system.  More generally, I will critique the legitimacy of law’s tethering access to justice to a variety of different axes and identities.  My larger project will argue that procedurally protecting only the privileged, while leaving the vulnerable exposed, risks creating procedural caste.

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Notably, Dean cummings lauded Meek Mill’s “Trauma” as illustrative of the many adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) that people of color face at disproportionate rates, such as verbal and physical abuse, single-parent households, parent incarceration, family drug addiction, and other factors that statistically contribute to shorter lifespans. Hip-hop has become a means to educate and bring to light to the masses the lived experiences of systemic injustice faced by people of color in America. Ursula Davy, the Black Law Students Association President, shared,

“Getting to hear about the law within the framework of something as culturally significant as hip-hop was really interesting.” 

Watch a full recording of the event here: 

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