Profiles of Success: Brooke Wunnicke

• Publication year: 2003
• Pages: 51
• Citation: Vol. 32 No. 9 Pg. 51

32 Colo.Law. 51 Colorado Lawyer 2003.

2003, September, Pg. 51. Profiles of Success: Brooke Wunnicke

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51

Vol. 32, No. 9, Pg. 51

The Colorado Lawyer
September 2003
Vol. 32, No. 9 [Page 51]

Features

Profiles of Success: Brooke Wunnicke
by Larry Bohning

Brooke Wunnicke

Brooke Wunnicke is a practicing lawyer - and has been for fifty-six years! Brooke's career is like a multi-faceted jewel: an excellent trial lawyer, appellate lawyer transaction lawyer, law professor, mentor, scholar, author lecturer, and passionate advocate of professional ethics Brooke has inspired many Colorado lawyers.

With this profile, I hope to give the reader some idea of why she was chosen to be recognized in The Colorado Lawyer.

Early Years

On May 9, 1918, Brooke was born in Dallas, Texas. Her mother, whose surname was Brooke, was from Georgia. Her father, whose surname was von Falkenstein, was born in Germany. One of three siblings, Brooke and her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 3 years old. Brooke grew up in an artistic atmosphere. Her family loved books and classical music, and so does Brooke. Brooke entered the University of Southern California on full scholarship and, because it was the Depression era, also worked to make ends meet. She then transferred to and graduated from Stanford, where she met and married James Wunnicke. (She was married to James from 1940 until his death in 1977.) He was a native of Cheyenne, Wyoming. They had one child, Diane, whom Brooke considers her best friend.

Law Practice in Cheyenne, Wyoming: 1946 - 1969

Brooke had graduated in 1939 from Stanford University, Phi Beta Kappa and moved to Cheyenne with her husband. While he was in the armed services, she applied to attend Harvard Law School. Her credentials brought a favorable result until the school requested a photograph. Brooke then received a curt, one-sentence letter, rejecting her application because she was a woman.

She was admitted to the University of Colorado School of Law ("CU Law") and graduated at the top of her class in 1945, Order of the Coif. On May 7, 1946, Brooke was admitted to the practice of law in Wyoming. Promptly after her admission to the Bar, Brooke opened her law office as a solo practitioner in Cheyenne. No one in Cheyenne in 1946 wanted to practice law with a woman.

Although Wyoming was the first territory (1869) and state (1890) to grant women the right to vote, it was one of the last to allow women on juries. For the early years of her trial practice, she tried cases to a jury of twelve men and, not infrequently, she would be the only woman in a courtroom during a trial. Brooke also became well known as an appellate lawyer, receiving referrals from lawyers throughout the state. Like all lawyers then in Cheyenne, she engaged in the general practice of law, including preparing wills, handling probate, and being what is now termed a "transaction lawyer," representing small businesses, ranches, and national corporations, including insurance companies.

The trial and appellate judges before whom Brooke appeared and the lawyers with whom she practiced in Wyoming are no longer living. Therefore, the printed page must provide the description of her career as a Wyoming lawyer. In the Foreword to Brooke's first book (Ethics Compliance for Business Lawyers), the late Ewing T. Kerr, then Senior Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Wyoming, wrote the following:

I met Brooke Wunnicke many years ago when she arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Within a short time she was widely recognized for her keen intellect as well as her pleasant personality. Her knowledge of the law, coupled with her ability to try lawsuits, placed her in an enviable position with her associates. . . . She is highly respected by the judiciary and her peers.

Denver, Colorado: 1969 - 1986

When Brooke's husband, James Wunnicke, retired from business, the family moved to Denver. In 1969, Brooke was admitted to the Colorado Bar on motion. She was deemed ineligible to take the Colorado Bar when she graduated from CU Law in 1945. The reason was that her husband, then serving in World War II, had entered the service from his domicile in Wyoming - and the domicile of the wife was that of her husband. Her recommendations for admission to the Colorado Bar in 1969 included a...