Article

• Publication year: 2013
• Pages: 49
• Citation: Vol. 26 No. 6 Pg. 49

Article Vol. 26 No. 6 Pg. 49 Utah Bar Journal December, 2013

November, 2013

SYMPOSIUM AND GALA CAP OFF S.J. QUINNEY COLLEGE OF LAW'S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

Barry Scholl.

Introduction

In 1926, barely more than a decade after the first class of eight students graduated from the University of Utah School of Law (later renamed the College of Law), Dean William H. Leary reported in the U's yearbook, the Utonian: "The Law School of the University of Utah is a product of the best methods and principles embodied in the old law schools of the country, together with the stimulus and zeal of a pioneer institution of higher learning." In 2013, as the College anticipated a move into its innovative new home, it also celebrated its first century of accomplishments while looking forward to its next 100 years of innovative education, service and scholarship.

Two capstone events of the 2013 Centennial, both held on September 20, celebrated the College's first 100 years. The first was a lunchtime symposium, Improving the Law, Past, Present and Future: A Century and Counting of Engaged Scholarship. The second, held that evening at the Natural History Museum of Utah, was the College's Centennial Gala. That event brought together 450 alumni, friends, and supporters for a "once-in-a-century" celebration of the College's past and future.

Recognizing Faculty Accomplishments

Michael W. McConnell, a former Professor at the College of Law and U.S. Court of Appeals Judge, and currently the Richard and Frances Mallery Professor at Stanford Law School, provided the keynote address at the noon symposium. In a series of wide-ranging remarks that reflected his distinguished career as a practitioner and scholar, he discussed the myriad ways scholarship "influences the way we govern and guide our society" (in the words of Interim Dean Bob Adler).

Drawing on historical anecdotes and colorful hypotheticals, McConnell discussed the formative influences that shaped the College of Law, crediting past giants including Leary, Kimball, Fordham, Ritter, and Flynn for their efforts; offered thoughtful suggestions about how legal education might adapt to the changes wrought by the 2008 economic meltdown; and offered cautious prognostications about what might he ahead, quipping at one point that "I predict about a lot of things, but not about the future." He also emphasized the role flagship state schools like the U play in highlighting local and regional issues:

It's not...