News

This month the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion had the unique opportunity to host a group of ten international visitors from Austria, Denmark, India, Lebanon, the Maldives, Poland, the Republic of North Macedonia, Ukraine, and Venezuela. These visitors were invited to the United States under the auspices of the Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. While in the United States the program participants explored the topics of the Rule of Law and the U.S. Judicial System. Their program was arranged by CRDF Global. Nicholas Merrill and his colleagues at the Utah Center for Citizen Diplomacy generously invited UCLI to host the group for an afternoon. 

On February 21, 2023, Mary Anne Davies and her colleagues at the Disability Law Center welcomed us into their beautiful facility and provided a tour of the building and a brief presentation about the Disability Law Center’s mission. We then met back in the boardroom and Kaitlyn Pieper, UCLI Executive Director, provided a demographic overview of Utah and Utah’s legal profession. Following this, we heard from a panel of experts including Jon Wayas, Associate Director at the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion; Michelle Oldroyd, Director of Professional Education & Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at the Utah State Bar; and Jon Puente, Director of the Office of Fairness, Equity, and Accountability at the Administrative Office of the Courts. The panel was interactive and responded to many audience questions about affirmative action, gender issues in the legal profession, and racial dynamics in the United States. 

UCLI was honored to host such a distinguished group of legal professionals who are doing such incredible work to move justice forward in their home countries (names and home countries of participants listed below). Thank you to Nicholas Merrill and his colleagues at the Utah Center for Citizen Diplomacy for making this connection and to Mary Anne Davies and the Disability Law Center for hosting us at their lovely venue.

Denmark, Ms. Sine Cully

India, Mr. Jose Abraham

Lebanon, Ms. Rania Yahfouf

Maldives, Judge Hamid Rasheed

Poland, Ms. Malgorzata Leokadia Szuleka

Republic of N. Macedonia, Ms. Njomza Selimi Osmani

Ukraine, Ms. Halyna Chyzhyk

Ukraine, Ms. Iryna Levandovska

Venezuela, Mr. Alexis Algarra

International Visitor Liaisons: Mr. Gregory Burnside and Ms. Maren Mentor

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The Utah Center for Legal Inclusion strives to make a positive impact within the legal field in Utah. A program that UCLI is proud to spearhead is the Utah Law Student Mentorship program. The program fosters working relationships between two practicing attorneys and a law student enrolled in a Utah law school. Currently, 30 students from both the University of Utah and Brigham Young University’s law school participate in the program, and 76 volunteer attorney mentors. The program’s main mission is to empower underrepresented students by utilizing attorneys from similar backgrounds to guide them through the journey of going from law student to practicing attorney. To date, we have had over 100 attorneys participate in the program, and through the dedication from the staff at UCLI, mentors, and students’ work we have been able to make long-lasting changes for law students in Utah. 

On Friday, February 10th, 2023, UCLI hosted an in-person social for the Utah Law Student Mentorship program. The social was an etiquette dinner, open for free to all attorneys and mentees who participate in the program. The dinner was hosted at the Alta Club in Salt Lake City around 6 pm. Over 50 people attended and participated in the evening. We were fortunate to have Justice Paige Petersen to welcome the dinner as a guest speaker, and BYU Law Associate Dean Shannon Grandy Larsen as the main presenter. Dean Larsen created a presentation to educate and remind attendees of the proper etiquette rules to follow in professional legal situations. The presentation was accompanied by a three-course meal and an insightful PowerPoint show. Mentors and mentees had the opportunity to introduce themselves and practice etiquette at the event. Justice Petersen and Dean Larsen stressed the importance of having sharp social skills as an attorney, and how often those social skills translate into being able to foster great working relationships with clients. Throughout her presentation, Dean Larsen intertwined teaching lessons about etiquette in the workplace and at the dinner table. The skills reflected not only professionalism but a keen understanding of how social skills could lead to being a better lawyer for clients. The presentation was accompanied by real-life practice at the dinner table. Mentees were able to apply these lessons with the attorneys who participate in our mentoring program. Furthermore, this dinner allowed mentees to expand their network. Overall, the dinner was a huge success and we would like to thank both Justice Paige Petersen and Dean Shannon Grandy Larsen for donating their time. We are also very grateful to PLEDGE co-chair Sadé Turner, and thank her for her vision, leadership, and time in executing this event and in directing PLEDGE programming.

Lastly, the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion would like to thank the law firms that have been generous enough to sponsor this event and support UCLI’s mission. Their support gives UCLI the opportunity to positively impact the future of Utah and ultimately create a better system for Utahns statewide. From everyone at UCLI, we would like to give a special thank you to the sponsoring legal organizations below: 

Family Law Section

Dispute Resolution Section

Litigation Section

Michael Best

Kirton McConkie

Federal Bar Association 

Attendees of the ULSM Program Etiquette Dinner

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The Utah Center for Legal Inclusion is proud to announce the legal employers that participated in and completed all requirements for the 2022 Certification Program. Through the Certification Program, legal employers statewide participate in a program that gives them the tools necessary to tackle the existing and future hiring, retention, advancement, and inclusion challenges for women and other diverse attorneys. The program provides a five-requirement certification process for legal employers that benefits their current workforce and future applicants in developing effective strategies, methods, standards, practices, and goals that attract and retain diverse practitioners. Additionally, the program provides trainings and workshops on relevant topics for the leadership and employees of law firms’ for CLE credit. In all, we offer this program in order to commit to the mission of long-term change in diversity in the Utah legal field. 

Last year, 59 legal employers participated in the program, including four new employers who joined: Buchalter, Intermountain Healthcare, Kunzler Bean & Adamson, and Mountain Mediation Center. Out of the 59 participating legal employers, 25 completed the five requirements for certification. Many other employers completed some but not all of the goals. As an organization, we are grateful for the dedication and commitment expressed by all the legal employers who participate in the program.

The Utah Center for Legal Inclusion would like to congratulate the following firms for completing the 2022 UCLI Certification Program:

Anderson & Karrenberg

Ballard Spahr

Christensen & Jensen

Cohne Kinghorn

Disability Law Center

Dorsey & Whitney 

Dentons Durham Jones & Pinegar

Fabian VanCott

Greenberg Traurig

Holland & Hart

Jones Waldo

Juab County Attorney’s Office

Keller Jolley Preece

Kirton McConkie

Lowenstein Sandler

Manning Curtis Bradshaw & Bednar

Maschoff Brennan

Parr Brown Gee & Loveless

Parsons Behle & Latimer

SF Firm

Snell & Wilmer

Snow Christensen & Martineau

Strong & Hanni

Utah Legal Services

Workman Nydegger 

“Train the Trainers” CLE, June 2022

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In 2022, Intermountain Health, Kirton McConkie, and the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion (UCLI) collaborated to create the Utah Legal Inclusion Fellowship. In its pilot year, the Fellowship provided a first-year law student with a scholarship and the unique opportunity for a paid summer position at Kirton McConkie and exposure to Intermountain Health’s in-house legal department. In 2022, the fellowship was granted to one law student, Keigo (KC) Decker at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. 

For 2023, the Fellowship has been expanded to two students: one at Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School and one at the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. The fellowship plays a significant role in UCLI’s efforts to empower students from historically underrepresented groups to thrive in the legal profession by developing professional skills, exploring career options, and receiving financial support.

This year, after a rigorous application process, the following two Legal Inclusion Fellows have been selected:

Gabrielle (“Gaby”) Anguiano, a first-year law student at the University of Utah’s S. J. Quinney College of Law

Kricia Tauiliili, a first-year law student at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School

Please read more about Gaby and Kricia below.  

Gaby Anguiano

Gabrielle (“Gaby”) Anguiano is a native of the Intermountain West and a proud member of a boisterous Mexican-American family from rural Eastern Washington. At the age of eighteen, she earned her associate degree and high school diploma concurrently while also working part-time. Gaby was selected to be a member of the inaugural Diversity, Collaboration, and Inclusion Research Academy at her undergraduate college, Brigham Young University, where she majored in sociology. Currently, Gaby is a 1L at the University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law. She aspires to be at the intersection of law and social justice, and is eager to continue building long-lasting ties to the state of Utah and its people.

Gaby Anguiano

Kricia Tauiliili

Kricia was raised in Samoa, where she loved spending time with her family at the beach and listening to her dad and uncle jam out together on the guitar and ukulele. She is a 1L at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University and currently serves as the 1L representative for the Minority Law Student Association and the Council for Diversity, Equity, and Belonging. In June 2022, Kricia earned a bachelor’s degree in English, with a focus in professional writing, from Brigham Young University. She decided to pursue law so that she could be a voice for minority communities, especially women and people of color. Her biggest goal is to serve Pacific Islanders both in the United States and overseas. When she isn’t studying, she enjoys listening to music (mostly Taylor Swift and musicals), painting, and watching movies.

Kricia Tauiliili

We would like to offer a special thank you to the 2023 Legal Inclusion Fellowship sponsors: 

On March 24, 2022, the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion held its First Annual Fundraising Luncheon at the Salt Lake Marriott Downtown at City Creek. At this event, UCLI announced a new fellowship in Justice Durham’s honor: the Justice Christine M. Durham Fellowship. This fellowship is intended to facilitate the legal education of an individual who shows a demonstrated commitment to and great potential for pushing forward the cause of justice, equity, and inclusiveness in Utah’s legal profession. Someone who, like Justice Durham, will make the legal field a better place for all who follow.

Through the Durham Fellowship, UCLI aims to support two law students (one from the S. J. Quinney College of Law and one from J. Reuben Clark Law School) with an annual stipend that can be put towards tuition, housing, food, or any other living expenses while they pursue their legal degree. Funding of up to $1,500 will be awarded to support each law student fellow, who will partner with UCLI Leadership Council and staff on law student programming.

This fall, after a competitive application process, two Durham Fellows were selected. We are pleased to announce the Durham Fellows for the 2022-2023 academic year:

Amy Nichole Briceno, a 2L at the University of Utah’s S. J. Quinney College of Law

Breeze Kauakokoipohaiapuninamoku Waipa Parker, a 2L at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School

Please read more about Nichole and Breeze in these news articles. 

We would like to offer a special thank you to our 2022-2023 Durham Fellowship Sponsors: 

Utah State Bar Construction Law Section

Justice Christine M. Durham Family

Justice Paige Petersen

Justice John Pearce

Larissa Lee

Casey Jones

Susan Eisenman

Amy Nichole Briceno

Breeze K. W. Parker

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Amy Nichole Briceno is a 2L at S. J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, and the 2022-2023 Durham Fellow for the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion. Nichole’s life reality as an immigrant, though challenging, has instilled in her a desire to lead, serve, and work in tandem with her colleagues to improve the unstable environment for minorities in Utah.

Nichole’s personal and professional experiences have given her first-hand knowledge about the challenges racial and ethnic communities face when searching for legal representation. She has interned with the District Attorney’s Office, where she associated with Spanish-speaking families who were experiencing abuse. Throughout this internship, she saw the need for more Spanish-speaking prosecutors as she translated for attorneys. She worked with undocumented families who feared deportation because they could not afford legal representation. At Utah Homicide Survivors, she worked with Hispanic families of homicide victims. She saw how difficult it was for Hispanic individuals to find affordable and quality legal advice in this state. She translated legal documents to ensure Spanish-speaking families understood the legal procedures of their case.

During her undergraduate experience, Nichole was the first Latinx President of the Student Alumni Board of the University of Utah. As President, she made it a priority to diversify a board that historically only consisted of white students. Under her leadership, they diversified their alumni engagement and expanded student outreach. After graduating, she spent the year mentoring first-generation college students from immigrant backgrounds. Feeling passionate about giving back to the school that gave her so much, Nichole founded the Briceno Leadership Scholarship, which is awarded yearly to an undocumented/DACA-recipient student who epitomizes leadership and service.

Earlier in 2022, Nichole was elected Treasurer of the Minority Law Caucus (MLC) at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. As Treasurer, one of her goals for this year has been to establish an MLC Scholarship specifically for members that have devoted their time to MLC and show commitment to helping minority communities in their law career. Additionally, she has undergone the Pro Bono Initiative training to assist in Immigration Clinics. 

In the future, Nichole intends to support marginalized communities throughout her career as an attorney. As she says, “quality representation begins with a diversified legal community. To diversify our attorneys, we must first diversify law schools in Utah.” Nichole is focused on providing mentorship to increase minority student applications and retention in schools. She will continue to be devoted to supporting marginalized communities after graduation. 

UCLI looks forward to working with Nichole this academic year as the 2022-2023 Durham Fellow and thanks the many donors who made this opportunity possible. 

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Breeze Kauakokoipohaiapuninamoku Waipa Parker is a 2L at J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University, and the 2022-2023 Durham Fellow for the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion. Breeze is a Native Hawaiian woman whose life experiences have been a beacon to her ‘lāhui,’ or Hawaiian community, in her legal career.

Breeze was born and raised in Kalihi, Oahu. Although Oahu may sound like a paradisiacal dreamscape, Breeze shares that “money was always scarce, and I remember cleaning houses with my mom after school every day so that I could help them keep up with our family’s bills. As I looked around me growing up, I noticed that it was minorities like me who struggled the most. It was families like mine who had to deal with a combination of poverty, underfunded school systems, and racial bias. I wanted better for myself. I wanted better for my lāhui.” Breeze realized that the way she could make it better was by pursuing higher education. 

Breeze graduated from Brigham Young University as a co-valedictorian of the anthropology department in April 2021. During law school, Breeze has been volunteering at the Timpanogos Legal Center on a weekly basis. She has assisted attorneys in immigration, divorce, and custody consultations with members of the Provo community. This past summer she also had the opportunity to serve the Hawaiian community through a six-week in-person legal internship at the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation in Honolulu, Hawaii. The Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation deals exclusively with Native land disputes, ancestral trusts, and water rights. During the internship, Breeze worked closely with attorneys who specialized in each of these areas to meet with clients, do legal research, and prepare cases for trial. After this internship, Breeze returned to Utah to serve as a judicial intern for Justice Diana Hagen in the Utah Supreme Court – learning more about how the judicial system works in Utah. 

This past fall semester, Breeze has continued to serve Utah’s community this semester by working with Dean Michalyn Steele as one of her research assistants in her Federal Indian Law casework. Breeze shares that “working on indigent research for indigenous communities has been rewarding because it has deepened my purpose to support other minority communities. I look at my law degree as not something for myself but as a tool for the betterment of every community around me. I carry my lāhui and ancestors with me, and with each boundary I trespass, each stereotype I break, and each limit I exceed, I make a statement to the world. I show them that we young Polynesians are capable; we are more than our demographic and socio-economic status; we are more than our gender and the color of our skin; we matter and like those who feel our pain, our voices matter.” As a lawyer, Breeze hopes to close racial gaps in each community she serves in, and to promote fairness and a just system for all. 

UCLI looks forward to working with Breeze this academic year as the 2022-2023 Durham Fellow and thanks the many donors who made this opportunity possible. 

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The West High School 2022-2023 mock trial team consists of 13 dedicated and diverse high school students who have formed a community in and outside of Utah. Apart from mock trial, their interests range from competitive fencing to researching in labs at universities. They are creatives, small business owners, chess players, crocheters, and community participants. 

In order to compete nationwide, the team spends countless hours developing and executing a fundraising strategy so all who want to participate in national competitions are not limited by financial burden. The Utah Center for Legal Inclusion has had the privilege to help contribute to their fundraising efforts and help them achieve their goals as a team. Beyond competing and interacting with other driven and unique high schoolers across the country, mock trial has provided these students with invaluable opportunities. 

A few of the students expressed that before mock trial, law school didn’t seem like an option for them. It was an intimidating and foreign field. Sharayu, a student who has been in mock trial since her freshman year and a co-captain of the team said, “I have a place in the legal community, if I want it,” when describing the impact mock trial has had on her life. The students all expressed gratitude to the legal community, especially here in Utah. Mock trial provides them with a chance to get to know and compete in front of law students, attorneys, and judges. 

Students in mock trial get to develop refined public speaking, argumentation, and critical thinking skills. They also are able to be part of a team that works together to understand and solve complex problems. The diverse make-up of West High School’s team allows for important perspectives and ideas to be shared and discussed. When the team competes, they get to apply these skills and perspectives. Every year they compete in the prestigious national Empire competition, they improve and the results speak for themselves. When they return home, they frequently place in state competitions. Because of generous donations, they were able to compete last year in the Empire competition in Chicago. Taking what they learned, they competed this year in the same competition but in Baltimore, Maryland. They placed second in the whole competition.

The students expressed deep appreciation for all who contribute to their fundraising efforts. Without the generosity of those who donate, this would not be possible. The students would like to say, “thank you so much” to the generous legal community in Utah. Because of every contribution, their team is able to compete at the highest level and learn the dynamic of a legal field that is eager to welcome and mentor them. 

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Throughout 2022, the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion’s staff members continued offering DEI training to law firms, organizations, and governing bodies throughout Utah. UCLI offers these training sessions to any interested legal employers in Utah. These sessions can also help fulfill requirements for participants in UCLI’s Certification Program. Popular topics for these training sessions include implicit bias, review of diversity data for Utah and Utah’s legal community, and best practices for building inclusion in the workplace.

These sessions are often held as a lunch time meeting with 1 credit of Ethics CLE being awarded to attendees. Here are the firms and organizations UCLI has been able to reach in this last year:

• Utah State Bar – Character and Fitness Committee
• Strong & Hanni
• Snell & Wilmer
• TraskBritt
• Kirton & McConkie
• Mountain Mediation
• Greenberg Traurig
• Dentons
• Utah Association of Legal Administrators
• Department of the Interior – Salt Lake City Office

We are grateful to each firm or organization who has graciously hosted us and appreciate your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. If your firm or organization is interested in having UCLI present please contact us at .

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