DU Law Stars

DU Law Stars unites alumni and the Denver legal community in celebration of those who have made remarkable and lasting contributions to the field of law and legal education. While the event format has changed over the years, the intention is the same—to honor our distinguished colleagues and celebrate the vibrant community that is Denver Law.

Congratulations to our 2024 Law Stars!

The 30th Law Stars Ceremony was held on Friday, November 15, 2024, at the Denver Art Museum's Sturm Grand Pavilion. Read more about this year's Law Stars and watch video tributes to their accomplishments below. Click here to view photos from the event.

• Hon. Russell Carparelli, JD’74, William L. Keating Outstanding Alumni Award
  

  After graduating from the University of Denver College of Law in 1974, Russell Carparelli served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force as a Judge Advocate. He retired from the Air Force in 1990 and returned to Colorado to represent business clients in civil litigation and trials. In 2002, Governor Bill Owens appointed Carparelli to the Colorado Court of Appeals. In 2014, Carparelli retired from the Court of Appeals to become the Executive Director of the American Judicature Society at Vanderbilt University Law School. He again returned to Colorado in 2015, and now serves as a mediator and arbitrator through AB Conflict Resolution Services. Carparelli has been an active member of the law school community. He has taught and presented on negotiation, appellate advocacy, professionalism, and civility, judged moot court and negotiation competitions, and was an active member of the Sturm College of Law Alumni Council. In recognition of his many contributions to the legal profession, he has also received awards from the Denver Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the National Trial Advocacy College.

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• Dani Newsum, JD’83, Robert H. McWilliams, Jr. Alumni Professionalism Award
  

  Dani Newsum is the director of strategic partnerships at Cobalt, Colorado’s leading reproductive rights and access advocacy organization. Prior to Cobalt, she managed the ACLU of Colorado’s education and outreach efforts; education and communications at the Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Community Center of Colorado; and communications and outreach at the Chinook Fund. Newsum has also served as communications director for the Colorado Democratic Party and the Colorado General Assembly’s Democratic Senate Caucus. Earlier in her career, Newsum served as an assistant attorney general for civil rights and labor in the Colorado Attorney General’s office, and later directed the City of Boulder’s Human Rights and Mediation office. As director of Boulder’s Human Rights office, Newsum provided expert legal testimony in opposition to the anti-lesbian, gay, and bisexual amendment to the Colorado Constitution (known as “Amendment 2.” In 1996, the U.S. Supreme Court declared Amendment 2 unconstitutional. Romer v. Evans, 1996). Newsum also has a Master of Arts in U.S. History, and taught U.S. and African American history at the University of Colorado Denver, Metropolitan State University Denver, and the Community College of Aurora.

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• Rep. Jason Crow, JD’09, Thompson G. Marsh Award
  

  Congressman Jason Crow represents Colorado’s Sixth Congressional District, following his service in the National Guard and active duty in the Army’s storied 82nd Airborne Division and in the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, in which he deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan. Even when he rose to the rank of Captain, Crow always remembered what it was like to march in the boots of an Army private. For Crow, this is the essence of servant leadership — always putting the needs of those you lead ahead of your own — and it continues to drive his approach today. After returning home, Crow earned his law degree from the University of Denver, and he was named Denver’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year for his work helping service members transition from military to civilian life. Currently, Crow serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and House Foreign Affairs Committee, on which he is the Ranking Democrat on the Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee. Whether combatting the climate crisis, working to create better, higher-paying jobs for hardworking families, or trying to prevent gun violence, Crow is focused on putting Colorado and the nation ahead of politics and partisanship.

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• Professor Sam Kamin, Robert B. Yegge Excellence in Teaching Award
  

  Sam Kamin joined the faculty at the Sturm College of Law in 1999. Holding both a JD and a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley as well as a BA, summa cum laude, from Amherst College, Kamin is an expert in the areas of criminal procedure, death penalty jurisprudence, federal courts, and constitutional remedies. He is a co-author of Investigative Criminal Procedure: A Contemporary Approach and Cases and Materials on the Death Penalty (West Academic Publishing) and has published scholarly articles in the Virginia Law Review, UCLA Law Review, Boston College Law Review, William & Mary Law Review, Journal of Constitutional Law, and many others. He has also become one of the nation’s leading experts on the regulation of marijuana; in 2012 he was appointed to then-Governor John Hickenlooper’s Task Force to Implement Amendment 64 and served on the blue-ribbon panel to study marijuana legalization chaired by then-Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom of California. Professor Kamin currently serves as the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Standards Committee.

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• Thank you to our 2024 sponsors!

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