The CU-Boulder School of Law will honor eight alumni award recipients at the 17th Annual Alumni Awards Banquet on Saturday, April 4, at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities.
The banquet is an annual gathering to recognize distinguished alumni in a number of categories established by the School of Law.
A cocktail reception will begin at 6 p.m. with dinner following at 7 p.m. The welcome address will be given by Dean Hal Bruff and the ceremony will be led by Carl 聯Spike聰 Eklund 聭71, chair of the Law Alumni Board of Directors.
Special recognition awards will be given to the Honorable Richard Matsch of the U.S. District Court, for his service to the law school and to the legal community. Matsch was the presiding judge in the Oklahoma City bombing trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.
The other special recognition award recipient is Professor Cliff Calhoun, who has dedicated many years of service to the university. Professor Calhoun will retire in May.
This year聮s award recipients for the Distinguished Achievement Awards include:
聲 Honorable Connie L. Peterson, a 1975 graduate, recognized in the Judiciary category. Peterson has been chief judge of the 2nd Judicial District of Colorado since 1985 and a water judge for Water Division No. 1 since 1989. She also is the co-author of 聯The Capital Crimes Bench Book.聰
聲 Dan A. Vigil, a 1982 graduate, will be recognized in the Education category. Vigil is assistant dean for student affairs and professional programs in the law school. Vigil also teaches legal method, appellate advocacy and professional responsibility as a faculty member.
聲 David Wood, a 1962 graduate, recognized in the Small Firm category. Wood is a Colorado native who founded his Fort Collins law firm in 1965. His areas of practice have included real estate, probate and commercial litigation. He works primarily with hospitals, health care organizations and other charitable groups.
聲 Kenneth Caughey, a 1955 graduate, will be recognized in the Executive In Industry category. For 30 years Caughey worked in the trust department of the Colorado National Bank in Denver and for the last 17 years was head of the department. He now serves as a consultant to AIM management Family of Funds in Houston and is counsel to the Hamilton and Faatz law firm in Denver.
聲 Clayton 聯Swede聰 Johnson, a 1963 graduate, will be recognized in the Practitioner category. Johnson joined Mike Bynum and Byron Chrisman in 1976 to form Chrisman Bynum & Johnson PC, which is now Boulder聮s largest law firm. He practices business law with an emphasis in real estate law, including financing transactions, commercial industrial leases and counseling on complex land use issues.
聲 Guillermo R. Garibay, a 1975 graduate, will be recognized under the Public Sector category. Garibay is director of the Public Defender Office in Durango. One of the highlights of his career was the case People v. Lutz, in which a prosecution lab expert in a murder case was discredited at trial by Garibay, who proved that the 聯expert聰 did not have the college degree and other qualifications he claimed.