BYU Law Announces Participants in Inaugural Storytelling Initiative

Ten law students selected to present submissions at BYU LawStories on the Mainstage

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Mar 18, 2019, 20:34 ET

PROVO, Utah, March 18, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- BYU Law, a leading national law school focused on innovation in the legal field, today announced the selected participants of BYU LawStories, a storytelling initiative open to law school students in the United States.

Law school students across the country were asked to submit a nonfiction narrative of 1,000 to 1,500 words that tied together their life and the law. This inaugural initiative garnered 40 submissions from students at 28 different law schools from coast to coast.

(left to right) Selected participants of the inaugural BYU LawStories, a storytelling initiative for law school students: Erin Bartenstein, University Wisconsin; Lora Morgan Church, University of New Mexico; Erling Oster, University of Nevada-Las Vegas; Dorie Arthur, University of Richmond; Carlisle Shelson, University of Illinois; Rebecca Clarke (BYU Law employee); Walter Garcia, Northwestern; Sloane Henry, University of Florida; Shaunna Sanders, BYU Law; and Katie Rane, BYU Law.

Gordon Smith, Dean of BYU Law congratulated the following selected participants, whose names, submission titles and law schools are listed below:

"The Merits of Applause," Dorie Arthur, University of Richmond School of Law, Virginia
"The World Was Designed for People Like Me," Erin Bartenstein, University of Wisconsin Law School, Wisconsin
"The Law: Comingling Life and Death," Lora Church, University of New Mexico School of Law, New Mexico
"Slow Down," Walter Garcia, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Illinois
"A Is for Animus," Sloane Henry, University of Florida, Levin College of Law, Florida
"After the Order," Vanessa Kubota, Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona
"Me v. Astrophysics v. the Drug Wars v. Queen of England II," Erling Oster, University of Nevada Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law
"They Don't Wait for White Men's Chances," Katie Rane, Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Utah
"Catch and Release," Shaunna Sanders, Brigham Young University, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Utah
"War Songs, Wounded Sounds," Carlisle Shelson, University of Illinois College of Law, Illinois

"Congratulations to these outstanding authors whose compelling stories illuminate the transcendent power of law in our daily lives," said Gordon Smith, Dean, BYU Law. "We believe initiatives like BYU LawStories can help further prepare students for their legal careers, and we are pleased to recognize these students in the inaugural BYU LawStories initiative."

Selected storytellers received an expenses-paid trip to Brigham Young University's campus March 13–16 where they presented their nonfiction narrative stories tying together their life and law at BYU LawStories on the Mainstage, a public storytelling event. Before their presentations, participants received a half-day seminar on storytelling taught by Sam Payne, who hosts "The Apple Seed: Tellers and Stories" – a national radio show. At the conclusion of the seminar, participants recorded their stories for broadcast at state-of-the-art BYUradio studio.

About BYU Law School
Founded in 1971, the J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law) has grown into one of the nation's leading law schools – recognized for innovative research and teaching in social change, transactional design, entrepreneurship, corpus linguistics, criminal justice, and religious freedom. The Law School has more than 6,000 alumni serving in communities around the world. In its most recent rankings, SoFi ranked BYU Law as the #1 best-value U.S. law school in their 2017 Return on Education Law School Ranking. For more information, visit http://www.law.byu.edu/.

SOURCE BYU Law