At the Utah State Bar's 75th Anniversary dinner on September 21, 2006, the Bar Commission honored six esteemed attorneys with lifetime achievement awards. These awards were given in grateful recognition of a distinguished career in the law and for many years of leadership, loyalty, contributions and devotion to the programs, services and activities of the Utah State Bar.
Harold G. Christensen
Harold G. Christensen received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan after earning his A. B. degree from the University of Utah. He was Assistant Editor of the Michigan Law Review and is an honorary member of the Order of the Coif.
Mr. Christensen was Chairman of the Board of Snow Christensen & Martineau, which he first joined in 1953 and recently rejoined the firm as Of Counsel.
Harold Christensen served as Deputy Attorney General of the United States from June 1, 1988 until June 1, 1989 during both the Reagan and Bush administrations.
After leaving the Department of Justice, Mr. Christensen was Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Utah College of Law, and Visiting Professor of Law at Hastings College of the University of California at San Francisco. He then served as Chief of the Litigation Division of the Office of Utah Attorney General.
Mr. Christensen is a former Utah State Bar President; Chairman, American College of Trial Lawyers; Charter President, American Inn of Court I; National Trustee, American Inns of Court Foundation; Trustee, University of Utah School Alumni Association and is a member of the Large Complex Commercial Panel of the American Arbitration Association.
He chaired the committees which drafted the "Rules of Civil Practice for the District of Utah" and "Appellate Advocacy Handbook for the Utah Supreme Court." He also chaired the committee on Election of the President of the Utah State Bar, the U. S. Judicial Selection Commission, and the Governor's Utility Regulation Study Committee.
Mr. Christensen chaired the State Transition Team coordinating the consolidation of the Utah trial courts and served on the Task Force spearheading the construction of the Scott M. Matheson Courthouse. He received the Award for Exceptional Service to the Legal Profession, Utah State Bar, Lawyer of the Year Award in 1984, and the Utah Judicial Council's Amicus Curiae Award. He is listed in Who's Who in the World and in The Best Lawyers in America.
Ray R. Christensen
Ray R. Christensen graduated from the University of Utah School of Law in 1944. He was law clerk to Justice Wolfe, Utah Supreme Court (1947-1948). He was a cofounder of the law firm of Moreton, Christensen & Christensen, formed in 1949 and commenced practice of the law in the state of Utah at that time, and has continued ever since. The name of Moreton, Christensen & Christensen was changed to Christensen & Jensen in 1962. The firm has continued since that time with various intermittent name changes, but always with the names of Christensen and Jensen. Mr. Christensen started in general practice, but soon pursued primarily casualty defense, including products liability, professional liability, aviation accident law, automobile accidents, construction accidents, and general insurance law.
He is a former Utah State Bar Commissioner and President; Member, Litigation Section; Member, Senior Lawyers Division; Member, Salt Lake County Bar Association; Member and Former President, Western States Bar Conference; Member, American Bar Association where he served on the Council of Junior Bar Conference, House of Delegates and the Conference of Bar Presidents.
Mr. Christensen was a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers; Fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; Member, Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel; Charter Member and Past President of the American Inn of Court I.
Mr. Christensen has received the Utah Lawyer of the Year Award (1981); Utah Trial Lawyer of the Year (1993) and was honored by the Federal Bar Association, Utah Chapter in 2005. He is listed in Who's Who in America; Who's Who in the West; Who's Who in the Law; Who's Who in the World; and, The Best Lawyers in America.
He was a Bar Commissioner (1963-1966) and President of the Bar (1965-1966) as well as President of the Western States Bar Conference (1969-1970); participated in the American Bar Association's Council of Junior Bar Conference (1952-1956), and was a member of the House of Delegates (1966-1968 and 1973-1979), and Conference of Bar Presidents. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trail Lawyers.
James E. Faust
Elder James E. Faust was born in Delta, Utah and attended school in the Granite School District. He enrolled at the University of Utah in 1937, where he participated as a member of the track team and ran the quarter-mile and mile relay. His college career was interrupted first to serve as a missionary in Brazil and later by World War II, during which he served in the U.S. Army Air Force and was discharged as a first lieutenant. In 1945, he re-entered the University of Utah from which he graduated in 1948 with a B. A. and a Juris Doctor degree.
Elder Faust served as a member of the Utah Legislature from 1949 to 1951 and as an advisor to the American Bar Journal. He was president of the Utah State Bar in 1962-1963 and received the Distinguished Lawyer Emeritus Award from the Bar in 1995.
In August 1997, he received an Honorary Doctors Degree of Christian Service from Brigham Young University, was honored as a Distinguished Alumni at the University of Utah, and was awarded the Honorary Order of the Coif at Brigham Young University. He was given the Marion G. Romney Distinguished Service Award by the J. Reuben Clark Law School, and he was awarded an Honorary Doctors of Law degree by the University of Utah, S. J. Quinney College of Law.
He also served as a member of the American College Probate Council, as well as the Utah State Constitutional Review Commission.
Elder Faust was set apart as the Second Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on March 12, 1995. He had served in the Council of the Twelve Apostles since September of 1978. He had previously served four years as an Assistant to the Twelve and was sustained as a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy on October 1, 1976.
In 1998, President Faust received a Brazilian national citizenship award - an honor given to only a select few leaders - and was awarded honorary citizenship of the city of Sao Paulo.
Bruce S. Jenkins
Bruce S. Jenkins was born in Salt Lake City, Utah where he attended public schools. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctor degree from the University of Utah, where he was a member of the Board of Editors for the Utah Law Review and was later elevated to the Order of the Coif in 1975.
He served as a Research Clerk for a member of the Utah Supreme Court and as an Assistant Attorney General and a Deputy Prosecutor for Salt Lake County. He also engaged in private law practice.
Judge Jenkins was appointed to the Utah State Senate and was twice re-elected. He was the Minority Leader and President of the Utah State Senate. While president of the Senate, significant legislation was passed (29 of 33 platform measures), the Senate started on time, ended on time, and the budget was balanced. He was a member of the Legislative Council.
He was a Bankruptcy Judge, United States District Court, District of Utah and served as a United States District Judge. He became a Chief Judge, December 20, 1984. During his tenure as Chief Judge, the Court twice compiled, revised and published local rules; automated and computerized the courtÕs administrative functions; reorganized the clerk's office and probation department and began and completed a major remodeling of the Federal Courthouse in Salt Lake City. The size of the court expanded from two to five active judges. Now a United States Senior District Judge, he has continued to carry a significant case load, has tried cases in other Federal Districts, and by invitation sat on the Court of Appeals, 10th Circuit and the Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit.
Judge Jenkins was named "Alumnus of the Year" by the University of Utah College of Law Alumni Association; honored as Judge of the Year by the Utah State Bar; presented with Distinguished Judicial Service Award by the Federal Bar Association, Utah Chapter. He has been honored by Resolution of the Utah State Bar for his superior service to the bench, Bar and public and awarded the George Washington Medal by the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge, Utah Chapter. He was further honored by the Utah Bar Foundation "For Dedicated Service to the People of Utah and the Federal Judiciary."
James B. Lee
James B. Lee was born in Price, Utah, son of J. Bracken and Margaret Lee. He graduated from Carbon County High School and the United States Military Academy at West Point. He received his Juris Doctor from George Washington University Law School. He currently practices law at Parsons Behle & Latimer where he was firm President from 1979-1993.
Mr. Lee has served as President of the Utah State Bar; President, Salt Lake County Bar; President, Utah National Guard Association; Board of Trustees, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation; Member, Utah State Bar Commission; Chairman of the Board, Salt Lake County Bar Legal Services; Chairman, Board of Directors, Utah Legal Services; Chairman, Board of Family Service Counseling Center; Board of Pardons; Rowland Hall-St. Mark's Board of Trustees; President, Utah Mining Association; Board of Directors of Central Utah Water Conservancy District; Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission; Governor's Commission on Tax Recodification.
Mr. Lee has been Chairman, Utah Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules of Evidence; Member and President, Board of Directors of Utah Foundation; Vice Chairman of the Commission on Justice in the 21st Century; Member, Board of Governors of the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce; Member and Vice Chair, State Executive and Judicial Compensation Commission; Member and President, Utah Bar Foundation; Member and Vice Chair, Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake; Access to Justice Task Force; Chairman, KUED Board of Trustees; Board of Utah Taxpayers Association; Utah Delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates; Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; Chair, Ethics and Discipline Committee of the Utah Supreme Court; Board of Governors of the American Bar Association; and on the Executive Committee of ABA Board of Governors.
Mr. Lee retired in 1983 as a Brigadier General after 31 years of military service. He received the Amicus Curiae award from the Utah Judicial Council in 1982 and received the Utah State Bar Lawyer of the Year Award in 1988.
In 1996, Mr. Lee received the Utah Bar Foundation Achievement Award and the Utah State Bar Distinguished Service Award. Mr. Lee also was the recipient of the 1998 Dorothy Merrill Brothers Award from the Bar. He was listed in The Best Lawyers in America from 1987-2006.
Stephen B. Nebeker
Stephen B. Nebeker graduated from the University of Utah Law School where he was a member of the Board of Editors of the University of Utah Law Review. He served in U.S. Army in the M.P. Corps from 1955-1957 then joined the law firm of Ray Quinney & Nebeker where he has been a trial lawyer for 43 years, specializing in insurance defense, product liability and insurance coverage matters. He retired from active trial work in 2000 and is now involved in mediation and arbitration.
Mr. Nebeker is a member of the American College of Trial Lawyers (Regent 1983-1987), the American Board of Trial Advocates, International Association of Insurance Defense Counsel and the Federation of Insurance Counsel.
He also was a Utah State Bar Examiner (1976-1980); Chairman, Utah State Bar Litigation Section (1979-1980); Member, Advisory Committee on Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure (1982-1986); Member, Rules of Evidence Committee (1977-1983); Supreme Court Nominating Committee (1983-1986); President, American Inn of Court II (1982-1983); Member, Post-Law School Training Committee (1985-1987); Utah Appellate Court Nominating Committee (1986); Member, Advisory Committee on Utah Rules of Civil Procedure (1982-1986); Member, Board of Directors, Utah Bar Foundation (1988-1995); Former Member, Board of Directors, Legal Aid Society; Member, Third Judicial District Nomination Commission; and Chair, Utah Supreme Court Task Force Committee on Bar Governance Issues (1999).
Mr. Nebeker is a member of the Board of Directors of the S. J. and Jessie E. Quinney Foundation. He was a member of the Board of Governors Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce from 1986-1989 as well as University of Utah Law School Alumnus of the Year in 1988. He was selected as Utah State Bar Lawyer of the Year in 1986 and named as Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1994 and as Utah Defense Lawyers Association Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1998.
Mr. Nebeker is a member and President of the University of Utah Alumni Association Board; Trustee and President, University of Utah Law School Alumni; and a recipient of the University of Utah Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1992.