Clinical Professor Emeritus Norm Aaronson celebrates 39 years with Colorado Law鈥檚 clinics.
It was with trepidation that I first stepped into Professor Norm Aaronson鈥檚 Legal Aid class in the summer of 1990 at Colorado Law. I was embarking on a summer course with a small group of students I hardly knew and a professor with whom I had not yet interacted, knowing our entire summer would be spent representing real clients whose lives would be impacted by the quality of our representation. But, like so many students who came to Norm鈥檚 clinic before and after me, I left with a newfound passion for my chosen career, instilled by a selfless man who has spent his entire life and legal career in public service while ensuring the rights of the underrepresented. I also left the clinic having created a lifelong friendship with Norm.
That summer, we represented individuals of the Cuban Mariel boatlift who had served their sentences but were detained in U.S. federal prisons beyond their release dates due to their lack of constitutional rights and protections. Several of us were successful in our efforts to obtain release dates for our clients鈥攏ot due to our skill or advocacy but due to Norm鈥檚 constant dedication, oversight, patience, and long hours of work in crafting our amateur work product into artful legal pleadings.
During the last 39 years, the past six as a professor emeritus, Norm has continued the work he has loved at Colorado Law. He has provided high-quality representation for immigration/asylum clients, as well as clients going through dissolution of marriages and those with disabilities. He has focused his work over the last 10 years on immigration asylum cases, including special immigrant juvenile cases, which he calls 鈥渆motionally satisfying, as the clients are so vulnerable and so appreciative.鈥�
This year, Norm celebrates his 39th anniversary with the Colorado Law legal clinics, and the Boulder legal community celebrates his 39 years of passion, enthusiasm, and commitment to the sometimes challenging and often amusing task of training young lawyers in the procedure, skill, and compassion of practicing law.
This year, Norm celebrates his 39th anniversary with the Colorado Law legal clinics, and the Boulder legal community celebrates his 39 years of passion, enthusiasm, and commitment to the sometimes challenging and often amusing task of training young lawyers in the procedure, skill, and compassion of practicing law. I recall that his coaching of us, as we would nervously make our first court appearances, would include, 鈥淒on鈥檛 forget to say your name when you go to the podium.鈥� Of course, I forgot.
Since joining Colorado Law in 1979, Norm has taken under his wing inexperienced, eager law students whom he has prodded, guided, and challenged, and on whom he has left an indelible mark. His training of thousands of lawyers on the value of public service has impacted and improved the lives of many thousands of litigants.
He has remained with Colorado Law for all of these years because, in his words, he loves 鈥渢raining young lawyers who go on to contribute to the community. Knowing I have played a small part in that is rewarding.鈥� He has embraced his students, talking of them more like a proud parent than just a professor, and beaming as he speaks of their growth and progression from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, and how so many of them have become friends.
Norm started his public service career as a young Peace Corps volunteer in Iran before he began working for Legal Aid Services in rural Colorado. A few years ago, I met for lunch with Norm and a law school classmate whom I had first met in that clinic back in 1990. My classmate, who joined the Peace Corps and became an international relief worker after law school, shared with Norm that it was Norm鈥檚 dedication to public service, and his patience and enthusiasm with all of us in the clinic, that propelled her to live a life of public service.
His inspiration to so many can be seen in the words of his former colleague, the Honorable Carol Glowinsky, who said, 鈥淲hen I joined the clinical faculty at Colorado Law in 1983, Norm quickly became my mentor and close friend. Thirty-five years later, he continues to tell me, with the same enthusiasm, about his wonderful new batch of students and about the challenging asylum cases he and his students have won. What鈥檚 truly wonderful is Norm. He has seemingly unlimited passion for helping the most vulnerable of populations and for inspiring students. He personifies the best of the legal profession.鈥�
Few people have had an impact on so many lives as Norm has. He has done so quietly and behind the scenes, never seeking glory, recognition, or honor. Today, with respect and admiration, we honor this treasured member of our legal community, Norm Aaronson, one of the true unsung heroes of our profession.
The Honorable Judith LaBuda is a district court judge in the 20th Judicial District, which serves Boulder County.
Norm Aaronson is an emeritus professor who retired in 2011. He continues to work part-time at Colorado Law.