2024 will be a year of firsts for Assistant Lecturer Professor Aaron Christenson: He will be teaching at Utah Law for the first time in the fall, and he and his wife recently welcomed their first child.
“My wife was late in her pregnancy during my interview process, and the faculty, led by Associate Dean Heiny and Dean Kronk Warner, agreed to postpone my interviews by more than a month to accommodate the birth of our son, Theo,” Christensen recalls. “Everyone I met during interviews was warm and welcoming. The way I was treated during interviews was a clear indicator to me that the law school emphasizes kindness and collegiality.”
Though Christenson earned his undergraduate degree at Utah State University, he attended law school at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and worked as a judicial law clerk for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for a couple years before returning to Utah to be closer to family.
“Kirkland & Ellis opened a Salt Lake City office at about this time and had a need for transactional attorneys, so I pivoted to transactional work,” he explains.
While at the law firm, Christenson realized that building relationships was most fulfilling to him.
“I have always enjoyed teaching and mentoring, and what I enjoyed most about private practice was working directly with summer associates and new attorneys. As I started thinking about next steps in my career, teaching came to mind,” he says. “The University of Utah law school eventually had a need for help with the Academic Success Program, and so I applied and was thrilled to be offered the position. Faculty, staff, and students have all been genuinely kind.”
In his new role, Christenson will work closely with Clinical Professor David Hill in the Academic Success Program, which facilitates workshops for first-year law students and individual support for those with specific challenges.
“I’ll be helping students achieve their academic goals and prepare for the bar exam,” Christenson says. “I’ll also teach Applied Legal Writing and Legal Professions.”
Christenson is most excited about working with students and being on campus—and, as a college football fan, he’s also excited to see what the Utah Utes can do this year. When he’s not working, he enjoys spending time with his family, mountain biking, playing basketball and cooking.
“I’m passionate about understanding what makes lawyers and law students happy (or unhappy),” he says. “I’m passionate about good writing, and I’m passionate about personal development, both for myself and those I teach and mentor.”
Learn more about the Academic Success Program.