The 2010 Woman Lawyer of the Year Selected!
Posted on May 3rd, 2010 by neimarlijaa
Filed Under News |
The Women Lawyers of Utah have named Christine Soltis as the Christine M. Durham Woman Lawyer of the Year. This annual award is given to an exceptional woman attorney who has demonstrated professionalism, integrity, excellence and dedication to furthering opportunities for women in law.
Ms. Soltis is a Utah Assistant Attorney General who has made a career of training and helping prosecutors. Her qualifications for this award are numerous.
Ms. Soltis graduated from the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law in 1975, where she served as president of the Association of Women Lawyers. At that time, she was one of approximately twelve women in her class. She began her practice as a trial attorney for the Salt Lake Legal Defenders Association, where she worked from 1975-78. The Association has employed hundreds of women since its inception. Ms. Soltis was the second.
She served from 1978-1981 as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah. She was the first woman prosecutor for the office. After that, she was in private practice from 1982-89. During this period she also served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah College of Law, teaching trial advocacy.
In 1989, Ms. Soltis joined the Utah Attorney General’s Office and has worked as an Assistant Utah Attorney General from 1989 to the present. During this period, she served as Director, Statewide Assistance to Narcotics Enforcement (1990), Section Chief, Criminal Appeals Division (1990-93), and Division Chief, Criminal Appeals Division (1993-99).
In her position as Division Chief, Ms. Soltis supervised and reviewed the work of all division attorneys addressing appeals of serious violent crimes in the state, such as murder, kidnapping, arson, rape, and drug crimes, as well as white collar crimes, including securities and communications fraud. In addition to supervising others during this period, she has always carried a personal caseload, appearing herself before the courts in these matters.
She resigned as Division Chief in 1999 when health concerns prompted her to reduce her workload. She continues, however, to prosecute criminal appeals for the State. Due to her expertise, she represents the State in a large percentage of the most difficult and complex appeals.
Ms. Soltis has also been involved in numerous professional associations and activities. Among others, she served as president of the Utah Chapter of the Federal Bar from 1988-89. She was the second woman president of the Chapter and, at the time of her service, the first woman to serve in over a decade. She served in other capacities in the Chapter, including secretary, president-elect, and executive advisory board member. She also served as a commissioner for the Utah Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women from 1981-85. In 1982, she served on the Governor’s Task Force on Sex Discrimination, Utah Chapter, Fifty States Women’s Project. Since 2005, Ms. Soltis has served on the Utah Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Evidence.
Ms. Soltis has also made numerous presentations to judges and prosecutors throughout the state and was also given the award for the Appellate Attorney of the Year in 1998-1999.
The Attorney General’s office issued a press release quoting Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff: “‘It is a great honor to have one of our dedicated attorneys receive this prestigious award . . . Chris Soltis has shown time and again throughout her selfless career that protecting the people of Utah is her number one priority. I join with the people of Utah in saying congratulations and thank you for your devoted service.’”
Congratulations to Ms. Soltis on her great achievements!
