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Christine Durham
Senior Of Counsel
Litigation
Salt Lake City

D650-461-5346

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Justice Christine Durham is Senior Of Counsel in the Salt Lake City office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she focuses her practice on appellate litigation as a member of the firm’s nationwide Supreme Court and Appellate Practice. Christine also currently serves as a private mediator, and in the fall of 2020, was admitted to the roster of the American Arbitration Association.

Following her appointment by Governor Scott M. Matheson in 1982, Christine became the first woman to serve on the Utah Supreme Court. Four years earlier, she was the first woman appointed to the state’s district court. In 1993, Christine was on a shortlist of candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court, put forth by the Clinton administration to replace retiring Justice Harry Blackmun. In 2002, she achieved yet another milestone by being the first woman Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court. Christine served as Chief Justice until 2012 and then retired from the bench in November 2017.

From 2018 until she joined Wilson Sonsini, Christine was an attorney at Zimmerman Booher, an appellate law firm in Salt Lake City.

Christine has founded, led, and actively participated in professional judicial organizations across the U.S. and in Utah. For example, she helped to create the National Association of Women Judges and to organize Women Lawyers of Utah. Christine was a founder of the Leadership Institute in Judicial Education, helped create and lead the Utah Coalition for Civic Character and Service Education, and served on the Utah Commission on Civic Education and as chair of the American Bar Association’s Council on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the entity that accredits American law schools.

Christine recently served on the ABA’s Task Force on the Future of Legal Education, and is currently serving as a member of the Advisory Board for the Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Project of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, as well as on the board of trustees for the University of the People, the world's first non-profit, tuition-free, online academic institution that seeks to revolutionize higher education by making college-level studies accessible to students worldwide. She also currently co-chairs the Utah State Bar Access to Justice Commission.

In addition to her work advocating for diversity and equal access to law, Christine has worked with the Utah State Bar’s Pro Bono Commission, which recruits and trains lawyers to provide pro bono legal services. Following her retirement from the Utah Supreme Court, she headed the Conviction Integrity Unit with the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office, which focused on reviewing cases of convicted individuals claiming they are innocent.

Christine also received numerous awards throughout her career. For example, in September 2012, she received the “Dwight D. Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence” from the American Judicature Society. In 2008, Christine received the “Transparent Courthouse Award” for contributions to judicial accountability and administration from the Institute for the Advancement of the Legal System. In 2007, she received the “William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence,” an annual award presented to a state court judge who exemplifies the highest level of judicial excellence, integrity, fairness, and professional ethics. Christine has also been recognized for developing interactive education programs in content areas that previously did not have curricula, such as domestic violence, child witness testimony, and scientific evidence.

Previously, Christine was an adjunct professor for University of Utah College of Law, from 1984 to 2008. She also was an adjunct professor of law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School from 1974 to 1978. During that time, Christine and two other lawyers founded the firm then known as Johnson, Durham & Moxley (now part of a larger firm), in Salt Lake City.

Christine began her career in 1971 as an instructor of legal medicine at Duke University Law Medical School, and opened her own general law practice in Durham, North Carolina. She earned her J.D. from Duke Law School in 1971, at a time when fewer than three percent of the lawyers in the U.S. were women. Christine currently serves as an emeritus member of the Duke Law School’s Board of Trustees.

Experience

Justice Christine Durham is Senior Of Counsel in the Salt Lake City office of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where she focuses her practice on appellate litigation as a member of the firm’s nationwide Supreme Court and Appellate Practice. Christine also currently serves as a private mediator, and in the fall of 2020, was admitted to the roster of the American Arbitration Association.

Following her appointment by Governor Scott M. Matheson in 1982, Christine became the first woman to serve on the Utah Supreme Court. Four years earlier, she was the first woman appointed to the state’s district court. In 1993, Christine was on a shortlist of candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court, put forth by the Clinton administration to replace retiring Justice Harry Blackmun. In 2002, she achieved yet another milestone by being the first woman Chief Justice of the Utah Supreme Court. Christine served as Chief Justice until 2012 and then retired from the bench in November 2017.

From 2018 until she joined Wilson Sonsini, Christine was an attorney at Zimmerman Booher, an appellate law firm in Salt Lake City.

Christine has founded, led, and actively participated in professional judicial organizations across the U.S. and in Utah. For example, she helped to create the National Association of Women Judges and to organize Women Lawyers of Utah. Christine was a founder of the Leadership Institute in Judicial Education, helped create and lead the Utah Coalition for Civic Character and Service Education, and served on the Utah Commission on Civic Education and as chair of the American Bar Association’s Council on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, the entity that accredits American law schools.

Christine recently served on the ABA’s Task Force on the Future of Legal Education, and is currently serving as a member of the Advisory Board for the Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Project of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, as well as on the board of trustees for the University of the People, the world's first non-profit, tuition-free, online academic institution that seeks to revolutionize higher education by making college-level studies accessible to students worldwide. She also currently co-chairs the Utah State Bar Access to Justice Commission.

In addition to her work advocating for diversity and equal access to law, Christine has worked with the Utah State Bar’s Pro Bono Commission, which recruits and trains lawyers to provide pro bono legal services. Following her retirement from the Utah Supreme Court, she headed the Conviction Integrity Unit with the Salt Lake County district attorney’s office, which focused on reviewing cases of convicted individuals claiming they are innocent.

Christine also received numerous awards throughout her career. For example, in September 2012, she received the “Dwight D. Opperman Award for Judicial Excellence” from the American Judicature Society. In 2008, Christine received the “Transparent Courthouse Award” for contributions to judicial accountability and administration from the Institute for the Advancement of the Legal System. In 2007, she received the “William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence,” an annual award presented to a state court judge who exemplifies the highest level of judicial excellence, integrity, fairness, and professional ethics. Christine has also been recognized for developing interactive education programs in content areas that previously did not have curricula, such as domestic violence, child witness testimony, and scientific evidence.

Previously, Christine was an adjunct professor for University of Utah College of Law, from 1984 to 2008. She also was an adjunct professor of law at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School from 1974 to 1978. During that time, Christine and two other lawyers founded the firm then known as Johnson, Durham & Moxley (now part of a larger firm), in Salt Lake City.

Christine began her career in 1971 as an instructor of legal medicine at Duke University Law Medical School, and opened her own general law practice in Durham, North Carolina. She earned her J.D. from Duke Law School in 1971, at a time when fewer than three percent of the lawyers in the U.S. were women. Christine currently serves as an emeritus member of the Duke Law School’s Board of Trustees.

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Firm Helps Secure Utah Court Order That Halts Law Barring Transgender Girls from Playing Girls’ Sports
On August 19, 2022, the Third District Court of Utah issued an order blocking enforcement of H.B. 11, a newly enacted law barring all transgender girls from playing on girls’ sports teams. The court held that the new law likely violates the equality guarantees of the Utah Constitution by singling out transgender girls and barring them from competing on girls’ teams, regardless of their individual circumstances. Following a two-day hearing, the court concluded that “the Defendants do not offer persuasive reasons to categorically ban all transgender girls from competing on girls’ teams.” 

The lawsuit, Roe v. UHSAA, was brought by the families of three Utah girls who love sports and wish to play on their schools’ teams. The ruling follows a hearing at which the girls’ attorneys presented evidence of the ongoing harm caused by enforcement of the law. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, along with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, represented the plaintiffs in the matter.

The court noted that its decision will not mean that every transgender girl is able to play on girls’ teams, but rather that every transgender girl will have an opportunity to do so. The court explained that under another part of the new law, if the ban is struck down, a statewide commission will “consider confidentially, for each transgender girl who seeks to compete in school athletics, whether it would be fair to permit that transgender girl to compete on girls’ teams.”

The ruling on the preliminary injunction bars enforcement of the ban while the remainder of the litigation proceeds through Utah state courts. 

The Wilson Sonsini team representing the plaintiffs in the matter includes Senior Of Counsel Christine Durham and partner Deno Himonas, both of whom are former Utah Supreme Court Justices, as well as partner Fred Rowley.
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Justice Christine Durham Joins Wilson Sonsini's Litigation Department in Salt Lake City
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, announced today that Justice Christine Durham has joined the firm’s litigation department as Senior Of Counsel in the Salt Lake City office.
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