Join us for Colorado Law Talks

Colorado Law Talks

Alumni, students, supporters, and community members are invited to the University of Colorado Law School's thought-provoking series, Colorado Law Talks. Featuring our faculty and other members of the Colorado Law community, each talk provides an opportunity to hear about the lecturers' current scholarship and to discuss the questions and ideas that motivate, influence, and shape their work. 

The work of Colorado Law’s professors includes an extraordinary array of diverse projects—not just intriguing scholarship, but innovative teaching methods, and valuable contributions to communities beyond the law school. Colorado Law Talks allows us to share some of these projects with you, providing an important opportunity for Colorado Law and the legal community to engage with ideas and with one another.

Colorado Law Talks are held several times each semester at various locations in Denver and are open to the public.

Upcoming Colorado Law Talks

Richard CollinsArmistice in the War on Cannabis—Where We Are and Need to Go
Professor Richard Collins
Wednesday, April 24
5:30-7:30 p.m.
Vincente Sederberg LLC (455 Sherman Street, Suite 390, Denver, CO)

Colorado was first to allow the sale of recreational marijuana to adults. The plan was based on an analogy to alcohol regulation, but five years in, we are still a long way from a match with alcohol laws. Federal regulation is a big reason why, but Colorado can do more. Will this year's legislative session move us closer? Join us for the second lecture of the 2019 Colorado Law Talks series, where Professor Collins will discuss all this and more.

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Watch Colorado Law Talks


Bringing an Innovative Mindset to the Attorney General's Office

Phil Weiser, Colorado attorney general

Phil Weiser is Colorado’s newly elected AG and comes with an unusual background for an AG, but a fitting background for Colorado. In the past election, Colorado chose a successful entrepreneur—Jared Polis—as its governor, succeeding another entrepreneur, John Hickenlooper. For attorney general, Colorado elected Phil Weiser, former dean of the University of Colorado Law School, former deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice under President Obama, former law clerk to Supreme Court Justices White and Ginsburg, and a leader in Colorado’s entrepreneurial community. Over the last 20 years, Phil has founded the Silicon Flatirons Center at CU, the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network, Startup Colorado, and the Governmental Entrepreneurial Leadership Accelerator. In this talk, Phil explains what it means to bring an innovative mindset to the Attorney General’s Office, tying in his prior leadership experience, his scholarship on this topic, and his plans for the AG’s office.


The Laws of Attraction: The Shifting Meaning of Sexual Consent

Aya Gruber, professor of law

The slogans are ubiquitous: "Only 'Yes' Means 'Yes'"; "Got Consent?"; "Consent is Hot, Assault is Not!" Clear consent is the rule, but the meaning of sexual consent is far from clear. The current state of confusion is evident in the numerous competing views about what constitutes mental agreement (grudging acceptance or eager desire?) and what comprises performative consent (passive acquiescence or an enthusiastic "yes"?). In the final lecture of the 2018 Colorado Law Talks series, Gruber will seek to clear up the consent confusion and chart the contours of the sexual consent framework, categorizing different definitions of affirmative consent, and critically describing arguments for and against affirmative consent. Examining the consent framework and the affirmative consent debate reveals exactly what is at stake in this new world of reform—a revelation necessary for meaningful dialogue on acceptable sex and acceptable sex regulation.

Gruber's forthcoming book, The Feminist War on Crime, is under contract with the University of California Press.


Reviving America's Human Rights Movement

Anna Spain Bradley, associate professor of law and assistant vice provost for faculty development and diversity

This talk focused on recent challenges and threats to human rights in America and around the world. Professor Anna Spain Bradley discussed the historical connection between America's Civil Rights Movement and the promotion of human rights under international law, shared common challenges, and a future vision that deepens the relationships among communities across borders. Her forthcoming book, The Impact of One: How Individual Choice Shapes International Law, is under contract with Cambridge University Press.


The Next Financial Crisis

Erik Gerding, professor of law

Previous Colorado Law Talks

Since the series began in February 2017, Colorado Law Talks has engaged audiences on a variety of topics:

  • The Laws of Attraction: The Shifting Meaning of Sexual Consent, Professor Aya Gruber
  • Reviving America's Human Rights Movement, Associate Professor Anna Spain Bradley
  • Every Red a Criminal: the Law, the War on Radical Unions, and the Decline of the American Left; Professor Ahmed White
  • The Government's Speech and the Constitution, Professor Helen Norton
  • The Next Financial Crisis, Professor Erik Gerding
  • Fascism and the Liberal State, Professor Pierre Schlag
  • Unpresidented: Executive Power in the Trump Administration, Professor Hal Bruff
  • The Law of the River, Professor Sarah Krakoff