A Newspaper Article Which Changed My Life

In the Fall of 2007 I read an article in Salt Lake City's Deseret Morning News which changed my life. The article, "From Nephi to Ukraine--Trek for Justice Reform," describes how two Utah lawyers, David and Chelom Leavitt, husband and wife, spent a year living with their children in Kyiv, Ukraine volunteering for the American Bar Association, and helping Ukrainian lawyers and judges set up a more democratic justice system. Within days of their arrival in Ukraine, the Leavitts witnessed firsthand the so-called "Orange Revolution," when millions of protestors descended peacefully upon downtown Kiev to show their disapproval of the fraudulent Presidential election of 2004.

The Leavitts returned to their hometown of Nephi, Utah in 2005 and set up a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing knowledge of the jury trial as a critical mechanism to ensure democratic freedom. During the 2006-2007 school year their organization, The Leavitt Institute for International Development, taught a year-long jury trial course in three Kyiv law schools. The course was taught by American judges and attorneys, primarily from the Leavitt's home state of Utah, and culminated in a mock jury trial competition held in Kyiv this past spring.

For some reason, this article moved me in a profound way. It spoke to something deep within me, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. It kindled a desire within me to do something similar in my own life. This desire was not born out of any dissatisfaction with my life. At the time I had been a criminal trial judge for six years, and was very happy and fulfilled with my work on the bench. I felt as if my work as a judge was making a profound difference in my community, and I approached each day of work with relish and excitement. But I had long harbored deep longings to work with the people of eastern Europe. So deep was this desire, that as a young man I had studied Russian for two years while attending the University of Utah. Later, my wife and children and I sponsored six Russian and Armenian immigrants to the United States through the Tolstoy Foundation Refugee Resettlement Agency.

After pondering the matter for a few weeks, I contacted David Leavitt in December of 2006 to ask if he needed any assistance with his organization's Jury Trial Initiative. And now, eleven months later, I am embarking on one of the great adventures of my life--teaching about the jury trial in five law schools in Kyiv, Ukraine.