Professor Lucy Marsh Receives Colorado Bar Association Award of Merit

Professor Lucy Marsh (l) was presented with the Colorado Bar Association Award of Merit by Jonathan Asher on September 20, 2025.

In a ceremony held at History Colorado Center, Professor Lucy Marsh, founder and director of the Tribal Wills Project at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, received the Colorado Bar Association (CBA) Award of Merit, the organization’s lifetime achievement award. The award is presented annually to a member of the association “who has provided outstanding service or contributions to the association, to the legal profession, to the administration of justice, or to the community,” according to the CBA website.

The award was presented to Marsh by Jonathan Asher, formerly executive director of Colorado Legal Services, who commented on Marsh’s work with the Tribal Wills Project: “for more than a decade, [Marsh] has organized and supervised volunteer law students and supervising attorneys to provide assistance to tribal members in eight states. This service to Native Americans has been unprecedented and itself is worthy of recognition.”

Marsh began teaching at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law more than 50 years ago, after graduating from Smith College and the University of Michigan Law School. While still a law student, Marsh distinguished herself and her commitment to experiential learning by co-authoring a brief that persuaded the Michigan Supreme Court to adopt a student practice rule, which enabled the creation of the first legal aid clinic at the university’s law school.

In nominating her for the award, Suzy Harris (Harris Fiduciary Consultation, LLC) called Marsh “a unique and priceless asset to the Sturm College of Law and to the legal community. … She has pioneered and administered all-in-one programs that teach students to be lawyers and counselors in the real world; to draft wills and other estate planning documents for real human beings; and to provide quality wills and estate planning services to underserved Metro area and tribal member clients, most of whom cannot afford an attorney in private practice.” 

Participation in the Tribal Wills Project goes beyond student involvement, bringing in attorneys from the community who provide mentorship to participating students and facilitate the creation of wills for clients. Harris described the experience as “priceless, for both the students and their supervisors. Many supervisors volunteer every year, sometimes more than once a year.”

Asher concluded, “for more than five decades, Lucy Marsh has dedicated her life to teaching and to service – service to the law school, her colleagues, her students, and to the profession. Many have done much to advance legal education and the profession, but few have done more than Professor Marsh.”