Shelby Pickar-Dennis

Prior Experience

As a summer associate with Faegre Drinker, Shelby worked with attorneys on a wide range of matters, including copyright, patent, trademark and trade secret disputes. In this role, she conducted extensive research and drafted arguments in support of clients’ claims or defenses for various motions, discovery requests and objections, trademark infringement demand letters, and memoranda assessing the viability of claims and defenses. During this time, Shelby also earned the Anti-Defamation League Memo Competition Award for a pro bono memorandum assessing the propriety of arguments for limiting social media companies’ Section 230 immunity. She further contributed to the publications of the Colorado Courtroom Handbook for Civil Trials, 6^th edition, and the Covenants Against Competition in Franchise Agreements, 4^th edition.

Shelby focused her academic research on analyzing how non-traditional and novel works fit into the current intellectual property framework, which is particularly relevant in a rapidly developing society. Her Note, Keeping It Real: Property Analogies for Graffiti Infringement, published in the University of Colorado Law Review, assessed the shortcomings of intellectual property law in adequately protecting the rights of graffiti artists. It stood for the proposition that many works do not squarely fit into the intellectual property regime as it stands, often resulting in a lack of clarity as to the scope of rights in those works and potentially inadequate protection.

During law school, Shelby gained valuable experience through her involvement in a variety of organizations and work opportunities. As a student attorney in the University of Colorado Law School Sustainable Community Development Clinic, she was integral in the formation of a sub-group focused on supporting local musicians. She created a music copyright guidebook for musicians, describing the protections afforded to them under the Copyright Act, the process of licensing works to avoid infringing others’ rights, and best practices for licensing to gain robust protection over their original musical works. For her contributions to this Clinic, she earned the Excellence in Clinical Education Award. Shelby also served as a judicial extern for Justice Richard Gabriel of the Colorado Supreme Court and as a legal extern with the Rocky Mountain Victim Law Center. She participated in the Boss Moot Court Competition, where she won Best Brief, and the 1L Transactional competition, where she won first place.