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By Stef Haarsager
Growing up in Pierre, S.D., former WDAZ TV anchor Lori (Cowan) Conroy wanted to be everything from a downhill skier to a forensic pathologist. “I even went through a phase where I wanted to be Miss Rodeo America,” said Conroy.
Eventually Conroy set her eyes on a career in broadcasting, and after earning her degree from South Dakota State University accepted a position at WDAZ in Grand Forks. “I was excited to begin my broadcasting career, but I’ll admit that one of the reasons I was drawn to Grand Forks was because it had a law school,” said Conroy. “I had always harbored thoughts of becoming an attorney, but I wanted to take a stab at television journalism before rushing into law.” It was her time in broadcasting that solidified Conroy’s decision to become a lawyer. While working for WDAZ, Conroy was assigned to cover the trial of the man convicted of murdering UND student Dru Sjodin.
“That was it,” said Conroy. “Covering a story like that, one that pulls on your heartstrings, makes you want to do more. I decided while I was covering that story that I was going to be involved in criminal law.”
Conroy finished a busy first year, known as 1L, at law school this spring and looks forward to the challenges next semester has in store. Law Women’s Caucus, Delta Theta Phi law fraternity, and Student Trial Lawyers Association are just a few organizations that have earned a slot in Conroy’s schedule. Honors include being selected as a 1L ambassador for 3L law school commencement, as well as being a finalist in the UND Moot (1L) Court Festival Competition where she and her partner, fellow IL Crystal Thorpe, won best legal brief.
“The Moot Court Competition stands out in my mind as being one of the most significant moments of my first year law experience,” said Conroy. “Arguing a mock case in front of your fellow students and being judged by a panel of magistrates and judges with combined legal experience of 50-plus years is intense. Nothing goes as planned and you’ll be stopped mid-sentence and asked a series of tough, sometimes unanticipated questions, but your heart skips a beat when you realize you know the answers. It really showcases all you learned your first year.”
This fall, Conroy will serve as an orientation team leader for the Class of 2010 and help her law organizations plan guest speakers and events for the year. “Since UND is the only law school in the state of North Dakota, we usually receive some unique and intriguing speakers that I don’t think you’d see at other schools,” said Conroy. “What other school can say they had the State Supreme Court, a Senior Status Judge on the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, a Congolese International Criminal Court specialist, a National Indian Law Conference, a death penalty expert, and a former vice presidential candidate, among others, all make appearances in the same year? What’s really great is that you don’t have to travel to watch or hear them. They come to you.”
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