Holland & Hart is pleased to announce that Engels Tejeda was named the Westminster College’s 2019 commencement speaker and will receive an honorary Master of Arts in Community Leadership (MACL) degree at the ceremony on May 11. Engels is an alumnus of Westminster College, where he was student body president from 2002–03 and received the President’s Leadership Award in 2003. Since graduating, he has served as an alumni mentor, helping to support and guide students who are interested in pursuing a career in law and is dedicated to building community, unity, and diversity at Westminster and within his scope of influence.
As a trial attorney, Engels regularly appears in federal and state courts representing businesses and individuals in wide range of matters from consumer claims defense to cybersecurity and privacy litigation, banking litigation, and creditors’ rights in bankruptcy.
Engels shares Holland & Hart's value and commitment to communities by actively seeking and undertaking opportunities for giving his skills, time, and talents to pro bono and public service activities. Most recently, Tejeda worked with the Dilley Pro Bono Project, a local partner in the Immigration Justice Campaign that recruits and organizes groups of lawyers to travel to a Texas residential center to help the center’s pro bono legal team on asylum cases. By appointment of the Supreme Court of Utah, he serves as a judge pro tempore in the small claims division of the Salt Lake City Justice Court. He is actively involved with the Utah Minority Bar Association – both as a mentor and as a member – as well as the LGBT & Allied Lawyers of Utah, the National LGBT Bar Association, and the Hispanic National Bar Association, among other organizations and associations. He also served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army Reserve for eight years, which included two active duty deployments to Iraq and Kosovo.
For more information, please see Westminster College’s press release.