{"id":246900,"date":"2026-06-04T07:30:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T11:30:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=246900"},"modified":"2026-06-03T11:30:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T15:30:55","slug":"the-moment-that-changed-everything-and-the-gift-that-followed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/06\/the-moment-that-changed-everything-and-the-gift-that-followed\/","title":{"rendered":"The Moment That Changed Everything, and the Gift That Followed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wes Horton \u201970 JD remembers the feeling of arguing a case in front of the Connecticut Supreme Court as a student in a law school competition \u2014 and winning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a moment when I really felt I was practicing law, as opposed to just learning law. I realized this was what I wanted to do with my life,\u201d says Wes, who has become a nationally known attorney. \u201cIt gave me this feeling that I was doing something important for society as a whole simply by arguing my point. That was a real feeling of empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wes\u2019s opportunity came through the moot court competition, where students practice presenting cases before higher courts in a high-stakes environment.<\/p>\n

In reflection of the School of Law opportunities that shaped him, Wes and his wife, Chloe Horton, recently made a generous $500,000 gift to UConn School of Law programs that give students competitive opportunities to practice law and represent clients in simulated legal proceedings, like moot court, mock trial, and negotiation and dispute resolution programs.<\/p>\n

To honor Wes\u2019s commitment to the School, the Connecticut Moot Court Board named their spring competition in his honor in early 2026.<\/p>\n

\"A
UConn donors Wes Horton \u201970 JD and Chloe Horton (contributed photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To Wes, these competition programs are critical proving grounds for students and important ways to meet industry needs by fostering the next generation of highly skilled lawyers. The Hortons\u2019 gift will give these programs more resources to send teams to competitions and cover travel and lodging costs. Wes hopes his support will also help these programs train more students and hire trainers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to the Hortons\u2019 generosity, we\u2019re better positioned to do well in competitions and represent the School of Law on a national stage,\u201d says Ian Russell \u201926 JD, executive director of the Connecticut Moot Court Board.<\/p>\n

Wes\u2019 moot court competition was the beginning of a distinguished career in appellate law, a field that involves bringing cases before higher courts to review lower courts\u2019 decisions, often interpreting constitutional rights in the process. \u201cThere\u2019s so much you can do as a lawyer that handles appeals to change society for the better,\u201d Wes said.<\/p>\n

His competition experience even helped him learn how to conquer nerves as a young and aspiring lawyer, a skill that would serve him when he would later argue \u2014 and win \u2014 the eminent domain case Kelo v. New London\u00a0before the United States Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

The case he is most proud of, however, wasn\u2019t at the highest court in the land, and not even one of the 135-plus cases he\u2019s argued before Connecticut\u2019s own Supreme Court. He created a pioneering case, Horton v. Meskill, that advocated for his son\u2019s and all Connecticut children\u2019s rights to fair funding for education. \u201cIt reaffirmed people\u2019s belief in the power of the Connecticut constitution,\u201d he said, adding that it set the foundation for critical future cases like Sheff v. O\u2019Neill, where he later helped UConn School of Law Professor Emeritus John Brittain<\/a>\u00a0challenge Hartford\u2019s school segregation.<\/p>\n

This belief in the importance of public education has underpinned Wes\u2019 years-long commitment to the UConn School of Law, where he has taught a course almost every semester for the past five decades. In the process, he\u2019s mentored countless students and enabled them to learn by doing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very fortunate to have Wes as a professor in law school,\u201d says David Gitlin \u201995 JD. \u201cWe conducted an in-depth analysis of a case that went before the Connecticut Supreme Court, examining it from both sides. Wes was deeply passionate about teaching, learning, and contributing. He\u2019s a true icon in the Connecticut legal community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
UConn Law students learn by doing at a mock trial competition before the Connecticut Supreme Court (contributed photo).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhen I was Wes\u2019 law school student, there was plenty of teaching, knowledge-sharing, and coaching, but what I wasn\u2019t expecting was the level of mutual respect \u2014 he treated me like a colleague, rather than a student, and that was a singularly empowering experience,\u201d adds Ian Russell \u201926 JD. \u201cI know Wes has done that, not just for me, and not just for the students who have taken his class, but for countless members of the Connecticut bar. He\u2019s been doing this for long enough that I\u2019ve been mentored by attorneys who were themselves mentored by Wes. That\u2019s a fantastic legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wes\u2019s commitment to UConn is also rooted in gratitude for the School\u2019s role in launching his legal career. He had come to law by tragic chance: when his parents died of a car accident at a young age, he turned to the law for answers, pursuing a wrongful death case and managing their estate. The experience inspired Wes to embark on a new career path in law and enroll in the UConn School of Law as the first step.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew the day I arrived at UConn Law School that it was where I belonged,\u201d Wes says, crediting his classes, instructors, and ample opportunities to focus on a path in Connecticut law.<\/p>\n

Now, the Hortons\u2019 gift ensures the Horton legacy will always be part of the UConn School of Law.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to fully capture the profound impact Wes Horton has had on the School of Law over the past half century,\u201d says School of Law Dean Eboni S. Nelson. \u201cThrough their latest gift, the Hortons extend this extraordinary legacy \u2014 equipping the next generation of aspiring lawyers with the skills, experience, and confidence needed to become effective advocates in the pursuit of justice. The School of Law is deeply grateful to Wes and Chloe for their generous support, which strengthens our ability to provide a transformative educational experience for our students as we build upon our legacy of excellence.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enabling students to learn by doing \u2014 about the law and about themselves<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":246901,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2472,1857,2712,2235],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[1902],"class_list":["post-246900","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-gifts-donors","category-law","category-student-success","category-today-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-11 10:11:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246900","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246900"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246900\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247156,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246900\/revisions\/247156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/246901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246900"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246900"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246900"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=246900"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=246900"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}