“I am indebted to the Trust for the award of this scholarship, and I’m honored to have been chosen. I think that the impulse that provided the genesis for the Trust – Mr. Weigand’s desire to give back to the people of Kansas by encouraging the growth of Kansas’ legal community – is a truly noble one. It is a model that I hope to emulate.”


Daniel E. Lawrence

Washburn University
Weigand Scholar: 2008

View Dan’s Video

Hometown:
Berryton, KS

Education:
B.A., English
University of Kansas, 2003

J.D., Washburn University, 2008

  • Shamberg Johnson Scholarship
  • Flloyd “Nick” Crossman Scholarship
  • Technical Editor, Washburn Law Journal

Employer:
Unified School District 259

Practice Areas:

  • Appellate Law
  • Class Action Litigation
  • Corporate and Business Law
  • Business and Commercial Litigation
  • Intellectual Property
  • Natural Resources Law (Oil and Gas)
  • Technology and E-Business
  • White Collar Civil and Criminal Defense

Professional Associations:

  • American Bar Association
  • Kansas Bar Association
  • Wichita Bar Association
  • Kansas Association of Defense Counsel
  • Wesley E. Brown American Inn of Court

Publications:

Dan Lawrence’s first career – and his first professional love – was information technology: for six years, starting while was still a student at the University of Kansas, he worked as a programmer, technical writer, and project manager for software companies in the Kansas City area, primarily in the area of e-commerce and related technologies. 

He left that career for the study of law at Washburn University in 2005, where he worked like a farmer and earned top scores in more than 2/3rds of his class, graduating #1 in his class of 163 students in 2008.  And although he has changed careers, his love of technology continues to inspire him, and the experience and understanding he acquired in the software industry continues to serve him and his clients in all areas where the law and technology meet – ranging from routine electronic discovery disputes to complex intellectual property and cyber-security matters.  He knows where information is stored and how it is lost and destroyed, and he applies that knowledge to help his clients find the facts that win cases. 

Dan serves as General Counsel for the Wichita School District, USD 259.

Besides graduating first in his class, Dan’s legal education also including serving as an editor and staffer for the Washburn Law Journal, for which he published two articles—”Just Add Plaintiff: The Seventh Circuit’s Recipe for Instant Liability Under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act [Int’l Airport Ctrs., L.L.C. v. Citrin, 440 F.3d 418 (7th Cir. 2006)],” 46 Washburn L. J. 223 (2006); and “It Really Is Just a Game: The Impracticability of Common Law Property Rights in Virtual Property,” 47 Washburn L.J. 505 (2008)—which were selected by the faculty of Washburn University Law School to receive the John F. Kuether Memorial Faculty Award for the best student-authored note and comment of the year, respectively. 

Dan presented seminars to both lawyers and non-lawyers on subjects including IT best practices for cyber security and privacy, royalty calculation and royalty obligations, computer trespass, and other topics related to technology law and natural gas law.  He is also active in both the Bar and the community. Since 2008, he has served on the interview committee for recipients of the JL Weigand Legal Education Trust, one of the nation’s largest legal scholarships, and was recognized as “2011 Mentor of the Year” for his participation in the Trust’s mentorship program. He regularly provides pro bono legal advice at Wichita’s Union Rescue Mission, Hilltop Urban Church, and World Impact Ministries. He is a member of the Wesley Brown Inn of Court, is active in the Wichita Bar Association’s civil practice committee, and has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Red Shoe Society of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Wichita.



“I identify Kansas and its people with the principles that I value most: pragmatism, honesty, hard work, generosity, and kindness. I think it’s important for Kansans who believe in those ideas to stay in the state and do what they can to practice and preach them. This is especially true for one who, like myself, has benefited from the generosity of a great Kansan like Mr. Weigand.”