Blog
Zoom Meeting - Featuring Judge Ryan Nelson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Thursday, June 18th, 2020
Judge Ryan Nelson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals spoke at a meeting on June 18, 2020. The meeting was held online via a Zoom meeting, and was provided at no cost. Judge Nelson's remarks were titled "A Minister By Any Other Name: Who Qualifies for the Ministerial Exception?" One hour of CLE credit was available.
Judge Nelson was confirmed to the Ninth Circuit in October 2018, as the youngest Circuit Judge to serve from
Idaho. Prior to his confirmation, Judge Nelson served for nine years as General Counsel of Idaho Falls-based
Melaleuca, Inc., a consumer goods company. He previously worked in Washington, DC, where he served in all
three branches of the federal government, including as Special Counsel for Supreme Court nominations to the
Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; Deputy General Counsel to the White House Office of
Management and Budget; Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Environment and Natural Resources
Division of the United States Department of Justice; and a law clerk to Judge Henderson of the United States
Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He started in the Washington, DC office of Sidley & Austin as an appellate
lawyer, after clerking for Judges Mosk and Brower of the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal at The Hague, and for
now-Judge Tom Griffith, then-Senate Legal Counsel, during the impeachment trial of President Clinton. Judge
Nelson earned his B.A. from Brigham Young University and his J.D., with honors, from BYU Law School.