Judge Ben Hadfield has experienced the law from three very different perspectives: trial lawyer, district court judge, and mediator and international legal educator.

In this episode of Legends in the Law, Randy Spencer sits down with Judge Hadfield for a wide-ranging conversation about landmark cases, courtroom life, BYU Law history, judicial decision-making, mediation, and the growing role of peacemaking around the world.

Hadfield was part of one of the earliest classes at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School and was among the first students to spend all three years in the new law school building. He recalls the school’s dedication, meeting U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger, and the profound influence of founding dean Rex Lee.

One piece of advice from Lee stayed with him throughout his career: lawyers can plan where they think their lives are going, but they should remain wise enough to recognize unexpected opportunities when they appear.

Hadfield’s first career was as a trial attorney in Box Elder County.

While practicing family law, he challenged then-existing Utah law concerning retirement benefits in divorce. The case eventually reached the Utah Supreme Court, which adopted the basic pension-division formula Hadfield had advocated for his client—later commonly referenced in Utah practice as the Woodward formula.

Hadfield also recounts a memorable civil trial involving a truck driver who struck a black steer on Interstate 84. After the state refused to settle, Hadfield uncovered evidence involving an inadequate interstate fence and ultimately obtained a $135,000 jury verdict.

In 1993, newly elected Governor Mike Leavitt appointed Hadfield to Utah’s district court bench.

He served nearly 22 years as a judge and shares both humorous and difficult courtroom memories—from defendants representing themselves to emotionally challenging cases involving children and polygamous communities.

After retiring in 2014, Hadfield began mediating.

That third career eventually took him far beyond Utah.

Hadfield and his wife volunteered in Moldova and Ukraine, working with young lawyers and law students on advocacy, jury trials, mediation, and rule-of-law principles. He describes the close relationships they formed there and the sobering changes he has seen among Ukrainian law students during the war.

His work later expanded to South Africa, where he trained High Court judges in mediation and helped develop additional training for traditional leaders.

Today, Hadfield is helping create a multilingual mediation manual designed for traditional leaders in South Africa, with the hope that the project can eventually expand elsewhere in Africa.

It is a conversation about advocacy, judging, mentorship, mediation, legal education, and the remarkable places a career can lead when you remain open to the opportunities life presents.