Jon Wayas

Utah and UCLI were well represented at the Federal Bar Association’s (FBA) National Convention last month in Memphis, Tennessee. A five member panel made up of Jen Tomchack (Tomchack Skolout), Ross Romero (Inclusion Strategies), Michele Oldroyd (Utah State Bar and UCLI Leadership Council), Melinda Bowen (Snow, Christensen & Martineau and UCLI Co-President), and Jon Wayas (UCLI Associate Director) delivered a CLE presentation moderated by Jon Hafen. Jon Hafen is a UCLI board member, and was sworn-in as the new President of the Federal Bar Association at the convention. The presentation was titled, “Community Engagement Efforts to Diversify the Legal Community – Examples from Utah.” The presentation was well attended and gave panelists the chance to highlight the wide ranging programs and collaborations taking place to make Utah’s legal market more inclusive and diverse.

The program began with Ross Romero painting the picture of Utah’s changing demographics, and why diversity is so important to the legal market and to the business community in Utah. Michele Oldroyd followed by recounting what is happening from the Utah State Bar perspective with rulemaking and an increased effort on attorney wellbeing and mental health. Jen Tomchack was able to show the great work the Utah chapter of the FBA has been doing to support inclusion, specifically in regards to women in the legal profession. This includes the “Staying in the Game” initiative which kicks off with a CLE event on October 5, 2023. Melinda Bowen highlighted the great work being done by affinity groups like the Utah Minority Bar Association, LGBT and Allied Lawyers of Utah, Women Lawyers of Utah, and the Utah Black Lawyers Association. Melinda, who is a founding member of UCLI, shared the story of the organization’s creation. This led into the final portion where Jon Wayas shared about a number of the great programs and scholarships UCLI is currently offering. The presentation ended with a short Q&A.

UCLI is grateful to Jon Hafen and the FBA Convention’s planning committee for giving this group the opportunity to share the great work going on here in the State of Utah. UCLI continues to have great opportunities to share and teach through Continuing Legal Education (CLE). We hope you will join us soon for the final installment of the “Pathways to Inclusion” CLE series for 2023, and the great offerings we will have available throughout 2024.

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Jehicob is a 3L at J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University. He is a first-generation Mexican American and Spanish was his first language. Jehicob was born in Provo, Utah but grew up a few minutes north in Orem. 

Jehicob’s parents inspired him to work hard and not give up on his dreams. His father worked at a frozen foods factory and his mother worked at a candy factory when they first arrived in the USA. Their example of endurance and pressing forward despite being far away from home and surrounded by a different culture and language has inspired Jehicob to keep going even when things seem hard.  

Jehicob did his undergraduate studies at Utah Valley University where he was part of the Honors Program. He also volunteered with the Latino Initiative on campus. During his time at UVU, he was part of the winning team for the 2018 Social Innovation Challenge where his team looked at the collateral consequences on children from having an incarcerated parent. This experience changed his perspective on a career choice. He wanted to advocate for people and help them navigate a complex web of legal jargon and rules. He started the Wolverine Pre-Law Association to help pre-law students study for the LSAT and connect with law schools and practicing attorneys. He is proud to say that the Wolverine Pre-Law Association continues to this day. 

During his time at the law school, Jehicob externed at the Utah Supreme Court with Justice Paige Peterson. He has also participated in trial advocacy and the moot court team. His team traveled to Phoenix and won first place at the Uvaldo Herrera Moot Court competition hosted by the Hispanic National Bar Association. He has also volunteered at the BYU Community Legal Clinic and has helped with immigration matters like adjustment of status, applying for asylum, and other matters that the community needs. It has been a blessing to help individuals and families navigate the legal system and find relief. He has also spent time advocating for change at the local level to help the community. In 2022, he helped lobby for HB222 that reduced the fee for an application and renewal of a driving privilege card. During this past General Session he helped lobby for HB102 which allowed asylees, refugees, TPS visa holders, and those with a pending permanent residency application to qualify for in-state tuition. He also worked with Senator Weiler on SB132 to allow private companies fingerprint applicants for a driving privilege card. This bill was designed to reduce the backlog at the Bureau of Criminal Identification and help streamline the application process for a driving privilege card. Each of those bills passed nearly unanimously in the legislature. 

Jehicob is currently working part time at the law firm of Trujillo Acosta in their civil litigation department. He enjoys trial work and hopes to be a trial attorney after law school. After graduating, He will go to New Jersey for a year to clerk for Judge Alberto Rivas. Jehicob is inspired by Justice Thurgood Marshall’s quote that “the legal system can force open doors and sometimes even knock down walls. But it cannot build bridges. That job belongs to you and me.” He strongly believes that the law can be used for good to build people up, to strengthen communities, and secure a promising future for everyone.

Jehicob Torres

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Bree is a 3L at the S.J. Quinney College of Law. Originally from California, she was surprised by Utah’s lack of diversity and some of the inequities she saw. This led her to pursue a career in public interest law. During her time at SJQ, she has had the opportunity to extern at the Disability Law Center and at Lambda Legal. These experiences solidified her commitment to advocating for marginalized communities. As the grandchild of immigrants and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she recognizes the work done by those before her to create a pathway for her into the legal profession. As a Durham Fellow, she hopes to continue that work by lighting the path for other marginalized individuals.

Bree Spaulding

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UCLI would like to congratulate and welcome our 2023-2024 Durham Fellows, Bree Spaulding from the SJ Quinney College of Law and Jehicob Torres from J. Reuben Clark Law School. The fellowship is named in honor of Justice Christine Durham. This fellowship is intended to help facilitate the legal education of an individual who shows a demonstrated commitment to and great potential for pushing forward the cause of justice, equity, and inclusiveness in Utah’s legal profession. Someone who, like Justice Durham, will make the legal field a better place for all who follow.

The Durham Fellowship is awarded to two law students each year (one from each Utah law school). It includes a stipend which may be used toward tuition, housing, living expenses, etc. Fellows partner with UCLI Leadership Council and staff on law school programming. We had a wealth of incredible candidates apply this fall which is a testament to the incredible work our law schools are doing here in Utah.

Please read more about Bree and Jehicob in these news articles.

We would like to thank the many individuals who have donated this year, making the 2023-2024 Durham Fellowship possible. 

Bree Spaulding

Jehicob Torres

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On June 27, 2023, UCLI, in its continued partnership with Inclusion Strategies and the Utah State Bar held the third session in the “Pathways to Inclusion” CLE series. This was a hybrid CLE with 25 people joining in-person, and over 200 joining via Zoom. This panel for this session included Tyler Buswell, Shareholder at Kirton McConkie, Judge Dianna Gibson, Utah Third District Court, Barbara Melendez, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging at BYU Law, and Isabel Moreno, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Utah SJ Quinney College of Law. The panel was moderated by UCLI Associate Director, Jon Wayas. 

This session focused on inclusion and diversity efforts being made in recruitment, retention, and advancement. The law school representatives were given the opportunity to highlight successful programs they have implemented in the last several years. They also highlighted the challenges they are facing now, and potential challenges on the horizon.

 Mr. Buswell highlighted the successful Inclusion Fellows program Kirton McConkie has undertaken in partnership with Intermountain Health. Now in its second year, the program takes one student from each of the Utah law schools to be a part of Kirton’s summer associate program. These fellows also work for a number of hours each week with Intermountain’s in-house counsel team. These fellows receive normal summer associate compensation along with a tuition scholarship furnished by the Intermountain Health. UCLI aids in the application and interview process for the fellowship.

Judge Gibson highlighted examples of successful inclusion initiatives she was part of in her private sector career before joining the bench. She also highlighted the new Utah State Court Common Thread program. This program is aimed to encourage more individuals to consider ascending to the bench. This program is still in the planning phase. It will include programming to meet people at all stages of their legal careers, from law school, early-mid career, and even seasoned attorneys thinking of joining the judiciary.

The session also included great discussion with audience members. We appreciate everyone who has participated in the series thus far. There will be a fourth and final session in this series later in the year. There will be plenty to discuss and we hope you will join us then.

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The Meadowlark Initiative began in the 2020 school year. Mr. John Arthur, who is known by his students as ‘Captain’, and UCLI have teamed up each year to provide mentoring to his sixth grade class. UCLI attorneys and law students are paired with sixth grade students from the class. Each Friday mentors and students meet via Zoom. Captain briefly explains the writing assignment the students have been working on, and then attorneys and students are sent to breakout rooms to work one-on-one to help improve writing skills. There are different topics every week. They may be given writing prompts like “Was it fair that women and children were given priority as the Titanic was sinking?”, or are given assignments like writing engaging and informative autobiographical essays. We are excited to aid Captain, who was designated the 2021 Utah Teacher of the Year, in his enthusiasm and vision for his students’ learning. The hope for the mentoring is to help the students build confidence and dream big for their lives as they transition into junior high school. It also provides the opportunity for these students to meet and be mentored by attorneys who are friendly and genuinely care about their success. For many of these students the mentoring is the first chance they’ve had to talk to attorneys.

Meadowlark Elementary is located in the Rose Park neighborhood of Salt Lake City and nearly 75% of the students are from a diverse background. Each year approximately 25-35 attorneys and law students participate as mentors. The commitment is minimal- 30 minutes on most Fridays during the school year – yet incredibly impactful. In letters to their mentors, students shared the following sentiments: 

“You increased my writing. Now my writing skills are better than ever! I also want to be like you when I grow up and I know what I want that to look like.”

“Thank you for helping me with my writing. I really like talking to you about the projects we did in class. Writing was hard at first, but then you helped me a lot and it got easier! I am a better student thanks to your help.”

“Captain chose me you to me because I’m speaking Spanish and now I write you a letter in English! Thank you for everything you helped me in what I did not understand.”

Recruiting for each school year runs from August through September. If you are interested please contact UCLI Associate Director, Jon Wayas at . Everyone is welcome. However, there is extra need and opportunity for mentors who speak Spanish.

Check out this 2022 video of Captain and a handful of the incredible UCLI Meadowlark volunteer mentors here. 

Intermountain Healthcare, Kirton McConkie, and the Utah Center for Legal Inclusion (UCLI), have collaborated to create the Legal Inclusion Fellowship, providing students at Utah law schools the unique opportunity for a paid summer internship and a substantial scholarship. The Fellowship is open to students at Brigham Young University J. Reuben Clark Law School and the University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law. In 2022, the fellowship was granted to one law student, KC (Keigo) Decker at the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU. The fellowship plays a significant role in UCLI’s efforts to empower students from historically underrepresented groups to thrive in the legal profession by developing professional skills, exploring career options, and receiving financial support.

KC is a first-generation, bi-racial Japanese American law student. KC was born and raised in Japan and moved to Utah when he was in grade school. During his first several years living in the United States, KC remembers struggling to adjust to a different culture and language, while his parents struggled to provide. “The transition was hard on everyone. I struggled to keep up with peers in school while my parents worked multiple jobs to stabilize our new place in the world. Though my parents undoubtedly worked hard, economic stability continually proved elusive. With no college education, little substantive career experience, and no financial savings, my family constantly fought an uphill battle.”

Although education was not a strong emphasis in his home growing up, KC developed a deep love of learning from passionate and encouraging public school educators. With this foundation, KC went on to study at BYU where he obtained a bachelor’s degree in European Studies and Russian. This course of study was motivated by his experience as a church missionary living in Eastern Europe. “I met with hundreds of people who were caught in all too familiar circumstances. As I listened to them share the stories of their own families, I recognized the familiar pattern of navigating life without an education, jumping from job to job, and borrowing money to maintain spending habits.” KC explains, “I began to comprehend the pervasive consequences of this pattern, and that if I wanted something different for my future, I was going to need to break the cycle and formal education would be the key.” As a first-generation college graduate, KC has a deep appreciation for how formal education increases awareness and equips people with tools to create change.

KC is currently a rising 2L at BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. As a UCLI fellow, he hopes to hone skills in the law to help others avoid some of the challenges he has encountered. “The UCLI fellowship has allowed me to learn practical legal skills and better navigate the law. As I’ve studied and worked in the law, it is no wonder to me why many people fall victim to prejudiced legal structures and economic hurdles. The law is extremely complicated and not intended to be understood by the layperson, and access to legal resources costs a substantial amount of money. This naturally leaves immigrants and those without a formal education disadvantaged.”

For KC, the fellowship is an opportunity to pave a new narrative; one with greater stability for himself and his family. As he continues to build out his legal practice, KC hopes to become a mentor and example to others, proving that multi-generational precedent is not an indication of one’s future. To others who come from similar backgrounds, KC says, “You can create a better future if you desire it and know where to look. Often, you will only know where to look if you have someone to show you and guide you. UCLI, in partnership with Kirton McConkie and Intermountain Healthcare, was that someone for me. I plan to pay this opportunity forward by helping future law students navigate their journey.”