Empowering Startup Dreams
“Before I got to law school, I interned at a startup business; I loved and cherished the entrepreneurship spirit there. When I came to law school, I thought I had to let go of the startup dream.”
Change people's lives at home and around the world
January 2022
While living in Boston, Massachusetts, Martha Wingate founded a nonprofit organization that connected families experiencing homelessness to community resources with the goal of helping them get back into housing. That’s when the mother of nine first considered law school.
At BYU Law, Wingate has worked as the lead student fellow of the Law School’s Community Legal Clinic, which provides free legal services in matters such as immigration, contracts, and housing. “Working with the clinic has been tremendously meaningful. I always feel uplifted and energized when I can listen to people. I love knowing that I can make a difference by helping to resolve something legally that will help them move forward,” she says. “It’s inspiring that BYU Law is investing in the community in this way.”
After graduating, Wingate joined Ray Quinney & Nebeker, where she is involved with immigration, mergers and acquisitions, and estate planning. Wingate is still engaged with BYU Law’s immigration efforts. “The Law School has a relationship with No More a Stranger, a foundation that advocates on behalf of individuals from immigrant, migrant, and refugee backgrounds,” she says. “That’s something that I really enjoy working on.”
“Before I got to law school, I interned at a startup business; I loved and cherished the entrepreneurship spirit there. When I came to law school, I thought I had to let go of the startup dream.”
What did you do last summer? In 2015 BYU Law School student Brooke Ellis filed a bill in Congress.
William Emery knew ever since he participated in a mock trial at age 12 that he wanted to go to law school. “BYU Law is actually the only school I applied to,” he says.