3L Kalli Ostermiller’s favorite part about attending the S.J. Quinney College of Law is the people who make up its community. Her law school experience, she says, has been far from the competitive and cutthroat stereotype often associated with law school, in large part because of the kindness and generosity she’s experienced among her fellow classmates and faculty.
“My classmates are incredibly nice, intelligent, and supportive, and I am deeply grateful to get to learn alongside them. I have also been continually impressed by how invested the faculty and staff are in our success and well-being. The people at Utah Law have made law school a place where I feel challenged and genuinely happy to be,” she says.
Ostermiller has also enjoyed her time outside the classroom participating in the Student Bar Association (SBA) and working with Utah Law’s students. In fact, she has already hit the ground running as the SBA president for the 2026-27 academic year.
“I love being able to help create opportunities for students to take a break from school, connect with each another, and build meaningful relationships. I also find it rewarding to work on policies that can help make some of the more difficult aspects of law school a little easier for future students,” she says. “I am so grateful that SBA has given me the opportunity to build stronger relationships with my peers and give back to a community that has given me so much.”
Hailing from Tremonton, Utah, Ostermiller attended Southern Utah University for a bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy. Law school seemed like the next logical step.
“I decided to attend law school because I have always enjoyed reading, researching, and writing, and I am passionate about advocacy and helping others,” she says. “Law school felt like a natural extension of what I studied in college and seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring my interests together.”
In addition, Ostermiller is involved with the Pro Bono Initiative (PBI), which fuels her passion for helping people understand their legal issues.
“I find it meaningful to use my education to help make the legal system feel a little less intimidating and overwhelming. Volunteering with Utah Law’s PBI has given me the opportunity to begin developing my advocacy skills while serving people who may not otherwise have access to legal assistance,” she says. “My experience with PBI has reminded me what a privilege it is to have access to a legal education, and I am grateful to be able to put my education to use helping others navigate a system they have not had the opportunity to study themselves.”
During her 2L year, Ostermiller took advantage of the experiential learning opportunities available to students at Utah Law and externed with Magistrate Judge Daphne Oberg for the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah.
“I loved every part of the experience!” she says. “It was fascinating to get a behind-the-scenes look at the judicial system and to see how cases move through the court from a different perspective.”
And she’s learned a lot from Utah Law’s faculty. In particular, she enjoyed Associate Professor Nicolás Parra-Herrera’s law and leadership course.
“Learning about different leadership theories and practices has been helpful in my role with SBA, but I also found the course valuable outside of SBA because so many lawyers eventually take on leadership roles at some point in their careers,” she says.
For the second summer in a row, Ostermiller worked at Ballard Spahr as a summer associate. She will return there as an associate once she graduates from law school in spring 2027 and hopes to pursue a career in civil litigation.
In the meantime, Ostermiller looks forward to the Student Bar Association and invites students to attend SBA’s events this upcoming academic year.
“SBA’s biggest events are the Quinney Open, our annual ping-pong tournament, and Barristers Ball, also known as law school prom,” she says. “We also host a Wellness Week to promote student wellbeing after grade release, a blood drive, a welcome back to school event, and many other little events sprinkled throughout the year.”