Participating in high school debate team helped 3L Audrey Meyer realize she wanted to become a lawyer, especially as she continued to coach younger students while earning her bachelor’s degree in political science and philosophy at the University of Utah.
“I love to spar and debate (to the ire of my friends and family), and law seemed like a great field to go into to exercise that. More than anything, I have always wanted to help other people and have been very passionate about social issues, but I didn’t have a way to make an impact,” Meyer recalls. “I decided to attend law school to make use of my personality traits that, while annoying to many, would make me a good lawyer. Studying law has given me the tools I need to help others that I otherwise never would have had access to.”
Though it was difficult for her to meet people and make connections as an undergraduate due to many students commuting to and from class, Meyer says she’s had the opposite experience at the S.J. Quinney College of Law.
“It’s so easy to find your people here. I’ve gotten to know almost everyone in my class, and everyone is happy to chat when you run into them in the halls,” she says. “I had no idea I would make so many lifelong friends and become part of such a strong community when I came to law school. Everyone at Utah Law is friendly and eager to help each other out.”
Finding her place in family law
Eager to jump into public interest work from the beginning, Meyer recalls trying to get involved with the Pro Bono Initiative (PBI) during her first week of law school—only to discover 1Ls needed to complete one semester of classes first. The following spring, she began volunteering at PBI’s Family Law recurring legal site with Student Director McKaela Dangerfield’s encouragement.
“It was sort of a hallelujah moment where I realized all of the grunt work at school had a purpose, and I could use what I’d learned to help actual people sitting in front of me asking for guidance. I applied to be a student director, not really knowing where I fit in, just knowing that I loved the program,” Meyer remembers. “PBI Director Caisa Royer has a knack for placing people where they should be and seemingly intuitively knew that I belonged in family law. I became the student director of the family law program my 1L spring and have stayed in that position ever since, advancing to the Rocky Rognlie fellowship my 3L year.”
Meyer has enjoyed working in and then leading the Family Law site because she and other volunteers can often help solve their problems.
“Someone comes to us during what is one of the worst, most stressful times of their lives, expecting to cry their eyes out the whole meeting. Instead, they’re met with a clear plan of action, knowledge, support, and even a little bit of cheering up,” she says. “I love meeting clients with a little bit of humor. Family law problems can be so traumatic and heavy that I’ve found everyone, volunteers and clients alike, really appreciates some levity.”
Because the world sometimes has a negative view of lawyers, Meyer says getting students involved in PBI helps to dispel this misconception.
“Our student volunteers are earnest, respectful, professional, smart, energetic, and eager to help. They go above and beyond for every single client. I cannot possibly count how many times a client has come up to me after their consultation, pointed out a student and said something to the effect of, ‘I thought all lawyers were awful or boring or snooty, but that student was awesome. That student made me laugh, explained everything clearly, and made me feel like I know exactly where to go from here,’” she says. “The transformation we see from each client when they come in upset and unsure to when they leave—feeling empowered and hopeful—is gratifying beyond words.”
She often sees student volunteers go through the same transformation process.
“They come to the family law program for the first time dreading the drama, the tears, the complexity, and then become regular volunteers after realizing the impact they can have on clients here,” Meyer explains. “Family law is a field where you can solve problems and, more than anything, have a little human-to-human connection with someone who could really use it.”
Building Utah Law’s Estate Planning recurring legal site
During her initial interview with Royer to become a PBI student director, Meyer talked about starting an estate planning recurring legal site, something close to her heart.
“Before law school, when I was 19, my dad was diagnosed with stage four cancer and passed away very suddenly less than three months later. When he passed, his estate plan was almost 20 years old. In the time since it had been drafted, we had lived in three different states, and our family finances had changed dramatically. Needless to say, the document was practically useless,” she recalls. “Our family struggled to navigate the legalities of the situation and faced prohibitive cost barriers from every resource we turned to for help.”
Having learned a bit about estate planning during her 1L year, Meyer realized the process could have been much easier if her family had someone who knew a bit about the law to help them.
“It was astonishing to me that that resource just didn’t exist, and Caisa told me she had always wanted to start an estate planning site for PBI. We began strategizing immediately when I became a student director. She let me take the project where I wanted, and I spent almost two years working on the legal site behind the scenes before the first program took place.”
Like other Pro Bono Initiative recurring legal sites, Estate Planning is staffed by volunteer Utah Law students who are supervised by an attorney. Clients can walk in (no appointment necessary) during the legal site and ask questions about the estate planning or probate process. However, low-income community members can also make appointments to meet with a law student and draft a will, advanced healthcare directive, and a power of attorney.
“It was important that the program be designed to address both needs. We wanted to offer a sort of preventative care by making sure clients have a sound estate plan that reflects their needs, holds up in court, and provides peace and clarity to them and their families—but, like other PBI clinics, also to be able to offer support and strategy sessions when the legal battle has already started,” Meyer says. “I started the Estate Planning legal site to help people who were in the same situation as my family, people who just needed an hour of someone’s time to dramatically benefit the outlook of their situation.”
When the Estate Planning site opened a few months ago, Meyer says she expected everything to go wrong because she had worked so hard on it and struggled to get volunteers and spread the word to potential clients.
“Much to my surprise, everything went perfectly. The day of our first Estate Planning legal site was one of the most fulfilling, proudest moments of my life. We had one particular client who emailed us the summer prior asking about a will, and she had stayed interested in the program despite it being pushed back month after month. Even after all the delays, she was so thrilled and grateful for the program and the students she met with,” Meyer says. “I think back to how difficult my family’s life was when we were navigating the same situation. Being able to help other people through the same hardship, and even prevent their families from going through that maybe 10 or 20 years in the future, has been the greatest accomplishment of my career. It has reaffirmed to me that law is a field where I can change people’s lives for the better.”
Her experience through the Pro Bono Initiative has paid off. After graduation, Meyer will join a boutique family law firm specializing in complex, high net-worth, and high-conflict divorce and custody cases.
“The Family Law recurring legal site has taught me that helping family law clients navigate the most emotionally tumultuous times of their lives and guiding them into a new beginning is not only something I excel at, but something that has given a lot of purpose to my life,” she says. “I hope to continue practicing family law in Utah for many, many years, and continue serving many pro bono clients while I’m at it.”