Mother knows best—at least when it comes to suggesting a career for Idaho native and 3L Jack Wolthuis.
“To be completely honest, I attended law school because my mom always told me to be either a doctor or a lawyer—and I really don’t like blood,” Wolthuis says.
With his career options easily narrowed, Wolthuis attended Brigham Young University and received his bachelor’s degree in political science and government with a minor in Chinese. He wanted to remain in Utah for law school and liked what the S.J. Quinney College of Law offers its students.
“What impressed me most about Utah Law were the very generous scholarship opportunities and the high bar passage rate. Law school is very expensive, and Utah Law always ranks toward the top of the best value rankings,” he says.
Wolthuis is passionate about providing good service to his future clients. He appreciates the experiential learning opportunities available at Utah Law and how it offers a low-stakes way to try something new, like his field placement at the Utah Court of Appeals with Judge Ryan M. Harris.
“It was fun to work alongside a judge. He was very friendly, helpful, and overall easy to work with, and I enjoyed the hands-on application of the law. My field placement forced me to develop more emotional intelligence and resilience,” Wolthuis says. “The case I worked on was tough. Legally, it was pretty cut and dried, but the facts were devastating. Even though I had a positive experience with it, I learned that clerking for a judge and criminal law are areas I will not pursue moving forward.”
However, Wolthuis has learned that pursuing writing opportunities pays off. He is an executive citation editor for the Utah Law Review this academic year and recently published an article with Associate Professor Daniel Aaron in the American Journal of Public Health.
He also enjoys participating in the Ping Pong Club, and he helped orchestrate the 2025 Quinney Open with other club members and the Student Bar Association. Wolthuis adds that having the club on his resume has been great for interviews because it gives him “something to talk about when there’s a lull in the conversation.”
“The Ping Pong Club had the biggest impact on me as a 1L. It gave me something to do during my down time between classes and also helped me make the majority of my closest friends at law school. I played for hours,” Wolthuis says. “It was a great way to relieve some stress, talk though difficult cases, exercise a bit, and develop friendships.”
After graduation, Wolthuis plans to move to Kansas City, Missouri, to work at the firm Stinson LLP and pick up farming, too.
“I’m hoping to be a hobby farmer on the weekends. My in-laws have some beehives we’re going to take when my wife and I move out there next summer. I’m not sure how much land I hope to have—I’ll be too busy with work to run a real operation. But I do hope I have enough space to get a little tractor,” he says.