Mitch Zufelt ’27 described the first few weeks of his law school experience as “invigorating,” especially meeting his fellow students. “It seems like everyone here has some issue or topic that they can talk to you about at length and with great passion,” he said. “I’ve perhaps learned as much from my conversations with my peers as I have from my casebooks.”
Zufelt arrived at Yale with his own set of interests and passions. After graduating from Southern Utah University, he spent two years conducting research at the Urban Health Lab at the University of Chicago. There, he examined ways to improve health care access for people who had recently been released from incarceration and were facing tough conditions, including substance abuse and homelessness.
In Chicago, Zufelt worked on large clinical trials designed to test various interventions to learn what would be most helpful to people in these circumstances.
“We worked with a couple of different agencies in the community to connect our clients with case managers and peer-recovery coaches who would then help our clients navigate the health care system,” he explained.
Zufelt interviewed clients and connected them with community partners, and also analyzed all the data collected from the research using statistical methods to evaluate how well the interventions were working. He initially planned to pursue a Ph.D. to continue his research career, but decided to switch to law after his time in the Chicago program.
“I felt that in the observational role of a researcher, there was not a lot I could do directly for clients. The experience encouraged me to pursue a law degree instead,” he said. “I loved the folks in the program, but they needed a lot of help that I felt unequipped to give. Yale Law School gives me the opportunity to get involved with these issues at a deeper level.”
Yale Law School attracted Zufelt with its small class sizes and the freedom to approach the study of law from many different directions.
“I feel like YLS gives me a lot of latitude to approach from different angles the issues that I personally find compelling and to explore how I can actually make progress on them,” he said.
The ability to engage with the law at YLS and develop a broad skill set was appealing, Zufelt said.
“It’s a sterling professional school, but at the same time feels less like an institution that’s just trying to get me a job and more like one that wants me to do something interesting and good,” he added.
As he embarks on his legal education, Zufelt said he’s proud to bring his small-town origins in Utah to the Law School.
“I went to a small regional public school for undergrad, and I’m probably the first person from that school ever to attend Yale Law School,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in where I’m from and the community that raised me, and I hope to represent them well while here at the Law School.”
September 2024