Michelle Yun ’12 bridges engineering and law, advocating for energy professionals and mentoring future legal minds.
Michelle Yun ’12 discovered her passion for law as an engineer. Before enrolling at University of Wisconsin Law School, she worked for a nuclear power company “in the middle of nowhere,” where she learned the true influence of law in the most peculiar place.
“I went to law school wanting to learn how I could use the law to better advocate for energy professionals,” said Yun, who specifically remembers the moment she made that decision.
It was when she entered the control room of a nuclear power plant for the first time. It’s the room “where all the buttons are;” it’s essentially the place where the most important decisions are made.
“I realized that, a lot of times, the reason why we press buttons in the control room is not because of physics, but because of some rule that a lawyer wrote,” Yun explained.
She found that influence astonishing and knew she wanted to be the advocate for making decisions that consulted the science of the matter first.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand how nuclear power plants work, and often, when you find yourself in a community that is misunderstood, you realize that these people need someone to advocate for them,” Yun explained.
In 2009, she enrolled at UW Law School with the intent of becoming an energy lawyer.
Advocacy in the Classroom
During Yun’s time at UW Law, she was involved with the Legal Education Opportunities (LEO) Program, which involved mentorship and reaching out to the surrounding community.
“The LEO program helped me understand the power of community,” said Yun. “Throughout my career, I have sought to build that sense of community within my relationships at work.”
She also served as editor of “On the Rise,” a LEO publication that highlights and records achievements of the program within the community.
After practicing in both the Midwest and the East Coast, Yun returned to Madison and started a program called Tipping the Scales, which serves high school students in underrepresented communities and encourages their interest in the law sector.
“It’s really important that people realize that you can have a place in law school regardless of your background,” Yun said.
Tipping the Scales, which began during the COVID-19 pandemic, partners with Madison East High School, providing students with several layers of mentorships, including field trips to courthouses and meetings with lawyers who come from similar backgrounds as their assigned students. During these mentorship opportunities, students can learn about various routes and journeys to law school, as well as attend real legal lectures at the university.
“Students from Madison East sometimes get negative press, and they are truly wonderful kids,” said Yun. “They deserve every opportunity to see themselves on the bench, in the courtroom and in the office.”
Yun is proud of her work, especially since Tipping the Scales has seen program alumni declare themselves pre-law majors upon their undergraduate enrollment.
“The power of Tipping the Scales is the people,” said Yun. “The volunteers are so invested — year after year, the same lawyers, professors, deans, judges and state representatives volunteer their time, offices and resources to open doors for these young students.”
A Full Circle of Giving Back
“I’ve gotten to a place in my life where I realize that community and connection are so important,” said Yun, who, during her last year in law school, was the president of the Student Bar Association (SBA).
Although the role was primarily composed of administrative responsibilities such as writing emails to the student body, sending out reminders and simply communicating with fellow students to ensure that the organization runs smoothly, Yun looks back satisfied with her participation.
“It was silly, but at the same time, I loved it because it was the ultimate way of serving people and making sure everyone felt heard,” she said.
Now, she’s working to raise money for the Mike Hall Fund, a scholarship named after Mike Hall ’04, former director of student life and assistant dean for admissions during Yun’s years at UW Law.
“His job was to care for us, but he went above and beyond all the time. He not only made sure we had our school books, but he would be there to pick you up from the airport or bring you cold medicine if you were sick,” she said.
To Yun, Hall represented the community in one person.
“He was someone who kept tabs on everyone,” she said.
Because Yun felt cared for during her time as a student, she wants to give back so future generations of Badgers can feel the same.
“The UW Law community is unlike any other school in the country,” she said.
To donate to the Mike Hall Fund, visit supportuw.org/giveto/mikehallscholarship.
By Tasmiha Khan and Malak Kassem