MinJae Kim (JD, Dec.’25) sits at his desk at Spencer Fane in Salt Lake City, reflecting on BYU, grateful because he is doing exactly what he set out to do when he left full-time law enforcement for law school – civil rights litigation. He loves his job.
“I love that my work actually helps people,” Kim said.
Beyond his job at the firm, Kim is preparing for the bar exam and serves in the Utah National Guard and as a reserve deputy sheriff and police officer in Utah County. He and his wife, who is working on her PhD in Health Sciences at Rocky Mountain University, are busy parents of three young children.
Kim’s life is full and rewarding, with an interesting backstory, which doesn’t begin in the Church or at BYU.
Kim, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from South Korea when he was a child, grew up in California and attended nearby UC Berkeley before he became a cop in Southern California. Even after becoming a deputy sheriff, he felt unsettled. A few years prior, he had joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints while attending the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. With his religious activity declining after high school, he came to realize that he was missing the Church with its meaningful relationships, higher vision and guiding standards.
“I didn’t know anyone in San Bernardino County,” Kim said. “I figured I’d go check out church because I had nothing else to do.”
He started attending the nearest YSA ward — an hour drive from his house. Then he began going to Institute, and that’s where he was introduced to BYU-Pathway Worldwide.
Re-engaging with the Latter-day Saint community proved pivotal. Kim met his future wife, and they were married just a few weeks before the COVID pandemic. During the same period, Kim also began reflecting more deeply about his work as a law enforcement officer in light of the broader social justice movement.
“I recognized that there were instances in which officers did really horrible, unjustifiable things,” Kim said. “I appreciated why people were angry.”
At the same time, he felt that the broader legal system was intact and a blessing to all.
“I believe in justice and the rule of law — that when people do wrong, they should be held accountable and the wrong should be righted, and there is a process to achieve that justice,” Kim said. “If the system contributed to that wrong, the system should be corrected, and I maintained my hope in our country’s legal system.”
That hope drew Kim to BYU Law School where he could focus on a higher spiritual purpose while receiving a top-rate education with generous financial support. While in school, he joined the Utah National Guard and later transitioned into the Judge Advocate (JAG) section, an experience supported by the law school as a six-credit externship. He also worked as a law enforcement officer for Utah County and Utah Valley University. Such experiences solidified Kim’s commitment to civil rights litigation with a focus on providing defense to government entities and public servants.
Kim sees his BYU legal education in contrast to common portrayals of the profession. “On TV you see people just going at each other in the courtroom — being so mean and abrasive; but my BYU professors emphasized that, even though you may be on opposing sides, at the end of the day we’re all brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Kim loves the art piece on the third floor of the Law School – Jorge Cocco’s “Seven Roles of the Savior.” The seven-panel polyptych depicts Jesus Christ as healer, mediator, counselor, peacemaker, advocate, lawgiver and judge.
“I walked by that painting every day between classes, and it gave my future profession so much more meaning as I thought about discipleship and service.”
Kim fondly remembers his writing professor, Catherine Bramble, whose weekly in-class mini-devotionals challenged Kim to examine what Christian lawyering can look like. Taped to his work desk is a memento — a printed quote from President Gordon G. Hinckley, given to students by Professor Bramble.
“Believe in yourselves. Believe in your capacity to do some good in the world. God sent us here for a purpose, and that was to improve the world in which we live. The wonderful thing is that we can do it.”
