Dawit Tegbaru is a rising fourth-year evening student at UNT Dallas College of Law, focusing on intellectual property and access to justice. He serves as President of the Intellectual Property Society and is a member of the 2025 J.L. Turner Legal Association Leadership Class. Dawit is also a pupil in the Honorable Barbara M.G. Lynn American Inn of Court and a scholarship recipient from both the State Bar of Texas Intellectual Property Law Section and the National Association of Bench and Bar Spouses. 

Dawit is currently interning at Lone Star Justice Alliance (LSJA). His work includes advocacy research and strategic planning to expand programming for justice-involved youth. When not at LSJA, he serves as a clinical extern for the UNT Dallas College of Law Community Lawyering Center’s juvenile criminal law program and clerks at a boutique IP firm in Dallas. His past summer experiences include a judicial clerkship with the Fifth District Court of Appeals and providing nonprofit legal support with Dallas Free Press. 

Prior to law school, Dawit managed technical publications across disciplines such as petroleum engineering, oncology, and geophysics. As Director of Community Publishing Services at Knowledge Futures Group, he led the strategy and execution of open-access publishing services and managed MIT Press’s open publishing service clients—helping researchers and nonprofits adopt community-centered publishing models. 

Dawit holds a B.A. in Global Affairs from George Mason University, where he graduated magna cum laude. Outside of law, he enjoys playing basketball, playing the keyboard, and spending time with his wife, two children, Kangal Shepherd, and chickens.