FAMU College of Law Summer Grad Credits Mentor and Role Model

ORLANDO, Fla. – Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law summer graduate Cory Carter had a great role model and mentor to help him accomplish his goal of becoming a corporate attorney.

“I told him after his first lecture that I wanted to be in the position he is in and his response was very welcoming as he said he would do what he could to help me get there,” said Carter of adjunct professor Carlos Woody. “Since then, Professor Woody has become a father figure for me at FAMU Law and my legal mentor. I am extremely thankful we crossed paths when we did because my original high school mentor had passed one month before Professor Woody told me that he is now my mentor.”  

Woody, a member of the 2005 inaugural graduating class of the reestablished College of Law, is an impressive mentor for any law student. He is chief deputy counsel for the Orlando Utilities Commission, is Florida board certified specializing in city, county, and local government law with a broad spectrum of transactional and civil litigation experience. He works for the second largest municipal utility in Florida and the 14th largest municipal utility in the nation.

Carter was motivated to make positive change happen after seeing the American Bar Association’s (ABA) statistics for representation in the legal field.  According to the ABA, nearly all people of color are underrepresented in the legal field compared to their presence in the U.S. 

“As a Rattler for Justice, aside from service, my main aims are to strike through the statistics that have negatively impacted our community and initiate the change necessary to shift those statistics more positively for the Rattlers for Justice in the future,” said Carter. 

The Atlanta, Georgia native felt an obligation to attend FAMU Law.

“I chose to attend the FAMU College of Law because I felt like God chose this institution to mold me not just to obtain my legal education to be an attorney but to also join a network and community that would help shape the man I am becoming,” he said.