The CLS Mission
"To be the national grassroots network of lawyers and law students, committed to proclaiming, loving and serving Jesus Christ, through all we do and say in the practice of law, and advocating biblical conflict reconciliation, public justice, religious freedom and the sanctity of human life."
CLS Generally
The national CLS was founded in 1961 and is a national non-profit organization serving thousands of Christian attorneys, judges, law professors, law students and paralegals. It is headquartered in Annandale, Virginia. CLS is represented by a broad and diverse Christian Membership: CLS membership reflects the broad spectrum of Christendom, encompassing the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, as well as numerous denominations of Protestantism. CLS seeks to "do justice with the love of God" through its four ministries: Membership Ministries, The Center For Law and Religious Freedom, Public Ministries and Law Student Ministries.
Law Student Ministries
Law Student Ministries is the only national ministry committed in a concerted way to reaching the nation's law school campuses for Christ. LSM is beginning to disciple the next generation of lawyers for Christ by supporting Christian law fellowships and student groups at over 160 law schools and at a handful of strategic Christian colleges. In carrying out this mission, LSM seeks to encourage students in spiritual formation, compassionate outreach, and integration of faith and learning-to help students understand law as a Christian calling. This three-fold ministry model affirms that the Lord is the supreme lawgiver and that His higher law serves as an immutable standard by which to assess human positive law. In addition, CLS and Regent University Law School have created the Institute for Christian Legal Studies (ICLS), a resource center for Christian law students and professors. ICLS provides materials and encouragement to students who seek to serve God in their law school studies and in their vocation as Christian lawyers.
CLS Goals
Few experiences in life can be as hazardous to a Christian's faith as studying for three or more years at an American law school. Surrounded by academic world views that deny the transcendent and by a professional milieu that stresses worldly "wisdom", "might" and "wealth" rather than knowing God, the Christian law student who fails to zealously guard his or her faith will be worn down and succumb to beliefs, outlooks and attitudes that are irreconcilable with Christianity.
Because law school is the formative period in an attorney's life - setting patterns and habits that will long endure and, in the case of bad tendencies, will only be broken with anguish - it is imperative that Christian law students seek out one another for fellowship, encouragement, and accountability. As a supplement to involvement in the local church, a Christian law fellowship should facilitate a closer relationship with Christ, so that in the words of the 10th century prayer, He may defend, refresh, preserve, guide, justify, and bless us.
CLS Threefold Ministry Model