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WASHINGTON, D.C. — "Am I true to my principles?" "Can I practice my religion as I practice my profession?"
More than 500 LDS lawyers and law students from five continents and 56 law schools met in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17-18 to examine such questions in a conference that was the first of its kind.
Members of the various chapters of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS) held their first conference together in conjunction with an LDS Law Student Conference to discuss and strengthen the religious convictions and values they bring to the law.
Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales was the keynote speaker. Presenters included scholars and Church leaders, plus outstanding practitioners in corporate law, public interest, public policy, government, and the judiciary such as: Elder Cree-L Kofford, emeritus member of the Quorum of the Seventy; Michael K. Young, president of the University of Utah; William F. Atkin and Boyd J. Black, Associate General Counsels of the Church; Timothy E. Flanigan, General Counsel for Corporate and International Law at Tyco; Congressman Rob Bishop (R-Utah); James D. Gordon III and Cheryl Preston, BYU law professors; Richard L. Bushman, emeritus professor of history at Columbia University; Judge Thomas B. Griffith, United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and Father Robert F. Drinan, Georgetown Law School professor.
To integrate LDS lawyers into the larger legal community, the event included non-LDS speakers, including four Supreme Court litigators.
Recurring themes of the talks included personal integrity, the importance of personal revelation, the need for well-prepared lawyers, the continuing call for public service, and the profound worldwide impact of religion on the law.
Elder Kofford said, "Be true to who you are," adding that what a person does on the outside depends on who he or she is on the inside.
"Law isn't the problem, the practice of it is. . . . The moment we stop being true to the doctrine of the kingdom is the moment we can no longer be true to our profession."
Brother Atkin challenged Latter-day Saints to contemplate their feelings about the rights of others to worship as they choose. He and Brother Bushman recalled events in Church history when the saints suffered legally, financially, and personally from religious intolerance, despite their efforts to operate within the law and be tolerant of other faiths.
Joseph Smith was involved in at least 175 lawsuits and lived under constant legal pressure, according to Brother Bushman, and yet the Prophet was trapped in a dilemma.
"His enemies went outside the law," Brother Bushman said, citing their successful efforts to enforce legal actions against the members, but "when the Mormons wanted redress, they (the Mormons) had to go back inside the law." Brother Bushman argued that even if the legal system fails, members must nevertheless "eschew war and submit to the rule of law."
Brother Young and Father Drinan discussed the importance of religious freedom and its impact on world economic, historical, political and social forces.
"It's fundamental to the way people define themselves," said Brother Young. Affirming that "Religious freedom is never safe in this world," Brother Drinan entreated the audience to protect and expand it by asking God, "What do you want me to do?"
He reminded them that "love is in all the Abrahamic religions," and that the task is to find ways to better love one another.
Brother Griffith developed the concept of love in his discussion of ways individuals can "practice their religion while practicing their profession."
His role model of integrity is 16th-century English lawyer Sir Thomas More who was executed because he honored his religious beliefs over King Henry VIII's demand to be acknowledged as supreme head of the Church of England. More's strength, said Brother Griffith, came from his love of the Savior.
In contrast to Satan's desire to separate individuals from one another, Brother Griffith suggested that those who follow Christ should work to bring people together and make the effects of the Atonement "radiate beyond ourselves to the community."
This act of community-building is, in his opinion, the most important spiritual work to which Christians are called, and lawyers are uniquely positioned to build such a community based on the rule of law.
The overriding message was that a successful LDS lawyer is one who prepares thoroughly, serves with commitment, acts with integrity, and honors his or her religious covenants while staying humble enough to hear the promptings of the Spirit.
Many who attended said they were reinforced by the spiritual connection they felt to each other.
"There is value in gathering with people who share common beliefs, aspirations, and challenges," said Jeffrey Stephens, who attends Harvard Law School. Sarah Olson, of Stanford Law School, observed, "We're finding ways to integrate the rule of law with the word of God in our lives."
