Student Organization Spotlight: Christian Legal Society The goal of the Christian Legal Society is to foster spiritual wellbeing and contextualize legal careers within the greater calling as followers of Christ.

By Law Communications
April 16, 2026

What are the goals of your organization?

The goal of the Christian Legal Society is to provide community for Christians of every denomination at W&L Law, while also being a resource and source of encouragement to all students on campus. It’s our objective to proclaim Jesus as Lord in all we do, not least of which is our study of the law. We know how easy it can be for law students to get caught up in the stress and busyness of schoolwork and job hunting, and lose track of what matters most in life. Our aim is to foster spiritual wellbeing and contextualize our career tracks as lawyers within the greater calling we have as followers of Christ.

What are the upcoming events scheduled for this semester or any ongoing activities for the members in the group?

We meet every Thursday for dinner, fellowship, and teaching. At our Thursday meetings, we often invite pastors, professors, students, or other interested folks to lead us in a lesson related to Christianity and/or the law. We also have a board game night scheduled for the end of the month.

How can alumni get involved?

We love to hear from our alumni, and it is always a blessing to us when they come back to visit Lexington! On April 9th, one of our alumni, James Supplee, was the speaker for our weekly meeting. Alumni can reach out to btenberg@law.wlu.edu if they have a service opportunity they would like to share, a prayer request, or a desire to attend any of the events our chapter organizes.

Are there mentorship opportunities?

Yes! CLS has for many years organized a mentorship program through which interested 1Ls get paired with an upperclassman. The CLS mentorship program is an excellent resource for 1Ls who are looking for insights on questions of academics, spirituality, and life in Lexington. Our belief as Christians is that “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). Many current CLS members can attest to the value of a friendly mentor who passes along the wisdom of their experience as a Christian at W&L. For anyone interested in participating in the program, please reach out to our current VP of Mentorship, Matthew Beck (mbeck@law.wlu.edu).

Do you have any goals for the organization this year?

One focus of our chapter during this academic year has been bringing in a greater number of Christian legal professionals to speak on issues at the intersection of religion and the law. Our most recent speaker event featured Andrew Hayashi, a professor from the University of Virginia Law School, who addressed the question of whether taxation should incentivize moral behavior. We hope to host more speaker events of this sort going forward, as we believe that the moral underpinnings of justice and our legal system are important subjects for study, despite not being a focus of the formal law school curriculum.

We’d also love to see more people from W&L take part in the various conferences, fellowships, and ministries which are run by the broader organization of the Christian Legal Society. The national organization has always been very supportive of our chapter and has provided funding for our chapter’s members to attend events like the CLS National Conference, which was held in New Orleans this year. Events like the National Conference are great because they provide an opportunity to learn more about legal thought and practice from a Christian perspective, as well as an opportunity to meet other Christian law students from different schools across the country.

How many law students are currently involved? How has the law school community supported students in this organization?

More than 50 law students are involved with CLS in some capacity, while our weekly meetings typically have about 15-20 attendees. The vast majority of our members are law students, but several law school spouses and faculty members are also valued members of the group!