Lawyers, Faith, and Social Justice

I received in the mail today an announcement of an upcoming conference at the Pepperdine University School of Law:  "Lawyers, Faith, and Social Justice:  Our Responsibility to 'The Orphan, the Widow, the Alien,' and 'the Least of These."  (February 4-5, 2005, in Malibu).  The Conference is co-sponsored by Pepperdine's Institute on Law, Religion, and Ethics, and features contributions by, inter alia, MOJers Michael Scaperlanda, Mark Sargent, and Steve Bainbridge -- and also honorary blogger (whether he likes it or not) Tom Shaffer.  Here's an excerpt from the announcement:   

Much of the Mosaic law, the Psalms, and the prophets plead the cause of "the orphan, the widow, and the alien." (Deut. 10:18-19; Ps. 146:9; Jer. 7:6). Indeed, it seems that God judges a nation and its citizens by their care for the neediest among them.

In one of Jesus' last discussions with his disciples, he stated that in the last days, people will be judged by how they care for those in greatest need. "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it to me." (Mt. 25:40) Other religious traditions have similar admonitions.

Lawyers affect the lives of people at all levels of need. Law practice should lead to greater social justice, but there is a danger that it will lead to social injustice. This conference will explore three ways in which lawyers have a substantial impact on "the orphan, the widow, the alien," and "the least of these."

• Some lawyers pursue social justice directly, representing those in need in traditional legal aid offices, in criminal defense and prosecutors' offices, and human rights clinics. In an era of shrinking governmental support for such programs, much of the creativity, support, and energy for such programs has come from religious communities. We will hear from lawyers involved, both as volunteers and full-time workers, in some of the most innovative social justice programs created in recent years.
• In addition, lawyers, as infiuential citizens, officeholders, governmental advisors, and political commentators, have a substantial impact on social policy at local, state, and national levels. They have an opportunity to work for laws that benefit, rather than harm, those in need. We will hear some of the most thoughtful critics of our current social policy discuss directions that might help to empower the weakest among us.
• Finally, lawyers who represent corporations and other businesses can serve the cause of social justice in their role as wise counselor to their clients, raising social concerns with clients and structuring business arrangements that consider those in need. Might it be that following the lawyer failures of Enron, the corporate bar might return to a day when, as one prominent 1950s Wall Street lawyer said, lawyers were "the conscience of Wall Street?"

For each of these roles, we will consider the life of an historical role model: Dorothy Day, the founder of The Catholic Worker; William Wilberforce, the evangelical member of Parliament who successfully led the fight against the slave trade; and Louis Brandeis, who, prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court, took on many public causes and took, in one client's words, a "judicial attitude" toward his clients.

Rick