Vol. 3: Religious Conviction

Edited by Galen L. Fletcher and Jane H. Wise

This collection of essays continues BYU Law School’s effort to build an architecture of ideas that assist lawyers in their endeavor to integrate religious faith with commitment to the highest professional ideals. The manifestation of that effort with which readers will likely be most familiar is the Law School’s twice yearly publication of the Clark Memorandum. The Life in the Law series, of which this is the third volume, recaptures highlights from the Clark Memorandum and also collects from other settings some of the most thoughtful insights by LDS lawyers and lawyers of other faiths. The essays acknowledge that while the law is a noble profession, it is fraught with potholes and traps for the unwary. In The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan provided an allegory to assist 17th-century travelers as they wended their way from this world to the heavenly city. With wit and wisdom, the contributors to Life in the Law: Religious Conviction undertake a similar challenge for 21st century lawyers.

My hope is that this essay collection, the Clark Memorandum, and the other work we do at BYU Law School to erect an architecture of rigorous thinking about the relationship among religious faith, the rule of law, and professional service will have an enduring influence on our commitment to each of these precepts. — James R. Rasband