History

In February 2004 the first LDS Law Student Conference was held at the Harvard Law School primarily for law students affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Harvard law students HL Rogers and Zeke Johnson organized the conference. Their pioneering efforts included an extensive outreach to law students all over the United States.

The J. Reuben Clark Law Society ("JRCLS") helped support the conference and held a training meeting for those interested in the Society at the conference. Certain members of the JRCLS Board had been exploring the idea of holding a conference for the entire Society, and were interested in seeing how the Harvard conference would play out. Approximately 100 students and a few lawyers attended the conference, which featured several diverse presentations by legal scholars and panels of practicing lawyers. The conference was deemed a great success, and it was clear that future conferences would be held.

In February 2005 the second student conference was hosted by the J. Reuben Clark Law Society at Columbia University in New York City. The conference was attended by approximately 150 people. Once again the presentations and events associated with the student conference were considered of a high quality and obviously something that would be appealing to lawyers as well as to law students.

At the end of the 2005 student conference, it was announced that the conference in 2006 would be held at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. At the same time plans were being formulated to hold a JRCLS conference for attorneys. The student and attorney organizers decided to join forces, cross market their respective conferences, and hold them the same weekend.

On February 17, 2006 Elder Kofford, an emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave a key note address to open both the first JRCLS Attorney Conference and the Third Annual LDS Law Student Conference. Later that day the JRCLS DC Mid-Atlantic Chapter held its annual Rex Lee Advocacy Award Lunch as part of the conference. The Attorney General of the United States was the main speaker. The event was sold out with 300 attorneys and law students attending. That evening a joint reception was held at the Georgetown Law School, which also hosted sessions on Saturday. Over the two days, an estimated 500 attorneys, law students and their guests participated in one or more of the events. The joint conference had been a great success, and the benefits of having attorneys and law student members of the JRCLS meeting together in an annual conference were clear.

In February 2007, the conference was held at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. The setting overlooking the Pacific Ocean was spectacular, and the presentations were once again very uplifting. On Friday evening a dinner was held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Senator Gordon Smith was the featured speaker. Over 500 people attended the dinner. Elder Lance Wickman, General Counsel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints spoke at the conference as did Dean Ken Starr of the Pepperdine Law School and many other distinguished speakers.

The 2008 conference was hosted by Arizona State University. Over 400 lawyers and law students registered for the conference and together with their quests produced crowds of almost 600 people at some of the conference events, setting new attendance records. The conference started on Thursday, February 14th with a golf tournament and a Valentine's Day fireside featuring Sherri Dew, president and CEO of Deseret Book. The JRCLS annual broadcast was televised from ASU on Friday the 15th to all members of the Society and featured Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Friday evening following remarks by Judge Janice Rodgers Brown, there was a terrific dinner followed by a presentation by Judge Thomas Griffith. The conference, which also set records for the number of sponsors, concluded on Saturday the 16th with several presentations featuring a variety of excellent speakers.

We returned back to the Harvard Law School in February 2009. Despite the slowing economy, the conference attracted over 400 people, including participants from as far away as the Philippines and Fiji. The 2009 event started with a Thursday evening fireside featuring Professor Clayton Christensen, a well known member of the Harvard Business School faculty. Uplifting presentations on everything from national security to civility filled the sessions on Friday and Saturday. Friday night featured a lively dinner at Ned Devine's in Boston's Quincy Market. From there we walked to the Old South Meetinghouse, the birthplace of the Boston Tea Party. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and professor at Harvard, gave a fascinating presentation from the raised pulpit of this historic structure. She was followed by Dean Ken Starr making it a most memorable evening. The conference concluded on Saturday with a moving session in which Kitione Vuataki, a solicitor from Fiji, recounted how he was incarcerated and tortured for representing the Tribal Council of Fiji, which he had persuaded to take a legal approach to a conflict with the government rather than a violent one.

2010 took the conference to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, February 11-13.  Recording breaking attendance brought over 800 people to the various conference events.   The theme of the conference was “Service for Good Through the Law.”  The conference started with a Thursday evening presentation by Elder Lance Wickman, General Counsel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  His remarks were followed by a wonderful reception at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.  Friday morning presentations featured remarks by Elder Cecil Samuelson, President of BYU and Michael Young, President of the University of Utah.  Various panels made interesting presentations and most Sections of the Law Society held meetings.  Dr. Stephen R. Covey spoke on becoming peacemakers at the historic Tabernacle on Temple Square.  His remarks were broadcast to numerous chapters of the Law Society meeting in various locations.  An amazing reception followed in the Conference Center that was based on foods from Olympic host cities as the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics were being held that night.  The conference concluded on Saturday with a lunch presentation by various area legal counsel of the LDS Church discussing some of the issues that they have confronted in their assignments.   

The 2011 conference was held in Dallas, Texas at Southern Methodist University. Over 500 attorneys, law students and their guests attended the events held February 17-19, 2011.  BYU Law School Dean James Rasband started off the event Thursday evening with an overview of statistics and trends in the legal profession and legal education; on Friday, Ambassador Robert King introduced us to the human rights complexities of North Korea. Friday morning, attendees chose between a lively and humorous insight into trial practice, including several U.S. District Court Judges' pet peeves, and an interesting and informative analysis of the development of national security law. Attendees then tried to find standing room in a packed forum to hear Von Keetch present the legal developments -- from Hawaii to Prop 8 -- on same-sex marriage, while across the hall, Judges Elrod and Haynes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and Justice Tom Lee of the Utah Supreme Court offered their perspectives on appellate practice.

Former White House Counsel Harriet Miers offered a gracious and insightful keynote address on professionalism at lunch. Following her remarks, attendees chose from several panel options, concluding with a discussion of religious liberty issues, including conscience rights of medical personnel and the pledge of allegiance. Friday night we enjoyed a true Texas dinner and country dancing at Eddie Dean's Ranch.

Saturday morning participants attended practice-group meetings and presentations on entering the legal profession and pursuing clerkships, then assembled for the perennial fan-favorite presentations of the LDS Church's Office of General Counsel. This year, we heard from the Area Legal Counsel serving in Central America, the Caribbean and South America, who shared the power and influence of the Lord in the Church's international legal developments. At the concluding luncheon, Elder Lance B. Wickman, General Counsel of the Church, presented an overview of the Church's legal challenges, including the eroding principle of church autonomy in the United States and abroad.

In 2012 the annual conference will be held February 16-18 at the beautiful campus of Stanford University in California.