The Federalist Society
The Federalist Society is a group of Libertarians, Moderates, and Conservatives interested in the current state of the legal order. It is founded on the principles that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be.
The National Organization
In April 1982, a small group of law students from Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, and Yale organized a symposium on federalism at Yale Law School. These students were greatly dissatisfied with the academic climate on their campuses and wanted to create a forum for debate on a wider range of legal viewpoints than their law school classroom experiences were providing. When the first symposium was held, there were fledging chapters at only these four universities. Inspired by the success of our initial program, other chapters soon formed at law schools across the country. The Federalist Society was then incorporated in August 1982. Later, to answer the obvious need at the next level of the legal community, the Society developed a Lawyers Division that successfully took root in every major legal center.
Since 1982, the Society has grown to include approximately 180 law school chapters and has become a major force in legal education. Currently, the national organization has approximately 35,000 members. The Federalist Society now includes Lawyers Division chapters in nearly 70 cities as well as 15 Practice Groups covering various specialized areas of the law. All chapters and practice groups are run autonomously by their members in coordination with the national office.
The Notre Dame Chapter
With over 100 members, the NDLS Federalist Society is one of the nation's largest and most active.
The NDLS Federalist Society continues to contribute to thoughtful dialogue at the law school by providing a needed Libertarian, Moderate, and Conservative voice on campus and by sponsoring speeches and debates on a range of legal and policy issues.
