Catholic Legal Thought Conference

Extended reflection with a group of law faculty from a variety of schools revealed two obstacles for bringing Catholic Social Thought to bear on legal scholarship and into the law school curriculum: first, many law professors lack a deep background in the history, theology and philosophy needed to draw out the connections; and second, not all law faculties are appreciative of the effort, so in some places, the venture can seem solitary. The idea emerged to develop a Summer Institute on Catholic Social Thought and the Law to serve as a locus for law professors to gain a deeper background in the tradition and also to facilitate a broad inter-school conversation on resources and ideas for legal scholarship at the intersection of Catholic Social Thought and the Law.

In June 2006, 23 law professors from 16 different schools gathered at Fordham Law School for an initial "brainstorming" session. What emerged was the Conference on Catholic Legal Thought, an inter-school venture which will sponsor an annual summer institute for law professors who are teaching or who hope to teach courses at the intersection of Catholic Social Thought and the Law.

The host school will rotate geographically in order to facilitate national participation and inter-school collaboration.

• Summer 2006, Fordham University School of Law, New York
• Summer 2007, University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Summer 2008, Seattle University School of Law.
• Summer 2009, Catholic University School of Law, Washington D.C. 
• May 2010, Loyola University Chicago School of Law.
• April 2013, Touro Law Center, New York.