"This was the best seminar I have ever attended. The setting was so intimate, the arguments crisp and the wisdom precise." - Onyeka Aralu, NYU Law Student Seminar Participant

The James Wilson Institute Law School Seminars provide a unique and impactful jurisprudential approach arguably where these approaches are needed most. Each Law School Seminar spans a one-to-two-day period and is intended to introduce the philosophical concepts and practical applications of Natural Law to students attending top law schools across the Nation. At its core, these seminars aim to provide students with the commonsense principles of moral judgement that are today ignored by the academy and underappreciated by many even in the conservative legal movement. One Harvard Law School Seminar attendee stated that he “learned more in two days with the James Wilson Institute than in [his] entire semester-length course on Constitutional Law.” It comes as no surprise that these Seminars have become our fastest-growing program. We're pleased to recap our busy winter visiting three different campuses to host these programs. 

On January 31-February 1, we were pleased to host a weekend seminar at Duke Law, led by JWI Co-Director Prof. Gerry Bradley and Deputy Director Garrett Snedeker. The seminar dove into the moral roots of American constitutionalism through a Natural Law lens. Students from University of North Carolina Law School overcame a heated sense of rivalry to join the Duke students for a memorable weekend. Our thanks to the Federalist Society chapters at both schools for collaborating.

On February 21-22, we were pleased to host a weekend seminar in New Haven, CT for law students from Yale Law and NYU Law. JWI Founder & Co-Director Hadley Arkes led the seminar for JWI’s first trip to YLS since 2018. Held at the historic Elm City Club, the five intensive sessions over two days immersed students from both schools in a unique scholarly discourse on the moral roots of our law. "The JWI New Haven Natural Law Seminar was a highlight of my academic experience," offered seminar participant Onyeka Aralu of NYU Law, "I was in awe of the engagements on difficult topics and the willingness of participants to offer viewpoints that test the foundations of Natural Law." Special thanks to the NYU students who traveled to be with us, and the Federalist Society chapter at YLS who helped to organize. 

You'll permit us one further testimonial from New Haven that speaks to the notewo JWI provides these students: "The seminar was over two whole days of thought-provoking roundtable conversations spearheaded by the legendary Professor Arkes," recounted Fidelis Oguche of NYU Law. "It was also a veritable opportunity to interact and network with some very interesting and engaging people. Before the seminar, I was a Positivist, but I fear that I may now have been proselytized. And I don't regret it."

On February 28-March 1, Co-Director Gerry Bradley and Prof. Bradley Rebeiro (JW ‘17) co-led a seminar in Provo, UT at Brigham Young University’s Law School. The seminar explored the moral foundations of the American legal system through five thought-provoking sessions. From moral truth and constitutional conservatism to life after Dobbs, to historicism and natural rights-originalism, and the morality of punishment, the seminar offered a comprehensive dive into the philosophical underpinnings of law. Our thanks to the students at Utah Valley University as well as the students in the BYU Law Chapter of the Federalist Society for attending.

To meet this increased demand for our work expressed by students, JWI has substantially expanded its Law School Seminar efforts over the past year. Previously, we visited two law school campuses annually; in 2024, however, we visited four campuses. Thanks to the generosity of the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation, our 2025 seminar offerings will increase from two to three campuses each semester: for a total of six each year. We look forward to visits to three additional law school campuses in Fall 2025 as this program continues introducing the Natural Law Jurisprudence of the American Founders to the next generation of lawyers.