Phi Alpha Delta
Cornell University’s Premier Pre-Law Fraternity
About Our Fraternity
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To form a strong bond uniting students and teachers of the law with members of the Bench and Bar to promote liberty and justice under the law; to simulate academic excellence; to inspire the virtues of compassion and courage; to foster integrity and professional success; to promote the welfare of its members; to encourage moral, intellectual, and cultural advancement; so that all members may enjoy a lifetime of honorable professional and public service.
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Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International is a professional law fraternity advancing integrity, compassion and courage through service to the student, the school, the profession and the community.
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Bound together by tradition and our common interest in the law, we share these core values: Integrity, Compassion, Courage, Professionalism, Service, Diversity, and Innovation.
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Phi Alpha Delta acknowledges that racism, inequality, and inequities still exist in our nation and commit to actions that address these wrongs. We are moving forward with our commitment to doing more to ensure that we are living up to our mission. It is through devotion to the ideals of Integrity, Compassion, Courage, Professionalism, Service, Diversity, and Innovation that we better both our profession and our community. Through accepting our differences we become not just a law fraternity, but a family.
A Fraternity of Firsts
Phi Alpha Delta was the first law fraternity to:
Open membership to all genders, races, creeds and national origins
Host one of the largest Mock Trial Competitions for law students in the country
Conduct a “Senior Transition Program” for pre-law students entering law school
Establish a Pre-Law Program to assist undergraduate students interested in the law
Hold P.A.D. Day at the Supreme Court, a day designated for P.A.D. attorneys to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court
Implement an on-line membership database for networking students and alumni/ae together
Our History
On November 4, 1987, the holding from The US Supreme Court of Illinois v. Henry M. Day negatively affected the admissions of many law students into the Bar. As such, students formed the “Law Student League” to fight the holding. They decided to solidify the bond with the establishment of the Lambda Epsilon Fraternity in 1898 - Lambda standing for Law, Epsilon standing for Equality. The founders realized that there was universal interest in such an organization within the legal profession and that it should be reorganized to make its benefits available to all within the legal field. A convention was thus held at Colonial Tavern in South Haven, MI on July 16, 1902 to dissolve Lambda Epsilon and sign the South Haven Articles to create Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.
The Articles, Constitution, Ritual and Rules governing the organization were proposed and formally adopted together with the name of "Phi Alpha Delta" on November 8, 1902 in Chicago, Illinois. Phi Alpha Delta was founded with the purpose of to promoting professional competency and achievement within the legal profession.
Phi Alpha Delta was the first law fraternity to open membership to all genders, races, creeds and national origins. In 1970, Phi Alpha Delta became the first law fraternity to admit women. In 1972, Phi Delta Delta Law Fraternity, the leading fraternity for women was, by joint action, merged into Phi Alpha Delta and 5,000 leading women judges, attorneys, and educators became members of Phi Alpha Delta.
The 1980 Convention adopted a program of Pre-Law Chapters and in the Spring of 1981 the first Pre-Law Chapter of the Fraternity was established at Southwest Missouri State University.
Phi Alpha Delta is the only law fraternity to admit undergraduate students interested in the law. The Fraternity also sponsors an annual International Pre-Law Conference and Mock Trial Competition. Phi Alpha Delta was the first to create a "Senior Transition Program" aimed to help undergraduate seniors transition from the life of undergraduate studies to law school.
