Who Should Apply to Blackstone?
The Blackstone Legal Fellowship was created to build and engage a community of distinguished Christian attorneys who will help impact the legal culture to protect our most fundamental rights. This can only be done by recruiting the best Christian law students, educating them in the law and the Christian worldview, providing them with real-world experience, and launching them into careers of integrity and excellence. In turn, this community is committed to building one another up as followers of Christ, deepening our knowledge through education, and engaging with the culture to keep the door open for the Gospel.
With that as its mission, the Blackstone Legal Fellowship is open to:
Current Law Students
The Blackstone Legal Fellowship is designed primarily for students who are completing their first year in law school. This allows us to work with you as early as possible to discern where the Lord may be calling you, and to develop a plan to accomplish those goals. However, students completing their second year in law school – and in exceptional circumstances, their third year – may also be admitted to the program and are encouraged to apply.
Similarly, Blackstone is primarily for students at law schools in the United States. However, outstanding international students are encouraged to apply as well.
Christ-Centered Individuals
Blackstone Fellows are devoted to traditional Christian virtues, and a concomitant desire to ground their careers and their lives firmly in God’s will. Fellows come from all of the major Christian traditions – Catholic, Evangelical, Mainline, and Orthodox – and are required to affirm the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds as a part of the application process. Likewise, they strongly affirm religious liberty, the dignity of life, freedom of speech, parental rights, and marriage and the family.
Future Leaders
Because of this mission, and all that the community offers, the selection process is highly competitive, and designed to identify students with the character, leadership potential, and drive to impact the world around them. Applicants are evaluated based on their combination of: (1) academic performance; (2) existing and emerging leadership skills; (3) commitment to legal and cultural engagement; and (4) maturity of faith and character.
Although the Fellowship is competitive, we encourage every student who believes in the mission of Blackstone to apply. Once you do, our staff will contact you and begin your application process.
If you have any questions about applying, please do not hesitate to contact us – see the How Do I Apply page.
For anyone matriculating into law school or considering law school, we encourage you to reach out to our team at blackstone@adflegal.org.
For those who are already lawyers, we encourage you to consider our Legal Academy or Young Lawyers Academy.
“Prior to Blackstone, ADF’s staff told us to prepare for a life-changing experience. To be honest, I thought this was simply an exaggeration. I could not have been more wrong. Blackstone was one of the greatest blessings of my life. I had the opportunity to learn the truth from faithful, courageous individuals who are leaders in their respective fields. I left encouraged and inspired by the witness and boldness of my fellow interns – their talent, drive, and faithfulness to Christ give me hope for the future of our nation. Most importantly, Blackstone blessed me with friends for life. I told my family afterwards that it felt like Heaven on earth being surrounded by such godly, loving, kind, sincere, and joyful individuals. I truly believe there is no other opportunity that comes close to providing the fellowship I experienced at Blackstone.”
Blackstone Fellow, Class of 2021