In 1896, without prior notice, the Supreme Court of Illinois adopted "Rule 39", a rule of admission to the Bar of Illinois with a retroactive effect. A group of Law students joined with the Illinois Law Students' League to right this wrong. The law students saw the benifits of such an organization and created the Lambda Epsilon Fraternity. Lambda stood for Law and Epsilon for Equity. Lambda Epsilon Fraternity was founded with the Kent Chapter at Kent College of Law in October 1898 and Blackstone Chapter at Chicago College of Law in February 1899. The two schools were shortly thereafter consolidated and the two chapters merged to form what was known as the Grand Chapter.
The deterioration of Lambda Epsilon led to a group of organizational meetings and the preparation of the Articles of South Haven. These articles were signed the day following the dissolution of Lambda Epislon and serve as the foundation of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity.
The first Phi Alpha Delta Chapter was chartered at Chicago-Kent College of Law. During the decades to come, Phi Alpha Delta was to become teh preeminent law fraternity, the leader among all law fraternities. It was the first law fraternity to remove racial barriers to membership. It was the first law fraternity to remove gender barrieers to membership. The first law fraternity to become international with the chartering of chapters outside the United States. Today, Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International stands strong with over 150,000 members, 177 chartered Law School Chapters, 90 chartered Alumni Chapters, and 158 chartered Pre-Law Chapters.
PAD's Pre-Law Program resulted from extensive PAD sponsered research and surveys which demonstrated that no national organization was effectively addressing the needs of pre-law students. When the results of PAD's research was presented to law students, attorneys, and judges on the floor of the 1980 PAD International Convention in Hot Springs, Arkansas, it was decided that Phi Alpha Delta would accept the challange to help better equipt pre-law students for the rigors of law school and the legal profession.
The fundamental objective of PAD's Pre-Law Program is to assist undergraduate students to make an "informed choice" in selecting law as a career, deciding which law school to attend, and in preparing for the rigors of law school. Ph Alpha Delta remains the only Law Fraternity and the only national legal organization of any kind with a national Pre-Law Program committed to meeting the needs of undergraduate students interested in the law.
Coming soon.....
"The Purpose of this fraternity shall be to form a strong bond uniting students and teachers of the law with members of the bench and bar in fraternal fellowship designed to advance the ideals of liberty and equal justice under the law; to foster integrity and professional competence; to promote the welfare of its members; to encourage their moral, intellectual and cultural advancement, so that each member may enjoy a lifetime of honorable, proffesional and public service."