CLASS ACTION
Legal
Group Melds Faith in Practice
By Charlotte Graham, The Clarion-Ledger
He watched with enthusiasm as retired Mississippi Court
of Appeals Judge Mary Libby Payne received a lifetime achievement award
from the Christian Legal Society. The service at the society's national
meeting in Savannah, Ga., gave Jackson lawyer F. Keith Ball added incentive
to revitalize the state's attorney chapter of the organization.
"The attorney chapter hasn't been in place for some time now."
says Ball, 38, of Watson & Jernigan, "(but) I found it to be
very rewarding ... I see it as a great catalyst (for) judges, lawyers,
and law professors to implement their faith in their practices."
Payne, a founder of the Mississippi chapter of the society, says CLS started
in the state in 1978 with a student chapter at Mississippi College. The
attorney chapter began in the 1980s. Although it does not meet regularly,
Payne says the group has held an annual prayer breakfast at the state
bar convention since the early 90s.
"The attorneys come together whenever we call them," says Payne.
"We have a lot of good Christian attorneys in the state." It's
something both Payne and Ball are proud of, something they're eager to
share with others.
Payne says CLS has four major areas of emphasis:
The Center of Law and Religious Freedom, which helps protect the First
Amendment rights of individuals;
A law-student ministry that teaches students to seek and do justice with
the love of God;
Legal aid and Christian conciliation, which ministers to the legal and
spiritual needs of the poor, in cooperation with Christian churches and
faith-based social service providers; Membership ministry, which brings
members together for a time of fellowship, prayer and Bible study.
Founded in 1961, the Annadale, Va.-based Christian Legal Society is a
national professional organization serving thousands of Christian attorneys,
judges, law professors, law students, paralegals, supportive lay people
and their families and communities. The society's diverse membership contributes
to its mission of nurturing and equipping a national network of skilled
lawyers, law students and interested lay people committed to loving and
serving Jesus Christ and advocating reconciliation, justice and religious
freedom.
Ball says he is delighted to have an opportunity to revitalize the attorney
chapter of the organization. As he looks back over his career, he says
God was preparing him for this task."I practiced law in Jackson for
little over six years before moving to Louisville where I started my own
practice," explained Ball. "By being in a small town, I had
an opportunity to work as a public defender and do a lot of criminal defense.
"I believe the Lord used that experience, in particular, to prepare
me for the task of revitalizing the attorney chapter of CLS. I believe
I have been called to be a lawyer - called to minister to others through
the profession of law.
"Seeing the poverty in (Louisville) gave me a real heart for the
needs of the underprivileged and oppressed," Ball continues. "Law
to me, is a ministry, a ministry of jurisprudence. "I don't want
to lose that focus." Lawyers interested in "doing justice with
the love of God" are asked to join the Christian Legal Society. "This
is an important time for lawyers to be visible Christians," said
Ball.
This article and photo are reprinted, with permission, from the Nov. 30, 2002, edition of The Clarion-Ledger. Mary Libby Payne and F. Keith Ball both graduated from the UM Law School, she in 1955 and he in 1990.