Professor James Sonne recounts the history of Stanford Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic, the first in the nation, founded in 2013, and reflects on the work of the clinical law students and the cases and clients they have represented over the years.

In January 2013, we launched at Stanford Law School our nation’s then-only Religious Liberty Clinic. A law school clinic is an academic program in which students learn the practice and profession of law through faculty-supervised legal representation of clients in the field. And, as our name expresses, we provide this education and service exclusively in support of clients who face suffering on account of their religion or in seeking to freely practice it.

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We’ve enrolled and taught more than 200 students of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints—including conservatives, progressives, believers of all stripes, and those who aren’t religious at all. We’ve served nearly 100 clients from more than 20 faith traditions, with appearances as lead counsel in state and federal agencies and courts across the country. And our alumni are taking their place in top law firms, nonprofit organizations, and judicial clerkships—including with justices at the U.S. Supreme Court appointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents. Perhaps most affirming of all, we’ve helped inspire at least six other elite American law schools to found similar clinics on their campuses.