BYU Law Launches Religious Liberty Clinic to Prepare Next Generation of Appellate Advocates

New clinic will provide students hands-on experience drafting briefs in religious freedom cases, joining select group of top law schools with dedicated religious liberty clinics

PROVO, Utah, Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BYU Law today announced the launch of its new Religious Liberty Clinic, which will welcome its first students during Winter Semester 2027. The clinic will provide students hands-on experience drafting appellate briefs in religious freedom cases while preparing them to become skilled advocates, legal writers and constitutional litigators. The clinic places BYU Law among a small group of leading law schools, including Harvard, Yale, Stanford and the University of Texas, which offer dedicated religious liberty clinics.

Kelsey Baer Flores, associate professor of law, will serve as the director of the Religious Liberty Clinic. Professor Flores helped establish Harvard Law School's Religious Freedom Clinic before joining the BYU Law faculty. The clinic will focus on amicus curiae, or "friend of the court," briefs filed in state and federal appellate courts, including the U.S. Courts of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court. Students will work on behalf of religious organizations and coalitions representing a variety of faith traditions and religious minority communities.

The clinic's primary mission is educational, giving students the opportunity to work on real cases for real clients while developing the research, writing and advocacy skills that define outstanding lawyers. Through supervised experiential learning, students will collaborate with clients, co-counsel and other stakeholders, receive feedback on draft briefs and contribute to appellate litigation involving some of the nation's most important constitutional questions. Like many law school clinics, the program will function as a professional practice environment, helping students develop the skills, judgment and habits of effective lawyers.

For BYU Law Dean David Moore, the clinic represents an important milestone in BYU Law's continued growth and national prominence.

"The Religious Liberty Clinic places BYU Law among a select group of leading law schools offering students the opportunity to engage deeply with religious liberty law," said Dean Moore. "More importantly, it provides an exceptional educational experience in an area of law that is particularly relevant to the Law School. As a faith-based law school, BYU Law exists because of religious freedom."

The clinic will focus on amicus advocacy, allowing students to contribute unique perspectives on important legal issues while developing advanced appellate writing skills.

"Religious liberty cases raise some of the most important constitutional questions," said Professor Flores. "Students in this clinic won't just study those questions. They'll engage with them through meaningful client work, appellate advocacy and legal writing that prepares them for practice. I want students to have their fingerprints all over the briefs we file, gaining the practical experience, judgment and writing skills that prepare them to become strong advocates while serving clients of many faith traditions."

The clinic also reflects BYU Law's faith-based mission and the university's commitment to religious freedom, service and mutual understanding. Through work on behalf of clients of many faith traditions, students will explore how religious freedom protections contribute to a pluralistic society while developing habits of bridge-building, peacemaking and service that are central to BYU's educational mission.

Applications for the clinic will be open to second- and third-year law students who have completed prerequisite coursework in religious liberty law. The inaugural cohort will begin during Winter Semester 2027.

About BYU Law

Founded in 1971 with its inaugural class in 1973, the J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law) has become one of the nation's leading law schools, recognized for innovative research and teaching in transactional design, entrepreneurship, corpus linguistics, criminal justice and religious freedom. The Law School has more than 7,000 alumni serving in communities around the world. BYU Law is consistently ranked by National Jurist as one of the best-value law schools in the country. BYU Law has also been recognized as a top law school by the Bloomberg Law School Innovation Program for doing cutting-edge work with tomorrow's lawyers. As a faith-based school, BYU Law seeks to "develop people of integrity who combine faith and intellect in lifelong service to God and neighbor." For more information, visit law.byu.edu.

SOURCE BYU Law