That’s a phrase a colleague of mine once heard while volunteering at a Christian Legal Aid clinic. And honestly, it’s not hard to understand where the comment came from. Lawyers don’t exactly have the best reputation. There are more lawyer jokes out there than anyone can count, and most of them paint us as liars, manipulators, or crooks in suits.

But the truth is more complicated. Sure, there are bad apples in every profession. Yet most lawyers, even the ones who end up in tough, high-stakes careers, start out because they genuinely want to help people. They want to serve, advocate, protect, and, in some small way, make the world fairer.

This past weekend, I was surrounded by about 350 of those kinds of lawyers at the Christian Legal Society’s National Conference. Imagine that: hundreds of attorneys gathered not to network for profit or chase prestige, but to pray together, learn together, and figure out how to serve better. These are people who not only love the Lord, but live out their faith through their practice, whether that means defending the poor, serving nonprofits, fighting for justice, or showing compassion in the courtroom.

I walked away from that weekend inspired and reminded that faith and the law aren’t opposites. They can coexist beautifully when guided by integrity and humility.

So to the person who once said, “I ain’t never met no Christian lawyer,” I’d say this: we’re out here. Quietly working. Trying to bring light into places where it’s easy to lose sight of it.

Don’t discount us.
There are good lawyers out there—lawyers who pray before trial, who give free counsel to those who can’t afford it, and who still believe that justice and mercy can walk hand in hand.