“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

Tackling the complex issues which lawyers will be required to address in the next generation will require the highest of intellectual and professional skills. This commitment to excellence is not only driven by a sense of the urgent needs which will surround us, but by an understanding of a claim on us – a claim of divine origin. We are persuaded we are to summon all the gifts and skills which God has given us, and commit them to our life’s work – as citizens, spouses, parents, and as professionals in law.

The issues facing law in the next millennium are simply too overwhelming to address without the reservoirs of moral and ethical teaching that have historically informed the law. Handong International Law School claims and cherishes that heritage. The Law School draws on Biblical principles and unapologetically derives its vision from a conviction of Christ as Lord of all – including law.

We are persuaded that the urgent need in the legal profession today is not only excellence and competence, but also persons with a servant heart. No calling requires a servant’s heart and tenacity any greater than the call to “do justice.” In a world with massive injustice at both the personal and the structural levels, there is a desperate need for those whose hearts are touched by a high calling, and who seek careers whose rewards are far more enduring than personal wealth or status. The need is to rediscover the vision of lawyers who are not just litigators and drafters, but “counselors”.