Good Counselor Project Fellowship
Join a select cohort of attorneys to study the seminal texts of the Western tradition.
Experience the Fellowship
Through formation, service, and community, you will discover the unique interplay between law, justice, and virtue, and what this means for your vocation.
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Formation.
Beginning in January, fellows will participate virtually in academic seminars that take place once a month for seven months. As seminar leader Luke Macik explained at the launch of The Good Counselor Project, fellows “will encounter the great books of literature, philosophy, history, and perhaps even mathematics (as Lincoln encountered Euclid’s Elements of Geometry when he was practicing law) that formed Western Civilization.”
Reading selections will include, but are not limited to:
-The Iliad, by Homer
-Antigone, by Sophocles
-Plato and Aristotle
-Dante’s Inferno
-St. Paul the Apostle
-St. Augustine of Hippo
-St. Thomas Aquinas
-St. John Henry Newman
Service.
As part of The Good Counselor Project, fellows will also be automatically enrolled in Napa Legal’s GCP Network, where they are afforded the opportunity to contribute to Napa Legal’s growing library of nonprofit resources and work directly with spiritual entrepreneurs to empower evangelization. The average GCP Network term is 2 years, during which fellows are asked to complete 3 points of engagement. To learn more about engagement, please visit Napa Legal's GCP Network page.
Community.
The launch of this project is partly in recognition that the success and integrity of faith-based institutions depends on the legal professionals who lead and form such institutions. The ability to do this work requires several years of advanced education, certification, and experience. The specialized, technical nature of the educational path to law practice can be divorced from formation in the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, leading to the creation of what C.S. Lewis described as “men without chests”; i.e., individuals who are conditioned to believe—by virtue of their technocratic training—that truth is relative, the good is subjective, and what is beautiful is merely sentimental. Lewis writes how “in a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” The Good Counselor Project addresses this challenge by focusing on the humane formation of practicing attorneys. By participating in The Good Counselor Project, early-career attorneys will receive professional, personal, and faith formation through the Good Counselor Project lectures and Capstone retreat.
The application for the 2024 cohort is open!
Applications will close on December 1, 2023.
Who should apply?
Early-career attorneys who are interested in a holistic understanding of their vocation as lawyers and are dedicated to advancing the work of faith-based nonprofit organizations. Candidates with a background in transactional law and a demonstrated interest in issues related to religious liberty are strongly preferred. This program is designed from the Catholic perspective for participants of all faith traditions.
Apply NowDo you know an attorney who might be a good fit for the GCP Fellowship? Fill out the form below. Candidates who are referred will be contacted to submit an application for the 2024 cohort.
Refer a CandidateMeet The Seminar Leaders
Luke Macik, J.D.
Daniel Burns, Ph.D
Meet The 2023 Fellows
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Meet The 2022 Fellows
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