Phi Delta Phi charter was reinstated as the third law fraternity at the Loyola University School of Law

after being inactive for five years, and held its initiation ritual Nov. 19. Fourteen new members were inducted by PDP president Kelley Martin, a first-year graduate student.

Zachary Whirley, international and intellectual property law student at Loyola, spent two months this semester reactivating the new fraternity.

“I have an interest in educating my fellow law students on issues of ethics and professionalism,” Whirley said. “I feel it is under-taught at most schools. Generally there is only a one-, two- or three-hour lecture course in ethics at law schools”

He said PDP is a nontraditional fraternity. The other two law fraternities at Loyola are social, while PDP is professional. Instead of chapters, PDP has inns, inspired by the inns of the English court.

The PDP inns are named after prominent past or present members of the bench or bar. Loyola’s inn is named after Hugo Lafayette Black, a former justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The fraternity’s mission is the promotion and study of ethics and professionalism in the practice of law.

“The mission is what sets us apart as well as our honorary members who are probably the beacon to our objective,” Whirley said. “The honorary members come from each level of attorney discipline in the state of Lousiana: trial level, appellate and court of last resort.”

The honorary members selected by Whirley include Richard Stanley, attorney and adjunct professor at Tulane Law School; Charles Plattsmier, chief disciplinary counsel for the State of Louisiana; and Jeannette T. Knoll, a Loyola alumna and associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.

PDP is the oldest and largest law fraternity in the world. The Black inn started in 1972 at Loyola, and its reincarnation is still in its formative stages. PDP will adopt some sort of philanthropic undertaking, which is yet to be determined, and will have monthly meetings. Whirley would like to invite two to three judges and attorneys a semester as guest speakers and follow their lectures with an open forum for all law students. Lectures will focus on ethical and professional law issues.

“My interest in my fellow students being educated more than just this one course is that, no matter what sort of attorney we become after we graduate, all of us are bound by rules of professional conduct,” Whirley said.

As a professional law fraternity, PDP is open to law students who have completed eight weeks of law school, are in good academic standing, and have good moral character. The formal membership drive will start during the first two weeks of the spring semester and will admit law professors, attorneys and judges as honorary members.

The fraternity offers scholarships and awards for distinguished professors.

Savannah Brehmer can be reached at [email protected].