About
The Hale Institute at New Saint Andrews College is dedicated to the study and discussion of law in its substance, grounding, and effects on persons and community. The Institute carries out its mission both through course study within the college curriculum and in wider public discourse through publication and symposia.
The Institute recalls and honors the example and contributions of the great seventeenth-century English jurist Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676). Hale served as a barrister, Member of Parliament, judge of the Court of Common Pleas, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, and Lord Chief Justice of the King’s Bench. Hale’s formidable scholarly output treated not only jurisprudence, but theology, philosophy, history, and the sciences. Sir William Holdsworth in his multi-volume History of English Law, summarized the unanimous verdict of Hale’s biographers that he was “the most learned, the most able, the most honorable man to be found in the profession of law” in his time.
Our Mission
The Hale Institute seeks to advance public understanding of our common law heritage, American constitutionalism, and precepts of law vital to a just social order; to serve as a convener of scholars and policy professionals for fruitful deliberation on matters of legal moment; and to prepare students for advanced study or vocation in law and policy. The Institute’s aims are informed by the Christian faith in the Reformed tradition and directed to the end of empowering persons to honor God and love neighbor through promoting the conditions and institutions of political liberty and civic virtue.
Director
Jeff Shafer is Director of the Hale Institute. He graduated with honors from the Regent University School of Law in 1995. Early in his legal career, he operated a general practice firm in Cincinnati with a particular emphasis on criminal defense litigation. Thereafter, he practiced in a law partnership, focusing on elections law and civil constitutional cases. From 2005 to 2020 he served as Senior Counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom at its Washington, D.C. and Scottsdale, Arizona offices. Mr. Shafer has litigated public interest cases in federal and state trial and appellate courts throughout the United States, as well as developing academic and advocacy initiatives on matters of policy concern. Outside of the courtroom, he has addressed a wide array of audiences in academic and community venues, in the US and abroad, on matters of legal and cultural interest.
