Our history begins in 1869

Phi Delta Phi began with the chartering of Kent Inn at the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor on December 13, 1869.

Our history reminds us that on December 13, 1869, it was a “cold and blustery” day in Ann Arbor when law students met in a downstairs room in the Gregory House, first formally associated as Phi Delta Phis. There were no electric lights to read law books, automobiles, or phones. All of the conveniences of life today did not exist.

However, the need for ethical associations in the legal profession did exist. Phi Delta Phis took the lead in meeting that need by founding the first professional society and legal organization devoted solely to promoting legal ethics. The dedication and devotion to those principles continue today amongst Phi Delta Phi.

Phi Delta Phi was established inside the Gregory House on the northwest corner of Main and Huron Streets in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Not just a fraternity

Phi Delta Phi, founded over 140 years ago as a professional fraternity, became an honor society in 2012, expanding its mission to include undergraduate pre-law chapters called Halls.

The society boasts 131 active chapters, known as Inns, named after esteemed jurists, including Kent Inn at Michigan and Choate Inn at Harvard. Phi Delta Phi’s influence spans internationally, with notable Inns in Canada, Mexico, Germany, and Poland. Undergraduate Halls at institutions like Michigan and Washington University in St. Louis serve as hubs for pre-law students, exemplifying Phi Delta Phi’s dedication to legal scholarship and professional development worldwide.

The first Phi Delta Phis established Kent Inn at the University of Michigan and signed the founding certificate.

Unrivaled Alumni

The total initiated membership of Phi Delta Phi exceeds 200,000 people. More U.S. judges, presidents, governors, senators, representatives, cabinet members, ambassadors, American Bar Association presidents, Association of American Law School presidents, and law school deans have come from the ranks of Phi Delta Phi than from any other legal society.


Prominent brothers of Phi Delta Phi include:

U.S. Presidents

  • Gerald R. Ford

  • William McKinley

  • Franklin D. Roosevelt

  • Theodore Roosevelt

  • William H. Taft

U.S. Vice Presidents

  • Dan Quayle

  • Walter Mondale

Members of Congress

  • Sen. Howard H. Baker, Jr.

  • Sen. Birch E. Bayh

  • Sen. Patrick Leahy

  • Sen. Daniel K. Inouye

  • Sen. Henry M. Jackson

  • Sen. Robert F. Kennedy

  • Sen. Hugo Black

  • House Speaker Sam Rayburn

U.S. Supreme Court Justices

  • Hugo Black

  • William J. Brennan

  • Benjamin N. Cardozo

  • Anthony M. Kennedy

  • Thurgood Marshall

  • Sandra Day O'Connor

  • Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

  • William H. Rehnquist

  • Owen J. Roberts

  • Antonin Scalia

  • John Paul Stevens

  • Potter Stewart

  • Earl Warren

  • Byron R. White

U.S. Attorneys General

  • Edwin Meese, III

  • William French Smith

U.S. Cabinet

  • James A. Baker III (Secretary of State and Secretary of the Treasury)

  • Samuel Pierce (Secretary of Housing and Urban Development)

Solicitors General

  • Robert H. Bork

  • Archibald Cox

  • Kenneth W. Starr

  • R. Thomas Olson

U.S. Federal Judges

  • Joyce Hens Green (District Court of D.C.)

  • Thomas P. Jackson (District Court of D.C.)

  • Stephen R. Reinhardt (Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit)