At the Intersection of Faith, Law, and Franciscan

Christopher Muha

Conquer Through Love Household, Class of 2001

Washington, D.C.

Christopher Muha ’01

Though it was not always obvious in the moment, Chris says, “Looking back, I can feel God’s hand in the path I’ve taken.” To Chris, a civil litigator at Dillon LLC, faith is a fundamental aspect of his day-to-day life as a lawyer. Like many, he came to Franciscan looking for an environment where he could grow academically and in relationship with Jesus. He majored in philosophy and theology and for the first couple of years was discerning the priesthood.

“I knew that the most important thing to the school was the faith. At the same time, while I was there, I felt like I was able to study in an environment that took both academics and faith seriously and where the two fit into each other.”

How did he come to settle in the legal profession? It was a gradual process. Chris began to discern away from the priest- hood, but it wasn’t until after tragically losing his brother in 1999 that Chris began to fathom how the law impacts and shapes people and communities. After going through such a traumatic experience, he felt a desire to help people in their most difficult moments.

Chris went to Yale Law School and spent the early years of his career at a large D.C. firm. But after his first son was born, Chris took a leap of faith to leave his prestigious firm for a much smaller one where he felt he would be able to work fewer extra hours and spend more time with his family.

Though risky, his move paid off in the end. Now, 16 years later, he is a partner at Dillon, a firm that focuses on defending people wrongly accused of Title IX violations. He has been involved in several high-profile cases, even representing Mick Mulvaney, former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff during the House impeachment trials. But in the Title IX work, Chris gets to help young college men whose lives are turned upside down overnight, just as his was when his brother was murdered.

“I left my first firm because I wanted to work less to be with my family, and I ended up getting to do work that is so meaningful to me given what I’ve gone through with my brother and really lets me help people who are going through something so hard, so I’m just really, really thankful,” he explains.

That’s not to say it’s been easy. Being a law partner and being a father are both full-time jobs. No matter how much you love your family, Chris says the legal profession will always try to encroach on your family life. If you don’t guard against these encroachments, he says, it will dominate you.

“The pressures of client work and business are always going to be toward doing more work,” he says. “So, you can’t take your family time for granted at any point. It’s something you have to continuously jealously protect.”

Chris and his family run the Brian Muha Foundation (brianmuhafoundation.org), a nonprofit dedicated to his brother’s memory. The foundation offers educational, spiritual, and leadership programs to underprivileged youth in the Cleveland, Columbus, and Steubenville areas.

Rick Gordan

Troubadours of the King Household, Class of 1995

Las Vegas, Nevada

Rick Gordan ’95

Rick, a commercial litigation lawyer and partner at Snell & Wilmer, finds inspiration in the Blessed Virgin Mary’s role as our advocate before God. He said that she is “the first real defense attorney and a model for all Catholic lawyers.”

He is passionate about helping people who can’t help them- selves and through his pro bono work, he gets to do just that.

This work has enabled him to help many children get out of abusive and neglectful situations. He feels it’s something God calls him to. He always knew following God’s will in his life would take him to unexpected places, but he never guessed it would put him directly head-to-head with a high-ranking cartel boss.

In 2018, Rick and his firm became all that stood in the way of a little 7-year-old girl and the head of one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels, who was designated by the U.S. government as a cartel “kingpin.”

The girl’s mother had disappeared, and her father, the cartel kingpin, was intent on gaining custody of her. So, after crossing into the U.S., the girl’s grandmother came to Rick’s firm, desperate for help.

“If I didn’t say yes to this, that meant almost certain death for the grandma and a really rough life for this child,” he explains.

Bravely, his wife agreed to let him take on the case despite the risks. The Gordons had to take certain precautions to protect their identities, but in the end, Rick won the custody battle and saved the child by allowing her to stay with her grandmother in the U.S.

“I just felt almost a divine call, like I needed to do it,” he says. “Even though it could be very risky and dangerous, but you know what? Sometimes we’re called to that.”

Though not all cases are this dramatic, Rick admits the schedule and demands of being a lawyer can be very tough on a family.

“If you look at the number of divorces among lawyers, especially in the litigation side of things, it’s very, very high because of the time requirements away from home. There’s only one way to get through that, and that is by having a supportive spouse and through total and utter reliance on God, throwing yourself on the grace of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist and confession.”

He says he is blessed that he and his wife, Tami (Cornman ’96), “share a common faith perspective.”

“Two Franciscan grads don’t make it easy; it’s still hard. But understanding and relying on the sacramental grace that God provides will allow you and your spouse to grow in holiness–even amid challenges and difficulties.”

Tami and Rick have seven children. Though life has changed immeasurably since their days at Franciscan, he says he continues to carry the lessons he learned as a philosophy and theology major with him every day.

“To this day, my Philosophy of the Human Person class has been one of the most formative and life-changing courses I ever took in my 20-plus years of formal education,” he says. “Whether it’s with the CEO of a multinational corporation or an immigrant pro bono client trying to escape the drug cartels, I’m constantly reminded that in these interactions I’m dealing with a human person who’s unique and unrepeatable and in need of counsel, support, and sometimes just love.”

He says, “I lean on that basic principle almost every day with clients, staff, and in my own home with family.”

Rick says one thing “forged” in him at Franciscan was the idea that lay vocations of all types make up “God’s canvas for salvation.”

“If the world is going to be transformed, the Church needs lay faithful to be ready to become saints in the middle of the world,” he says.

Paul Harold

Conquer Through Love Household, Class of 2002

South Bend, Indiana

Paul Harold ’02

In all his time as a lawyer and professor, Paul says some of the most impressive lawyers he’s encountered have had one thing in common: Franciscan University.

Paul is a partner at SouthBank Legal and a law professor at Notre Dame. He believes that by bringing their faith to their places of work, Catholic lawyers can have a “massive” impact on the world.

“Our Catholic tradition is uniquely suited for the law. I mean, we’re a Church that has our own legal code, canon law,” he says with a laugh. “So, we have a tradition that suits legal reasoning and legal analysis.”

Though the legal profession is not the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of Franciscan, Paul feels strongly that Franciscan “uniquely prepares students to be really good attorneys.”

And that applies to all Franciscan students, not just those in a certain major. Paul himself was a math and history major. Why are Franciscan students uniquely suited for law? Paul says it’s because rather than seeing students as simply “bodies to be lectured to,” the professors at Franciscan “treat you as a co-venturer in the truth.”

This, he believes, instills students with the ability to think critically and to pursue the truth no matter what.

“You can have students who have gotten great grades their entire academic career, and they still can’t think critically,” he continues. “But when you’re practicing law, no client gives you an A. The test is: ‘Did I help solve my client’s problem or not?’”

For attorneys like him who are trying to balance a career with their faith and family, he says a Franciscan education is particularly helpful because it familiarizes you with the mercy of God.

“You’re always going to be falling short. I don’t feel like I’ve gone through a day where I can honestly say: ‘Wow, I did everything perfectly.’ So truly knowing God’s mercy and not despairing is huge,” he says.

Paul has been with SouthBank Legal for 16 years and has litigated several high-profile cases. He and his wife, Brenda, have seven children. Life is extremely busy. But amidst it all, he says making time for the sacraments and prayer is vital. Especially in moments of difficulty, Paul believes it is important to turn to prayers, confession, and adoration.

“It’s never perfect,” he says. “I make so many excuses not to make a Holy Hour. But it’s really silly not to go because the Lord just showers mercy on us.”

Jennifer (Butler) Routh

Stella Mariae Household, Class of 2005

Washington, D.C.

Jennifer (Butler) Routh ’05

Since she was at least 9 years old, Jenn had always dreamed of being a lawyer. To her, the legal profession is a true calling from God.

But after graduating from Franciscan, she didn’t go straight to law school. She married Franciscan and AMDG Household alumnus Joey Routh ’03 and started a family. But that dream of being a lawyer never went away. With Joey’s encouragement, Jenn finally decided she would “go all in.”

She earned a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law, and today she is living out her dream as a wife, mother of three, and partner at a prestigious international firm in Washington, D.C., called McDermott Will & Emery.

“One of the things I learned at Franciscan was what it means to give of yourself in your vocation, whatever that might be,” she explains. “I was inspired by classmates and friends who gave it all to become priests or enter religious life, and I’ve tried to do that very same thing but in my vocation as a wife and a mother and then to my clients and my partners. To just go all in and give all that I can. I think that’s part of why I’ve had the success I’ve had.”

After undergoing a profound conversion experience, Jenn came to Franciscan as a sophomore transfer student. She majored in theology, which she admits most people wouldn’t correlate with a law career. But to her, it was a perfect fit, and many of those lessons learned at Franciscan continue to be applied in her life to this day.

“Clearly the study of God is different than the study of the law, but in both you’re wrestling with ancient texts, you’re trying to understand what people before you have said about these concepts of justice and who do we want to be as a society. So, the whole experience made a huge impact on me and is very much still with me today.”

Jenn adds, “It’s kind of amazing that things I heard in a classroom 20 years ago still feel as profound to me today as they did then, or maybe more so.”

Being a law partner, a wife, and a mother is no easy feat. It’s something that she wrestled with for a long time.

“I spent way too much time being afraid to pursue a career in the law because I wasn’t sure how it could possibly fit in with my plans for marriage and a family,” she admits.

“The lesson I had to learn was to really trust in the vocation and the exact ways God has called me in my life,” she explains. “The more I do that and embrace what I think God calls me to, the less worried I feel.”

“All I can say is that it has been so much more rewarding than I ever could have imagined taking the leap of faith and going all in,” she says. “If God calls you to it, he’ll see you through it.”

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Peter A. Pinedo ’20 writes from Washington, D.C.