Leslie Ruiter '82

It's a long way from an undergraduate career at Calvin College as a music major to work as a high-powered attorney and partner in a Seattle, Washington law firm. Or is it? Leslie Ruiter would say no. In fact, she'd be the first to draw all kinds of connections between her music major at Calvin, her post-graduate program at Emory University in law and theology and her current work in Seattle in intellectual property law.

"A rigorous liberal arts education is the best foundation for most professional careers," she says, "and especially for law school. I'm one of the strange ones who actually enjoyed law school, considering it an extended liberal arts jaunt before I had to start a real job."

She says too that the detailed analytical work required of a music theory major is great preparation for a profession obsessed with detailed accuracy, convoluted statutes and subtle distinctions.

"And honestly," she says, "compared with playing solo oboe in an orchestra, making an argument before a federal judge seems like a piece of cake."

Although most of Ruiter's work is advising corporations on protecting their trademarks and copyrights, Ruiter's background in music occasionally ties in to her current work in intellectual property law. Some of her legal work involves musicians and artists and she has done everything from analyzing musical trademarks to handling music copyright cases.

Ruiter's background in theology also plays into her work as an attorney.

After graduation from Calvin she went to Emory University School of Law, home to Emory law professor John Witte Jr., a 1982 Calvin graduate. Inspired by Witte, she signed up for the joint Law and Theology program at Emory and finished the two degrees in four years. One of her classmates was Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and Corretta Scott King, were the first two graduates of the Emory program linking law and theology.

"The two areas of study overlap more than you might think," she says. "Historically, law and theology were one in the same area of study. John Calvin and Martin Luther were also lawyers, for example."

Ruiter, a member of the Christian Legal Society, says the law is still an integral part of so many issues that Christians are involved in: everything from the environment to cloning and cell research to tax exclusions for churches.

Ruiter says her religious and theological training provides both a foundation and a framework for evaluating changes and policies in the law.

"My belief in a 'higher law' makes me feel that I am standing on solid ground, although it puts me at odds with those espousing natural law or relativist positions," she says. "Also, I find the law, with its aim of providing justice by seeking the truth, highly compatible with my Christian walk. It's a living demonstration of grace, a small piece of the bringing of the Kingdom of God on earth."