The liberal society will be loosely modeled on the Federalist society, which was founded in 1982 by four law school students—one from HLS—to battle “orthodox liberal ideology” which it said pervaded legal institutions.

The Federalist society formed chapters at law schools across the nation, sponsored speaker series and garnered financial support as it grew.

Now, liberals said that the Federalist Society’s power is manifested in the large number of President Bush’s nominees for judicial and executive branch positions.

Tribe and Halperin said that ACS hoped to emulate the Federalist Society’s success in creating a powerful network of legal professionals.

The executive director of the Federalist Society, Eugene B. Meyer, offered qualified support for the emergence of the rival group.

“To the extent that the group ends up having an emphasis on debate and discussion, that’s positive,” he said.

ACS grew out of the Madison Group, a liberal law society founded at Georgetown, founded by Professor Peter J. Rubin in 1999. Plans to take the group national crystallized this spring, as founders put in place a national structure and board of directors.

Rubin became the new president, and the group changed its name in response to concerns over the pro-slavery views of namesake James Madison.