SJD

Watch our panel of HLS alumni speak about their own journey from practicing at a law firm to a public interest career. Of varied backgrounds, our alums will share what they did to successfully make the transition and what they experienced along the way.

Submit your student writing to the Harvard International Law Journal's Student Note Competition! The winner of the Competition for Volume 64(1) will be published alongside leading academics and receive comprehensive feedback throughout the editing process. Successful Notes are engaging, make new arguments, and deal with international or comparative law. Pieces should be between 8,000 and 16,000 words, including footnote citations. Only current HLS students or graduates one year out (JDs, LLMs, and SJDs all welcome) are eligible for the Competition.

OPIA's end-of-year survey is a key opportunity to tell us what's working well in OPIA -- and what isn't! We will use your thoughts to inform our planning for future years. All responses to the survey are anonymous.

Professor Patrícia Perrone Campos Mello is interested in hiring a research assistant for work over the next months. The research will mostly focus on democratic recession and comparative constitutional law. She is working on a book concerning democratic recession and resilience strategies (with special attention to Brazil). The work can be part-time and at a distance. Please submit a resume and 2-3 sentences on what interests you about the project to pcamposmello@hks.harvard.edu.

The Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic has space available for a small number of additional students in the spring 2021 semester.  Potential projects include…

Watch this video with Fellowships Director Judy Murciano for an overview of fellowships, grants, and scholarships that will support public interest work, study, research, and entrepreneurship in the U.S. and abroad.

Check out our new fellowship application calendar that breaks down and maps out the application processes for many of the more complicated project- and organization-based fellowships. Use this in conjunction with our other fellowship resources and fellowship and entry-level jobs deadlines feed. We look forward to supporting you through your entry-level job search this upcoming year and to seeing you back on campus.

Congratulations, graduates! We have loved working with you. Many of our services are available to you after you leave HLS and we very much hope that you will stay in touch. Please know that we will always be among your biggest fans! All graduating students are welcome to join alumni listserv for a weekly email with fellowship and entry-level job opportunities that require 0-3 years’ experience, job opportunities that require 3+ years’ experience, relevant announcements, and events.

“If you spend 12 hours a day doing work you hate, at some point it doesn’t matter what your paycheck says.” The upper echelon is hoarding money and privilege to a degree not seen in decades. But that doesn’t make them happy at work.

A federal judge has struck down a decision by the Trump administration to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 U.S. Census, setting up what’s expected to be a drawn-out appeal process from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Through these examples, we highlight the paths of a number of alums who have taken varied career routes to show that there is no “right” path to a fulfilling career.

A comprehensive listing of diversity scholarships, clerkships, mentorships, internships, conventions, and job fairs available to law students.

A highly anticipated new survey of thousands of undergraduates and first-year law students found that the top four most-cited reasons for pursuing law school are: providing a pathway to a career in politics, government or public service; having a passion and high interest in legal work; creating opportunities to give back to others; and the desire to be an advocate for social change.

“You can lose your children, you can lose your home, you can lose your livelihood without having legal help to get you through complicated legal proceedings.”

The U.S. Foreign Policy Colloquium (FPC) provides 75 of the best and brightest Chinese graduate students a deeper and more nuanced understanding of the complex forces that shape American foreign policy and inform the U.S.-China relationship. Interested students can apply today.

NAWL has established the annual Selma Moidel Smith Law Student Writing Competition to encourage and reward original law student writing on issues concerning women and the law.

Sign-up for one-on-one advising with Jonathan Taylor, Principal at Gupta Wessler PLLC.

Meet one-on-one with visiting advisor Robert Stockman, Senior Attorney for the Health Program Team at the Environmental Defense Fund.

A group of movement lawyering practitioners & educators, in collaboration with Law for Black Lives, CUNY-CLEAR, the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG-NIP), and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), invites you to apply for the first-ever online Movement Lawyering Bootcamp with a series of six interactive online education and discussion sessions. Apply by 11:549 pm on Monday, May 15.

The National Security & the Law Association is very pleased to announce a lunch event with former Deputy Assistant to the President, Deputy Counsel to the President, National Security Council (NSC) Legal Adviser, and Harvard Law School graduate Christopher Fonzone.

This Fund is intended to provide support for HLS students from any HLS degree program engaged in term time or summer public interest research or work pertaining to Taiwan, the People's Republic of China or Hong Kong.

Read Professor William P. Quigley's letter and [link_to id=144760 title="Letter to a Law Student Interested in Social Justice"]attend the event[/link_to].

How we treat citizens who make mistakes (even serious mistakes), pay their debt to society, and deserve a second chance reflects who we are as a people and reveals a lot about our character and commitment to our founding principles. And how we police our communities and the kinds of problems we ask our criminal justice system to solve can have a profound impact on the extent of trust in law enforcement and significant implications for public safety.

The Criminal Justice Policy Program is hiring paid research assistants for the January and Spring terms.

This article presents a critical reflection on the disconnect between conventional legal training and the skills needed by lawyers to support low-income communities of color, among others, in addressing US systems of oppression. It is intended to assist aspiring “movement lawyers” in developing their capacity to align their strategic and tactical decision-making with the power dynamics faced by the communities they serve.

Meet with Fredrik Bergman (HLS '14) the Chief Legal Counsel for Centrum för rättvisa (the Centre for Justice, Sweden’s leading public interest law firm) and hear about his experiences as an international HLS alumni, former Swedish judge and pro bono litigator in the field of fundamental rights. Appointments available on Monday, November 14, 1:30-3:30 pm . Be sure to schedule an appointment!

Meet with Clarence Crafoord, the head of Centrum för rättvisa (the Centre for Justice, Sweden’s leading public interest law firm) and associate lawyer at the law firm Bratt & Feinsilber. Appointments are available on Monday, November 14, 1:30-3:30 pm. Be sure to schedule an appointment!

Some Big Law baby boomers pursue pro bono opportunities instead of retiring because they still love practicing law.

Alex Abdo (HLS '06) tackles difficult privacy cases for the ACLU.

An ex-prosecutor learns that becoming a defense lawyer means defending people, not defendants.

Lawyers in public interest fellowships use their legal skills to affect real change. However, every year, exceptional young talents are turned away due to lack of funding.

Alan Rozenshtein focuses on cybersecurity and foreign intelligence issues. Sign up for an exclusive one-on-one advising appointment!

The Mitchell Hamline School of Law retrofitted a recreational vehicle into a mobile pro bono law office. The RV, called Wheels of Justice carries students across Minnesota to perform pro bono legal services for those in need.

The Justice Department files a brief arguing that holding a defendant in jail because they cannot afford bail is unconstitutional.

Law students are discussing current events in class in order to prepare them for how race, class, and economics influence law in the real world.

Fordham, Stanford and other institutions are working to lessen the legal system's limitations.

Emily Broad Leib, director of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, calls for policies to address food waste and its impacts on the environment, food security, and our climate.

Bob Bordone, Thaddeus R. Beal Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, considers the elements of a successful career.

Please consider nominating a faculty member, dean, or staff member for one of these awards recognizing pro bono and public service contributions. Nominations of others or oneself may be made by any member of AALS until September 30, 2016, 5:00 p.m. (EST) and must be emailed to Jennifer Tschirch.