Participating in Clinics at HLS

Hi! My name is Kendall and I’m a rising 3L. I want to talk about getting involved in clinics at HLS but first, here’s a little bit about me. I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. After graduation, I worked for a healthcare IT company for two years and then joined the US Army, where I served for close to four years. As someone who worked before law school, participating in a clinic was at the top of my HLS to-do list.

As you can imagine, law school was a challenge early on, particularly since it’d been seven years between the time I graduated college and started law school. Over the course of my career, I learned to cherish experiential learning and ongoing mentorship. As a result, I was committed to enrolling in a clinic because I longed for the opportunity to learn from practitioners and apply the skills I was building in the classroom. During the spring 2018 semester, I was fortunate to secure a clinical placement with the Boston Celtics through the Sports Law Clinic, and enjoyed every minute of my time with team. Besides being an avid basketball fan, the clinic experience was exactly what I needed. I received prompt feedback on assignments, engaged in a variety of relevant legal experiences in which I had a considerable amount of autonomy, and most importantly, my confidence in my work product grew considerably. Furthermore, I’ve found that while the work at my summer internship is quite different than my work with the Celtics, the lessons learned have continued to be invaluable.

My advice to you as prospective students is to spend time researching the clinic offerings at HLS. I truly believe the breadth and depth of the experiences you’ll gain while taking a clinic will certainly differentiate you from your peers, no matter what career you’re hoping to pursue. Moreover, and perhaps most importantly, our clinic programs will give you the opportunity to build a network of professionals who will help develop your career for years to come. If you have any further questions about clinics, please feel free to email me at khowell@jd19.law.harvard.edu.