Harvard Law School was the first law school in the United States to offer clinical education and today offers more clinical opportunities than any other law school. Your support propels programs covering more than 30 diverse areas of the law, where students gain real-world, hands-on legal experience under the supervision of practicing attorneys.
Giving Opportunities
Gifts to Harvard Law School clinics enrich students’ law school experiences and have a ripple effect on the communities supported by our students and faculty. We hope you will partner with us as we strive to build on this legacy and provide the next generation of leaders and advocates with the best possible training in the law.
-
J.D. Participation in Clinics 89%
-
Average Pro Bono Hours 673
-
Annual Clinical Placements 1,161
Learning the Law, Serving the World
Each clinic is tied to a classroom component—students receive clinical credit for their legal practice in clinics and academic credit for the course component. 2L, 3L, and LL.M. students can enroll in clinics.
“My clinical experiences have been my favorite and most rewarding parts of my law school experience. I came to law school to learn how to be a lawyer, and my clinical experiences have taught me just that. When you take a case, you never know how it’s going to turn out, what challenges you are going to face along the way. But with every unpredictable twist and turn that my clients and cases took me on, I learned something new about what it takes to be a lawyer.”
Stephanie Perez ’23, 2023 recipient of the Ralph D. Gants Access to Justice Award
Harvard Law School currently has 25 in-house clinics—located on campus or in Boston—staffed by clinical professors of law, lecturers on law, clinical instructors, clinical fellows, and program administrators who teach students in the clinic and in the classroom.
In addition, there are 13 externship clinics that place students at outside organizations falling under the clinic’s subject area, where they are supervised by attorneys.
List of HLS Clinics in 2023-2024
Student Practice Organizations
Open to all students, Student Practice Organizations (SPOs) are run by student boards and supervised by licensed attorneys. Participation in an SPO allows students to gain practical legal experience that counts toward their graduation pro bono requirement.
Current SPOs
- Harvard Defenders
- Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project
- Harvard Mediation Program
- Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project
- HLS Advocates for Human Rights
- HLS Immigration Project
- HLS Mississippi Delta Project
- HLS Negotiators
- Project No One Leaves
- Recording Artists Project
- Tenant Advocacy Project
Campus Naming Opportunities
In addition to essential support for clinical students and faculty, there are campus spaces for clinics available for naming. Contact our Major Gifts team to learn more about these transformational opportunities.
Clinic Stories
-
Fighting Injustice in the Courts and on the Page
As director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, Sabrineh Ardalan is helping students take on individual asylum claims and a broken system.
July 1, 2024
-
Harvard International Human Rights Clinic hosts conference to build relationships and share strategies
At the end of April, dozens of human rights clinicians gathered in Cambridge to share ideas, forge friendships, and build resilience and hope in their work.
June 14, 2024
-
‘A lot of progress can be made by seeking to become better listeners’
In this interview, Pedro Spivakovsky-Gonzalez’17 reflects on the importance of mediation, his clinical experiences at Harvard Law School, and the qualities he believes define successful attorneys serving the public interest.
June 12, 2024