All Areas of Interest

Area of Interest Private Law

Private law is law that concerns how individuals and firms can or must interact with one another. Though many subject-areas within the law have important private-law dimensions, including corporate law, employment Law, and family law – at its core are subjects such as agency, contracts, fiduciary law, property, restitution, and torts. These bodies of law define basic legal rights and duties (such as the right to have contractual promises enforced, and the right against another person’s invading one’s house or privacy) and also important legal powers (such as the power to make legally binding arrangements). A world leader in contemporary private law and private law theory, Harvard Law School offers students instruction from dozens of faculty members who research and teach in private law areas.

From Harvard Law Today

Profiles

Professors Smith and Goldberg reinvigorate the study of Private Law at HLS

HLS Professors John Goldberg and Henry Smith are working to reinvigorate the study of contracts, torts, and property with the new Private Law Workshop, which…

Faculty

HLS Professors

Visiting Professors & Lecturers

Clinics

Transactional Law Clinics

The Transactional Law Clinics consist of the Business and Non-Profit Clinic, the Real Estate Clinic, the Entertainment Law Clinic, and the Community Enterprise Project. These…

Research Programs and Centers

Animal Law & Policy Program

Foundations of Private Law

Institute for Global Law and Policy

John M. Olin Center: Law, Economics and Business

Petrie-Flom Center: Health Law, Biotech and Bioethics