Archive

Congratulations to the Class of 2017 for their great accomplishment of 356,953 pro bono hours in service to the community. Students averaged 586 hours each, working at hundreds of different organizations. 78 percent of the graduating class participated in at least one clinic.

By Hon. John C. Cratsley (Ret.)—The 23 students in this Spring Semester’s Judicial Process in Trial Courts Clinic contributed over 1500 hours of legal research and writing to local state and federal judges. This exceeded by hundreds of hours the assistance provided by clinic students in prior years.

From Harvard Law Today—Erika Johnson is this year’s winner of the David A. Grossman Exemplary Clinical Student Award. The award is named in honor of the late Clinical Professor of Law David Grossman ’88, a public interest lawyer dedicated to providing high-quality legal services to low income communities.

By Takaaki Ishii LL.M '17—This program began in 1994 with the mission of teaching probationers to be positive and attentive parents to their sons and daughters.

From Harvard Law Today—Since its founding nine months ago, Harvard Law School’s Access to Justice Lab has aimed to revolutionize thinking about access to legal help.

By Lauren Godles J.D. '17—In law school, we spend three years studying cases, with the expectation that by the end, we will develop a personal judicial philosophy. This judicial philosophy will consist of a set of legal principles and preferred modes of interpretation that will guide our analysis of legal issues for years to come.

From Harvard Law Today—In his work for the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, Mario Nguyên ’17 often represented survivors of domestic violence. While meeting with him, one woman, crying, confided that she worried her children would be damaged forever by the violence they had seen.

In 2015, the Veterans Legal Clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School established the Veterans Justice Pro Bono Partnership (VJPBP) to help veterans who were discharged with a less-than-honorable discharge to upgrade their discharge status.

From the Food Law and Policy Clinic—The EPA’s Environmental Merit Award Program honors teachers, citizen activists, business leaders, scientists, public officials and others who have made outstanding contributions on behalf of the region's public health and natural environment.

By Michele Hall '17—In the spring of my 1L year, I was determined to find another way to be in community with Boston. That’s when I found the Project No One Leaves (PNOL), a student-run organization, whose mission is to empower citizens to protect their homes and communities through grassroots organizing, legal education, and civic engagement.

By Lauren Greil J.D. '17—The Education Law Clinic is working to make schools in Massachusetts trauma sensitive and to make students feel more safe and supported.

From the Food Law and Policy Clinic—Today, Clinic with support from ReFED and Food Policy Action, released Opportunities to Reduce Food Waste in the 2018 Farm Bill, a report detailing how Congress can take action to reduce food waste, with a focus on opportunities to make such changes in the next farm bill.

From Harvard Law Today—Harvard Law School student William Ahee ’17 and alumnus Lam Nguyen Ho ’08 have received the Gary Bellow Public Service Award, established in 2001 to honor HLS Professor Gary Bellow ’60, his commitment to public service, and his innovative approach to the analysis and practice of law.

By Alicia Solow-Niederman J.D. '17—The choice to enroll in the Cyberlaw Clinic was easy for me. Having worked as a project manager at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society before law school, I knew I wanted to participate in this Clinic even before I began 1L year.

By Ian Zhang J.D. '17—Prior to coming to law school, I worked as a math tutor/academic advisor at a Title I middle school in Texas through The Princeton Review program. The majority of my students came from low-income families and experienced a host of educational, social, and mental health challenges.

By Leo Angelakos, J.D. '17—On April 6, 2017, Cyberlaw Clinic students attended oral argument in a First Circuit copyright appeal involving a curious set of facts and legal issues.

From Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program— It might seem like a long way from her birth in Cuba to the halls of Harvard Law School, but ever since she read Roger Fisher’s Getting to Yes as a sophomore in college, Patricia Alejandro ’17 had her sights set on law school.

From the Legal Services Center—Julia Devanthery and Maureen E. McDonagh are featured in this Boston Bar podcast about the proposed statewide expansion of the Housing Court.

From the Food Law and Policy Clinic—Today, in partnership with ReFED, a multi-stakeholder non-profit committed to reducing U.S food waste, the clinic released a new tool that will aid advocates, policymakers, investors, businesses, and nonprofits in improving the food waste policy landscape.

By Diane Ramirez, J.D. ’17—I have been practicing wage and hour law for about a year and a half at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and have seen first hand the power a student attorney can have in helping victims of wage theft recover wages under Massachusetts’ influential labor laws.

By John Zhou, LL.M. '17—“Woof, Woof… ” A black Labrador barked desperately to give out alarm that someone was knocking at the door. She ran back and forth, gently rubbing the thigh of her human friend, until the man slowly approached the door and opened it.