Learn more about the government employers currently recruiting through V-PIIP and find resources to help you prepare.

An independent clinical opportunity is available in the Legal Department of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston for the Fall 2024 semester.  The student will likely be asked to work on matters arising out of the operation and development of payment systems as well as other fintech-related initiatives, including technical research into central bank digital currency systems. 

Students should submit a resume and cover letter to Dana Pierce, Director of Externships, at dpierce@law.harvard.edu by August 1, 2024. Applications will be sent to the Federal Reserve Bank for their review and selection. Once a student is selected by the Federal Reserve Bank, the student will be required to submit an independent clinical application.

More info about this opportunity with the Federal Reserve Bank.

The application deadline for the Spring 2025 White House Internship Program is July 26, 2024, and the application deadline for the HLS Semester in Washington Program is August 16, 2024. Read more

Check out our summer job FAQs for answers to more commonly asked questions about the summer public interest job search.

As you are likely just starting your summer position, we know that it feels early to start thinking about your next one. But, for many students, the application process for 2L public interest summer positions begins in late summer/early fall, and we want to make sure you are well prepared.

Congratulations on completing Harvard Law School! OCS and OPIA remain available to you for advice throughout your career. Read about our career resources for alumni. 

If you have secured employment, please take a minute to complete the Graduate Employment Survey in CSM. The ABA requires all law schools to report the employment outcomes for its graduates pursuant to ABA Standard 509(b). The information you provide will be reported in the aggregate, will not be shared with anyone, and will allow us to comply with this ABA requirement.

If you are unsure of your start date, so that you can complete the survey, you may enter an estimated date and note in the survey that it is approximate. The Office of Career Services will follow up with you later in the spring for an updated start date.

Read this post for information regarding upcoming Bar Exam application deadlines.

Thinking of applying for a U.S. Department of Justice Volunteer Legal Internship? Our application guide is now updated for this year's application cycle.

Read the 2023 OPIA Insider’s Guide to the U.S. Department of Justice Volunteer Legal Internship Application Process.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Public Service Venture Fund, which serves to support HLS graduates’ public interest careers and amplify the impact of their work. Read more about the PSVF, its history, and how some alumni are using PSVF funds to build a better world.

All 2L and 3L students considering or planning to apply for clerkships for the 2024 cycle can now refer to HLS’s updated 2023 anecdotal list of judges with a public interest focus when researching potential clerkship options. Note that this version has been significantly expanded to include federal circuit and district judges confirmed in the last year, as well as additional federal magistrate and state court judges. The updated list can be accessed here.

Student Government's Public Interest Committee and the Law and Social Change Program are coordinating a peer-to-peer mentoring program for public interest students! 1Ls will be matched with more experienced students who have similar public interest career aspirations to share advice/resources/frustrations. The program will have a budget for mentors and mentees to get coffee or pastries, and will also be coordinating small group meetings with HLS professors in each interest area. Please sign up if you are interested in being a mentor or mentee! The program is open to all kinds of public interest students, including students who are going to firms upon graduation but hoping to transition later in their careers.

As you may have heard, beginning this September, HLS will institute a new orientation session for returning 2L students designed to help you reconnect with classmates, reflect on what you have learned in your first year and first summer as a law student, and look ahead to your future career. HLS will offer the three-hour orientation program on three different afternoons: Thursday, September 28; Friday, September 29; and Sunday, October 1, and you will be asked to choose the session that works best for you.

Representative Jim Cooper (D-TN) (HLS JD 1980) will be making a virtual visit to Professor Howell Jackson’s Federal Budget Policy class on Tuesday, November 22nd, from 9 to 10 am in WCC 2009. Students not enrolled in the course are welcome to sit in on the session. 

A few plaintiffs’ firms and several litigation boutiques participate in EIP, but most plaintiffs’ firms and private public interest law firms (PPILFs) do not participate in campus recruiting programs like EIP or V-PIIP. Learn more about how the hiring processes differ with these types of firms.

All HLS students who are receiving SPIF funding and will traveling abroad this summer, including international students returning to their home countries, must fulfill several pre-travel requirements prior to departing the U.S. If you have any questions, email International Legal Studies.

"I have never worried about the 'perfect path'."

"I could never have anticipated that I would end up doing what I do now."

"I had no problem getting interviews."

"Make space for an unplanned journey."

"There is no wrong path--only a wealth of choices."