The first semester of law school can be an overwhelming time: it’s the season of uncapping fresh highlighters to mark up textbooks, settling into a new routine and schedule, and meeting new faces from all around the world. For many students, joining a Student Practice Organization (SPO) provides the grounding sense of purpose and community that they are seeking during 1L year.

“When I first came to HLS as a transfer student, it was very intimidating,” said Molly Crane ’23. “The people at my SPO, Harvard Defenders, really made me feel at home and made me feel like I had a place to belong.” It’s a sentiment echoed across SPO members: in their SPO, they found their place on campus.

Students can learn more about each of the 11 SPOs directly from student representatives at the SPO Panel on Sunday, September 7 at 10:30 am in Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall 200.

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Harvard Defenders

Harvard Defenders was founded in 1949 with a mission that has proved everlasting—providing pro bono services to indigent criminal defendants in Massachusetts. Today, the organization’s goal is to reduce the harm of the criminal legal system on community members through client-centered, compassionate, and persuasive legal practice.

“Defenders is a place where you can not only be a part of a community, but you can also build the community that you want to see,” said Molly Crane ’23. “I think people come to Defenders because they want to see greater justice and an end to the racist criminal legal system. And this is a place where people can actually work on making that happen.”

HLS Advocates for Human Rights

HLS Advocates is a student practice organization (SPO) that gives Harvard Law students an opportunity to participate in human rights-related projects, including work related to climate change, gender and LGBTQ+ rights, protecting cultural heritage, war crime accountability, and much more.  

“The Advocates community is close-knit,” said Christopher Hudson Verde ’25. “It’s been really nice to meet lots of 1Ls and 2Ls who are interested in human rights—it’s a common interest that keeps us all united. The teams themselves get really close, which is great to see. I’ll see Advocates waving to each other on campus, and I think especially for 1Ls who are still finding their footing, the community can be really helpful.”

The Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project (PLAP) is a student practice organization at Harvard Law School in which students represent people incarcerated in Massachusetts prisons. At PLAP, the mission is to empower people incarcerated in Massachusetts; to train law students in client-based advocacy and instill in them a commitment to public interest and social justice; and to participate in conversations about incarceration and engage in efforts to promote the rights of incarcerated people.

“I remember the joy and relief I felt receiving an email that the case was dismissed, knowing that my client’s visitation rights were restored, and disciplinary record expunged. It was a privilege to be a part of PLAP as a 1L and serve as a resource to a vulnerable population of incarcerated Massachusettsans,” writes Reema Dolah ’25.

Recording Artists Project (RAP)

Recording Artists Project, or RAP, is a student practice organization consisting of over 175 students from Harvard Law and Berklee College of Music, serving musicians and other entertainment clients with pro bono legal assistance. 

‘“It was really important to me that wherever I went to law school, I would find a home for the arts and other people who were passionate about supporting artists. I’ve found that home through RAP,” Isabelle Pride ’25 reflected. “I’ve grown so much from the ways that the organization has encouraged me to broaden my horizons, learn more about the industry, and imagine even more for myself in a legal career than I had envisioned going into law school.”  

Tenant Advocacy Project (TAP)

The Tenant Advocacy Project provides zealous advocacy for current and prospective public housing tenants and mobile voucher holders in the greater Boston area. TAP’s advocacy is guided by the experiences, needs, and aspirations of tenants, and they are committed to amplifying the work of Boston area community organizations. 

“I came to HLS not being 100% sure of what I wanted to do, but being generally interested in direct client services work and specifically interested in housing,” says AJ Williamson ’26. “TAP provided a really good opportunity to deepen my engagement with both of those interests.” 

Other SPOs include:

  • Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project: The Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project provides pro bono legal research and analysis to entrepreneurs in the Harvard and MIT community, answering legal questions about topics like start-up needs. 
  • Harvard Law School Immigration Project (HIP): From helping immigrants in the Boston area navigate the law and understand their rights, to exposing injustices experienced by women in America’s immigrant detention facilities, the Harvard Law School Immigration Project, part of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program, is devoted to providing students opportunities to make a difference in the immigration system and in peoples’ lives. 
  • Harvard Mediation Program (HMP): The Harvard Mediation Program uses alternative dispute resolution methods to provide fair and effective mediation processes in which disputing members of the community can resolve their own differences. At the same time, by co-mediating with clients (working under a supervising attorney), HLS students have the opportunity to develop and refine their communication and mediation skills as well. 
  • HLS Mississippi Delta Project: The Mississippi Delta Project provides policy and legal services to clients in the Mississippi Delta region. The Delta struggles with public health outcomes, segregation and the legacy of Jim Crow, poverty, and education, among other issues. Policy teams work with clients to pursue long-term legislative and policy projects in many areas of need. 
  • HLS Negotiators: Harvard Law School Negotiators (“HLSN”) is an HLS student organization that seeks to provide law students with opportunities to become actively involved in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution while working with clients in the real world. Students work on teams to design systems for dealing with internal disputes, conduct conflict assessments of complex real-life situations, or provide advice for negotiations.
  • Project No One Leaves is a student-run, Boston-based canvassing group that partners with local community organizers to connect low-income and oppressed communities to resources that build community power and provide opportunities to protect and assert residents’ rights. 
Learn more about the SPOs here

Filed in: Pro Bono