To learn more about the Clinical Curriculum and Registration, please visit our Clinical Registration Center. You can also find more information on How to Register for Clinics and How Clinical Credits Work.

For more information about this clinic, please visit the Clinic Website and OCP Blog Highlights. In addition, as this clinic is part of the Legal Services Center (LSC), you are encouraged to visit LSC’s Clinical Student FAQs page.

Required Clinic Component: Housing Law Clinic (3-5 fall clinical credits). This clinic and course are bundled; your enrollment in the clinic will automatically enroll you in this required course.

Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: None.

By Permission: No.

Add/Drop Deadline: August 23, 2024.

LLM Students: LLM students may enroll in this clinic through Helios.

The Housing Law Clinical Workshop provides students who are enrolled in the Legal Services Center’s Housing Law Clinic with the practical skills and substantive knowledge necessary to effectively advocate for tenants in and out of the courtroom. Objectives of the course include: understanding the statutes, cases and rules applicable in housing law cases; enhancing student understanding of our professional roles, values and ethics involved in the practice of law; developing practical lawyering skills (such as interviewing clients, negotiating settlements, arguing motions, and introducing evidence); and analyzing and proposing advocacy approaches to contemporary housing law issues. A large part of the workshop is hands-on and group-oriented; students engage in small and large-group exercises and discussions. Throughout the course, we work on a hypothetical case from the initial client interview through the final disposition of the case. In addition, students will prepare a memorandum and conduct a presentation on one of their ongoing active cases at the Legal Services Center or on a housing policy issue and will lead class discussion. There is no final examination or paper for this course. Students will be evaluated based on their preparation for and participation in class exercises and discussions, especially in student led rounds discussions. This workshop is a required component for students working in the Housing Law Clinic of the Legal Services Center.

The Housing Clinic staffs an Attorney for the Day table at Housing Court on Thursday mornings (from 9:00 to 12:00). Students find the experience of assisting unrepresented tenants rewarding and try to arrange their schedules to allow for clinic work on Thursday mornings.

For more information on the Clinic, contact Lecturer/Clinic Director Maureen McDonagh, mcdonagh@law.harvard.edu or Director of the Housing Justice for Survivors Project, Julia Devanthéry (jdevanthery@law.harvard.edu).