Co-taught by Professors Esme Caramello, Tyler Giannini, Michael Gregory, and Dehlia Umunna.

Note: This course is restricted to first-year J.D. students only.

The drop deadline for 1L January Experiential Term (JET) classes is December 2, 2026. Students may not drop a course if they do not have an offer to enroll in a different JET course.

1L JET courses are intensive learning courses. Class attendance is required in each course every day of the term. Students should plan accordingly and should not take on other work commitments during the term.

Exam Type: No Exam

Many students come to Harvard Law School to learn to correct injustices they have experienced or observed. Lawyering promises to be a concrete method of social justice problem solving, a set of tools the lawyer can use to make a positive difference. But what does it really look like to “lawyer for justice”? The strategies and tactics of public interest lawyers vary widely depending on their clients, their causes, their geography, and their own interests, talents, and expertise. How do you choose how to lawyer? What tools in the lawyer’s toolkit are best suited to your task? And what are limits on the lawyer’s role? How do lawyers situate themselves in the ecosystem of change agents, offering their unique skills (and credentials) while making space to learn and benefit from other voices and methodologies?

This course will help first-year students explore these foundational questions through interactive sessions led by experienced practitioners teaching and lawyering in the HLS clinical programs and their community partners. Each day, a clinical teacher working on a different social justice problem – immigration, predatory lending, human rights, criminal justice, education, housing, building a solidarity economy, and more – will share their expertise on what it means to lawyer for justice and will lead students through discussions and exercises that offer first-hand experience of a wide range of lawyering dilemmas and approaches. Collectively, the sessions will cover a diverse set of lawyering techniques, including impact litigation, legislative and policy advocacy, transactional work, community lawyering, media advocacy, system mapping, and the representation of individuals in proceedings in unjust systems. The course’s experiential exercises will also provide students the opportunity to practice and apply their leadership and negotiation skills in the context of legal movements for social and economic justice. The course will end with “Action Day”—a full-day session in which small groups will present an innovative solution to a social justice problem of their choosing.

Important Note: Attendance and being on time every day is required for passing this course, including the first day of January term, Mon, Jan, 4, 2027. Plan your travel accordingly. We will excuse absences for illness and family emergencies. According to HLS policy, students should coordinate with potential employers to be certain any interviews during J-term take place outside of class hours. Unexcused absences or tardiness will be taken into consideration in assigning course grades. Attendance and full participation in the final full-day class session on Wed, Jan 20 is considered akin to a final exam.

This course meets every day, except Thu, Jan 14, when class will meet from 9:00-1:30, and Wed, Jan 20, when class will meet from 9:00-3:30. Class will not meet on Thu, Jan 21.