The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) is unique among HLS programs of clinical legal education in that its legal services program is student-run. Founded in 1913, HLAB has a long history of responding to the legal needs of low-income people in the greater Boston area. The Bureau consists of approximately 50 second- and third-year student members who make two-year commitments to the Bureau’s program of clinical education and legal services to the indigent community. Student membership in HLAB carries with it an integrated two-year academic and clinical training in legal practice skills and ethics. HLAB members are expected to devote at least 20 hours per week of clinical practice and related activities.

Students represent indigent clients in civil matters in the Massachusetts courts, before administrative agencies, before legislative bodies, and in various other fora. Working under the supervision of eight clinical instructors who collectively have extensive public interest and private practice experience, all students assume direct responsibility for representation of clients from intake interview to final disposition. Each year the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau handles over 300 cases in varied practice areas, including family law, housing law, wage and hour law, government benefits, and Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) matters. Bureau practice frequently involves appearances by student attorneys before state courts, hearing officers, and administrative law judges. Students also have the opportunity to engage in other forms of advocacy, including the following task forces, community lawyering partnerships, and clinics for pro se litigants:

• Attorney-for-the-Day at Boston Housing Court
• Attorney-for-the-Day at Suffolk Family and Probate Court
• Benefits Practice (SSI/SSDI/DUA)
• Community Lawyering Task Force
• Eviction Clinic
• Family Practice Task Force (FPTF)
• Racial Justice Task Force (RJTF)
• Wage & Hour Practice (including Mass AG Wage Theft Clinic)
• Y2Y Youth Homeless Shelter
• City Life / Vida Urbana

Because the Bureau is a student-run legal services program, members and their elected student board of directors are responsible for the governance of the organization.

Student work includes:

• Engaging in factual and legal research
• Client interviewing and counseling
• Negotiating agreements
• Drafting legal memoranda
• Arguing motions and trying cases before a court or jury
• Drafting legislation and promoting policy reform
• Cultivating and sustaining partnerships with community organizations

You can follow the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau on Twitter and Facebook.