Skip to content

Clinical Programs

Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs (OCP)
Wasserstein Hall, Suite 3085
6 Everett Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

617-495-5202

Book an Advising Appointment

Clinics give students hands-on legal experience under the supervision of attorneys. With clinical placements in-house and at organizations across the country, and the opportunity for students to create their own independent placements, HLS students participate in more clinical placements than any law school in the world.

Harvard Defenders student officers

Clinics are open to 2L, 3L, and LL.M. students. Each clinic is tied to a classroom component: students receive clinical credit for their legal practice in clinics and academic credit for the course component. In addition, most clinics allow students to fulfill HLS’s 50 hours pro bono graduation requirement.

In the News

  • Featured image for On being a great prosecutor article

    On being a great prosecutor

    Jonathan Wroblewski reflects on a semester teaching the Government Lawyer: U.S. Attorney Clinic: “We need to have the courage to see past competition, existing patterns and culture, and politics, and to envision moral greatness – in prosecution, and all manner of public and not-public service – and then to find a way to try to

    January 7, 2025

  • Featured image for Harmony and justice article

    Harmony and justice

    Professional cellist Krysta Hyppolite'25 came to law school after seeing firsthand the challenges facing working musicians.

    January 3, 2025

  • Featured image for Capturing veterans’ stories in the Estate Planning Project article

    Capturing veterans’ stories in the Estate Planning Project

    By Patrick Healy ’26 The Veterans Law and Disability Benefits Clinic counts for three credits on my transcript, but it also satisfies three things that drew me to the legal profession: learning skills that could help my family, serving people in need, and doing both with like-minded colleagues.   For my 1L elective, I took Trusts

    December 11, 2024

  • Fear, and relief, spreads through divided Massachusetts immigrant communities after Trump wins

    Immigration advocates are preparing “Know Your Rights” presentations for immigrants and legal clinics to help people secure their status. “There’s a real need for investment from the state, from local governments, from private funders, from foundations, in supporting legal services,” said Sabi Ardalan, director of the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program.

    December 11, 2024

two women in suits stand outside a courthouse

Check out the OCP Blog to read student perspectives on the clinical experience, find out more about the clinics’ legal work, catch up with alumni, and more!

OCP Blog