Student Spotlights

Read about Peter Nash Stavros, a 3L, who spent this past fall semester at the University of Geneva and also spent his past two summers working abroad. Peter offers a glimpse into how one can build up international credentials and explore a wide array of work types while doing so.

Our spotlights on current and former students who interned in the public sector will shed light on the numerous opportunities available to HLS students during the summer. Read this and other OPIA blog posts to gain better insight into what a summer public interest internship can really look like. Eva Bitran, 2L, spent her summer […]

Last summer, Katherine Calle worked as an intern at the Center for Children’s Law and Policy, a public interest organization in Washington, D.C. CCLP works with jurisdictions and facilities to improve the juvenile justice system across the country.

Last summer, Melanie Botho Emmen worked at the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Rome. IDLO is an intergovernmental organization with a mandate to promote the rule of law around the world and expand access to justice to the most vulnerable.

Last summer, Caroline Sacerdote worked for the Legal Resources Centre (“LRC”) in South Africa. Most of her time was spent working on domestic impact litigation, but she also had the opportunity to work in international human rights. Caroline’s summer at the LRC showed her how the law can be used as a tool to solve social problems.

Meg Holden, a 3L, is deeply interested in environmental law, which she hopes to build into a career in environmental litigation and policy work. Prior to attending law school, Meg worked for two years for an environmental NGO in New Delhi, India. She came to law school in large part to prepare for a career focused on protecting the environment, both at home and abroad.

Last summer, 2L Steven Green worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section. In this role, Steven worked on a variety of projects, ranging from legal research and writing to working on search warrant affidavits and other trial-related documents. He also had the opportunity to work on international legal assistance requests regarding investigation materials.

Alison Tong, now a 2L, spent last summer at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE). She worked in Malden, MA at the Department’s Office of Legal Counsel.

Current 3L Jessica Frisina spent last summer in New Orleans as an intern at the Louisiana Center for Children’s Rights (formerly known as Juvenile Regional Services).

Timap for Justice, a legal services organization based in Sierra Leone, provides legal services through their 19 offices in both rural and urban areas. Lynnette worked for 10 weeks in the summer of 2011 in a small office in Yele, a village in the central part of Sierra Leone. There were 7 total interns with Timap, but each was assigned to a different office. They did, however, communicate with each other and meet up to go on weekend outings.

Last summer, Catherine Cooper worked with the Immigration Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS). The main focus of GBLS is providing direct services to local clients in a variety of areas, such as housing, employment and welfare. The immigration unit primarily represents low-income immigrants in asylum interviews and hearings before the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice. Catherine loved working at GBLS and thought it was a great place to supplement her immigration work at HLS with a more intensive hands-on experience.

Previously a public policy major at Princeton, Jared was looking for opportunities to get involved in state government as a Harvard Law student. In 2008 he spent his summer interning in the Office of the Governor of Massachusetts Deval Patrick, working on education policy. He returned there for his 1L summer, this time as a Legal Fellow in the Office of Legal Counsel. One of only three Fellows, Jared enjoyed the close contact with all five in-house counsels. While the State House reminded him of a largely formal working environment, it felt rather casual for Jared who became an integral part of the small legal office.

Last year, as a 1L, Emily Freeman looked for organizations in New York where she could pursue her interest in special education law. When she found out about New York Legal Assistance Group, an organization that provides free legal services to low-income New Yorkers, she reached out to the director of its special education unit. […]

Lara Berlin, originally from California, is in her third year of a four-year joint-degree program with Harvard Law School and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts. She spent last summer working with the Center for Civilians in Conflict located in Washington DC. The organization “works to make warring parties more responsible to civilians before, during, and after armed conflict.”

The United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division – Special Litigation Section: long name, great summer experience. Jeremy Feigenbaum worked for Special Lit in Washington, D.C. his 1L summer, and he would highly recommend the opportunity to anyone thinking about working in civil rights litigation. Like most interns at the DOJ, Jeremy’s work involved […]

Last summer, Amanda Ravich worked at the New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, General Counsel Office. She described it as an incredibly interesting and rewarding experience.

Lerae Kroon spent last summer working at Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New York in the Immigration Office. This department provides legal consultations and direct representation to immigrants living in New York City. When she started her job search, Lerae knew that she wanted to spend her summer directly representing clients.

Sam Birnbaum left home far behind when he went to Thailand to spend the summer working for the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking. Landing in Thailand, Sam got acquainted with the office, which is small and diverse—with only 15-20 people in the UN compound in Thailand and only about 50 across Southeast Asia, every member of the community can quickly feel at home.

Robin Lipp is in his third year as a JD/MPP student here at Harvard, and spent last summer working at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Robin had worked for the New York City Law Department the previous summer, and wanted to get more of a policy oriented experience in his second summer (next summer, he hopes to combine the two, possibly through a legal position within a policy oriented non-profit or government office).

During the summer of 2012, Stephanie Berger, current 3L, worked for ten weeks at the Disability Rights Section of the DOJ Civil Rights Division. The primary job of the Disability Rights Section is to enforce the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and use the ADA to expand civil rights.