Esme Caramello

Esme Caramello
Faculty Director, Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
Clinical Professor of Law
617-495-4408
Areas of Interest
- Housing Law and Policy: Low Income Housing
- Law and Social Change
- Race and the Law
- Disability Law
- Poverty Law
- Clinical Legal Education
Academic Appointment and Employment History
- Visiting Assistant Clinical Professor of Law, Suffolk University Law School Housing and Consumer Protection Clinic (2009 - Present)
Boston, Massachusetts - Clinical Instructor, Housing Unit, WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School (2006 - 2008)
Boston, Massachusetts - Litigation Associate, Holland & Knight LLP (2004 - 2006)
Boston, Massachusetts - Chesterfield Smith Community Service Fellow, Holland & Knight LLP (2001 - 2003)
Boston, Massachusetts - Litigation Associate, Baker & McKenzie (1999 - 2000)
San Francisco, California
Bar Admissions
- Massachusetts, United States (2002)
Board Memberships
- Member, Access to Attorneys Committee, Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission (2016 - Present)
- Co-Chair, Justice for All Housing Working Group, Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission (2018 - Present)
- Member, Grants Committee, Boston Bar Foundation (2005 - Present)
- Member, City Manager's Advisory Committee (2017 - Present)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Clerkships
- Charles P. Kocoras, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 2000 - 2001
Education History
- J.D. Harvard Law School, 1999
- B.A. Social Anthropology Harvard-Radcliffe College, 1994
Current Courses
- Harvard Legal Aid Bureau 2L, Fall-Spring 2020
- Harvard Legal Aid Bureau 3L, Fall-Spring 2020
- Housing Law and Policy, Spring 2021
- Introduction to Advocacy: Civil Legal Aid Ethics, Theory, and Practice, Fall-Spring 2020
- Lawyering for Justice in the United States, Winter 2021
- Teaching Lawyering for Justice, Winter 2021
Clinic Work
The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau is a student-run civil legal aid organization committed to providing free representation to low-income and marginalized communities in the Greater Boston area. Students and staff aim to provide these services in a way that responds to the systemic racial, social, and economic inequalities that are the causes and consequences of poverty. To that end, the Bureau trains its student attorneys to advocate vigorously for their clients, create enduring community partnerships, and become socially conscious leaders.
The Bureau's tight-knit community includes 50 second- and third-year law students who commit to spending at least 20 hours per week for two full academic years representing low-income clients in civil cases and policy and outreach projects, along with a staff of experienced lawyers and educators who guide the students' work. Founded in 1913, the Bureau has always been run by its student members. Students may apply for HLAB membership during the spring of their 1L year.

617-495-4408