The OPIA Blog

Representatives from NASA, Space Systems Loral, and SpaceX discussed the future of laws governing outer space during a panel at Harvard Law School.

As public support for the death penalty continues to decline, the signs of capital punishment’s impending demise are all around.

The Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights recently selected 13 students to participate in the inaugural Human Rights Studies Working Group, which will expose students to resources at Harvard and beyond that focus on human rights work.

Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Ralph Gants says the courts are taking steps to study and address Massachusetts' high racial disparity in incarceration rates.

The sister-and-brother team of Carol S. Steiker ’82, J.D. ’86, RI ’11, and Jordan M. Steiker, J.D. ’88 work to change how America thinks about capital punishment.

Mary T.W. Robinson, former president of Ireland and current United Nations Special Envoy on El Niño and Climate, spoke about the need for international policies promoting sustainability at a discussion at Harvard Law School on Thursday evening.

Applications are now being accepted for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Summer Intern Program. Apply Now!

Each year, Harvard Defenders selects three law students to serve as full-time Litman Fellows. Fellows have the unique opportunity to handle all their own cases, which involves interacting with clients, interviewing them in preparation for hearings, and conducting extensive investigations, which often entail meeting with witnesses and police officers. In addition, Fellows develop their own litigation strategies and ultimately present their cases to clerk magistrates in the Boston area’s criminal courts.

Florida's Supreme Court rules in favor of severe restrictions to the use of the death penalty in Florida, a state which ranks fourth in the country in total number of executions in the last 40 years.

Jake Howard did not follow what most would call a conventional path to the law. In many ways, that’s exactly what has made his story such an interesting one.

After trading his slacks and tie for boots and a uniform, Nathan Williams ’18, a cadet once more, gained a different kind of education.

Applications are due Monday, October 17, 2016. See full posting here.

Some Big Law baby boomers pursue pro bono opportunities instead of retiring because they still love practicing law.

Are you going into public interest? And/or is your employer not covering the cost of bar prep materials? Check out all of the bar prep programs when they are on campus October 24-26, so that you can think about which course you genuinely want to take. AND if you have made a deposit or a commitment, please contact Olivia Warren!

Join Iván Velásquez Gómez, UN High Commissioner for the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, (CICIG) as he describes his battles against illegal security groups and clandestine security  organizations in Guatemala – criminal groups believed to have infiltrated state institutions, fostering impunity and undermining democratic gains in Guatemala since the end of the country’s armed conflict in the 1990s.

Alex Abdo (HLS '06) tackles difficult privacy cases for the ACLU.

An ex-prosecutor learns that becoming a defense lawyer means defending people, not defendants.

Lawyers in public interest fellowships use their legal skills to affect real change. However, every year, exceptional young talents are turned away due to lack of funding.

Alan Rozenshtein focuses on cybersecurity and foreign intelligence issues. Sign up for an exclusive one-on-one advising appointment!

Capital punishment is on the decline in the US, except in a small fraction of the country.

The Mitchell Hamline School of Law retrofitted a recreational vehicle into a mobile pro bono law office. The RV, called Wheels of Justice carries students across Minnesota to perform pro bono legal services for those in need.