HLS 200

On April 20, Harvard Law School will host the third and final major event in its year-long program celebrating 200 years of HLS. HLS in the Community will convene alumni, faculty, students, and staff to explore the extraordinary reach and impact of Harvard lawyers.

During Spring Break, Harvard Law School staff and faculty volunteered as part of HLS in the Community Week of Service. Together they contributed over 175 volunteer hours at three local service organizations—Community Servings, Cradles to Crayons, and Daily Table.

The Harvard Law School Library uniquely owns and manages approximately one million pages of documents relating to the Nuremberg Trials: thirteen trials conducted just after World War II to prosecute leaders of the Nazi regime. To preserve the contents of these documents—which include trial transcripts and full trial exhibits—the library has undertaken a multi-stage digitization project to make the collection freely accessible online.

As our bicentennial year draws to a close, we invite you to reflect on the stories that have shaped Harvard Law School over the past 200 years.

The trajectory of state intelligence gathering and invasions of privacy made possible by a digital environment were the focus of a session titled “National Security: National Security, Privacy, and the Rule of Law,” part of the HLS in the World bicentennial summit which took place at Harvard Law School on Friday, October 27, 2017.

Panelists at an HLS in the World seminar called “No Justice for Most: Brainstorming New and Old Ideas for Government, Professional, and Technological Solutions,” discussed the disparity in legal services available in urban and rural areas and other barriers to access to justice.

As part of Harvard Law School's bicentennial summit, a panel, “Special Prosecutors and Independent Counsels: Investigating the White House and the President of the United States,” gathered six Harvard alumni and faculty members who’ve been involved with nearly every high-profile investigation, from Watergate to Whitewater, to the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity.

HLS in the World, held Oct. 26-27, featured an extraordinary gathering of leaders: Lawyers, legislators, governors, judges, public interest leaders, entrepreneurs, financiers, journalists, and others from the United States and abroad.

HLS in the World, held Oct. 26-27, featured an extraordinary gathering of leaders: Lawyers, legislators, governors, judges, public interest leaders, entrepreneurs, financiers, journalists, and others from the United States and abroad, who joined together to share ideas, debate and deliberate in dozens of panel discussions and open fora.

A discussion about “The Office of Legal Counsel and the Challenge of Legal Advice to the President” shed light on the often-mysterious workings of the OLC—the body discussants David Barron ’94 and Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith served on, during Barack Obama’s first term, and, in George W. Bush’s second, respectively.

"A World (Dis)order," a panel with national security experts exploring the vulnerabilities of globalization and a changing world touched issues including climate change, cybersecurity, North Korea, ISIS, populism and authoritarianism.

Executives representing the three most popular major sports leagues in the U.S. offered insights into the business and legal maneuvering behind the games, during the HLS 200 panel “A View from the Top.”

At a time when American politics are beset by deep divisions and regular paralysis, five U.S. senators--Tim Kaine, Jack Reed, Mark Warner, Tom Cotton, and Elizabeth Warren--told a Harvard Law School audience Friday that there is real reason for concern, yet some hope for their institution and the country.

To commemorate Harvard Law School's 200th anniversary, HLS in the Arts, held Sept 15-16 at HLS, celebrated HLS' many contributions in the arts.