Legal Aid Bureau

As the groundbreaking anti-foreclosure work by HLS students continues to land significant victories for homeowners in Massachusetts, a recent conference to spread the Harvard model was attended by more than 150 lawyers, law students and community organizers from around the country who want to halt foreclosures in their own communities. The second annual HLS “Community Responses to the Foreclosure Crisis” conference, organized by the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB), ran for three days and included panel discussions and small, interactive workshops where participants received practical advice for fighting foreclosures.

Just two months after landing a major victory in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of homeowners fighting eviction, the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) was back before the high court last week seeking more protections for people with homes in foreclosure. The court’s decision, expected to come down in several months, could lead to greater accountability for lenders trying to foreclose.

The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and two HLS clinics help staunch the foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts.

In the latest victory for the HLS Clinical Programs’ anti-foreclosure work, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled on Aug. 4 against lenders in a case argued by Harvard Legal Aid Bureau student Jennifer Tarr ’11.

Elizabeth “Libby” Benton ’11 is the winner of the 2011 Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award, after performing over 2,300 hours of free legal services while at HLS.  The Class of 2011 surpassed the HLS record for pro bono hours, performing a total of 366,204 hours, an average of 628 hours per student.

More than 100 law students, lawyers, and community activists from around the country gathered at Harvard Law School November 15-16 to learn about Project No One Leaves, the HLS student initiative that has had remarkable success in keeping Boston neighborhoods intact despite the foreclosure crisis.

The efforts of students in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and the WilmerHale Legal Services Center to keep Boston residents in their homes after foreclosure were featured in a major story last night on the PBS NewsHour.

An effort to block the eviction of a family from its rental home turned into a celebration Wednesday, when, after months of effort by HLS students, the bank instead agreed to discuss selling the Dorchester house to them so the family could stay in place.

Since 1914, when a group of Harvard Law students formed an organization to provide legal aid to the poor, the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau has served as a bridge to the legal profession for nearly 2,000 students. The first year, from rented office space in Central Square, students took on 191 cases and won $4,268.13 for their clients.