Student Spotlights

In early February, Harvard Law School hosted the New England Regional of the National Trial Competition, the largest law school trial advocacy competition in the country.

Since being selected last spring, Harvard Law School's 2016 Public Service Venture Fund seed grant recipients have begun work on projects ranging from environmental litigation and advocacy to transgender healthcare and identity issues.

Students, faculty, and guests entering Harvard Law School's Wasserstein’s ground-floor lounge on election evening were greeted by two large sheet cakes decked out with red, white, and blue balloons, along with stars made of frosting.

HLS students Tony Garofano LL.M. ’17 and Sarah Grant ’19 spoke with writers for Harvard Law Today about their experiences serving in the military and studying at Harvard Law.

At 96 years old, the Hon. John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice (Ret.) Supreme Court of the United States, returned to the bench to preside over the final round of Harvard Law School’s 2016 Ames Moot Court Competition.

In the summer of 2016, 19 students traveled to 13 countries through the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship Program. Chayes Fellows spend eight weeks working within the governments of developing nations, or with the inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations that support them.

Since 2001, a select group of Harvard Law School students have undertaken public service internships under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship. Chayes Fellows spend eight weeks working within the governments of developing nations, or with the inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations that support them.

Military sexual trauma—rape or sexual harassment during military service—is a fast-emerging issue in the nation’s care for veterans and one focus of an HLS clinic.

Last spring, the Criminal Justice Policy Program developed an initiative to provide representation to incarcerated people petitioning President Obama for clemency. Twenty-six Harvard Law students volunteered to work with a team of pro bono attorneys to represent clemency petitioners, in what has become the largest law student-based clemency initiative in the country.

Orientation for new students in the J.D., LL.M. and S.J.D. programs wrapped up last week. They were kept busy with ice cream socials, campus tours, lawn games, a visit from Judge Merrick Garland and section photos, capped off with a welcome by Dean Martha Minow in Sanders Theatre.

It took Pedro Spivakovsky-Gonzalez several years and nearly 10,000 miles, on a journey that included several cities around the world, to find his calling in his hometown.

Every year, the American Bar Association presents the Law School Newspaper Award to the best student-run newspaper organization at an ABA-approved law school. This year, The Harvard Law Record was honored to receive this coveted award.

Chayes Fellow Michael Jung ’18 recently wrote about his experience working with UNICEF in Bangkok, Thailand, researching and gaining an overview of the current and future landscape of juvenile justice in the region.

In a recent post on the HLS International Legal Studies Program blog, Malik Ladhani, a rising 2L at HLS with an interest in refugee protection and asylum advocacy, recounted his summer working for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Amman, Jordan, assisting in UNHCR’s response to the Syrian refugee crisis.

Harvard Law 3Ls Andrea Clay and Sam Koplewicz are two of the student filmmakers with the Harvard Law Documentary Studio ('Doc Studio'), a student organization that aims to produce original documentaries that explore social and policy issues.

Early in the spring, first-year Harvard Law School students Chloe Goodwin, Nora Ellingsen, and Josh Looney jumped at the opportunity to volunteer with a national organization to help felons get a second shot at life: Clemency Project 2014, a coalition that supports petitions by nonviolent drug offenders for executive clemency.

Harvard Law School team wins the Deans’ Cultural Entrepreneurship Challenge for MAGIC: career awareness and positive self-image kits, developed by women of color for girls of color.

On May 26, from sunup to sundown, Harvard Law School celebrated its new group of graduates on Holmes Field, in front of Langdell Library. Here is a snapshot--several, to be precise--capturing the ebb and flow of ten hours of nonstop activity, celebration and accomplishment, as only a bird (or a well-placed GoPro) can.

Derek Manners '16 is the winner of the Outstanding Clinical Student Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA) of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS). The award is presented annually to one student from each law school for his/her outstanding clinical coursework and contributions to the clinical community.

Joseph Michalakes '16 is the winner of the Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award, chosen for exemplifying a pro bono public spirit and demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to improving and delivering high quality volunteer legal services in low-income communities.

This year, as they prepared to graduate, five members of the Class of 2016 took time to reflect on their interests and share experiences they will take from their time at Harvard Law.