Today Posts

The Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School has released a report, authored by Chike Croslin '16, Justin Dews, and Jaimie McFarlin '15 of the Harvard Black Law Students Association, titled Independent Lens: Toward Transparency, Accountability, and Effectiveness in Police Tactics. The report explores the potential and limitations of body-worn cameras for police.

On May 19, the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) launched a campaign to promote federal law and policy reforms for type 2 diabetes prevention and management as part of CHLPI’s broader, multi-phase Providing Access to Healthy Solutions (PATHS) initiative that first worked to strengthen local and state policy to address diet-related health conditions.

Several Harvard Law School faculty members delivered commencement addresses this graduation season, including Cass Sunstein, Charles Fried and Kenneth Feinberg.

On a day of celebration and achievement, Deval Patrick '78 AB '82, the former governor of Massachusetts, told Harvard graduates he hoped they felt uneasy, unsure, and restless: uneasy about the planet’s big problems, unsure they know all they should, and restless enough to act.

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg received the Radcliffe Medal on Friday, May 29. Since the 1970s, Ginsburg has constantly sought to break down traditional male/female stereotypes “that held women back from doing what their talents would allow them to do.”

Deval Patrick `82, who recently concluded two terms as the 71st governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, was Harvard’s 2015 commencement speaker.

On Thursday May 28, 2015, the Harvard Law School Class of 2015 officially became HLS graduates. Here is a look at their day of celebration, filled with families, gavels, a former governor—and at least one kazoo.

Always a popular photo spot, the Harvard Law School sign (and sometimes bench) is even more popular at graduation. This time-lapse video, taken on May 28, condenses six hours of foot-traffic to and from Commencement ceremonies into two minutes.

In this video, first shown during HLS Commencement ceremonies on May 28, 2015,  students look back on their unique experiences and shared journey at Harvard Law School.

Dean Martha Minow applauded the many accomplishments of Class of 2015 and she praised their activism against injustice: “You led teach-ins, die-ins, and active mobilization in response to police shootings and racial injustice, and participated in criminal justice reform work. Your work changes lives,” she told the graduates.

Harvard Law School’s 2015 Class Day ceremony featured speeches by Gabrielle Giffords, former U.S. Representative from Arizona, and her husband Mark Kelly, a Navy pilot and NASA astronaut, and Harvard Law School Professor Jon Hanson, winner of the 2015 Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence. A number of Harvard Law students from the Class of ’15 received special awards for their outstanding leadership, citizenship, compassion and dedication to their studies and the profession.

A number of Harvard Law students from the Class of ’15 received special awards this year during the 2015 Class Day ceremony on May 27. The students were recognized for their outstanding leadership, citizenship, compassion and dedication to their studies and the profession.

The story of the Harvard "arms" — a shield, three books, and the word Veritas — is writ deep in the past.

Four years ago, then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, was shot in the head and gravely wounded by a gunman in a mass shooting outside a Tucson supermarket. Most people who suffer such an injury don’t survive, as her husband, Mark Kelly, pointed out. But Giffords fought back. On Wednesday, taking the podium to a standing ovation at Class Day exercises for Harvard Law School, she urged the students to action.

The Class of 2015 honored Professor Jon Hanson with the prestigious Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence for his work inside the classroom as “a creative and effective teacher, combining presentations, narratives and hands-on projects.” Catherine Pattanayak ’04 was selected by the Class to receive the Suzanne L. Richardson Staff Appreciation Award for her “extraordinary support of public interest students and their careers.”

This year, more than 750 students will receive degrees from Harvard Law School. Each brought unique experiences to law school and all have tailored their academic careers while at HLS to explore their individual interests. As they prepare to graduate, several members of the Harvard Law School Class of 2015 reflect on the interests they brought to law school and the experiences they will take from their time at Harvard Law.

This year’s Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award was presented to Chad Baker, honored for demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to improving and delivering high quality volunteer legal services to disadvantaged communities. Baker contributed over 2000 pro bono hours working with the Tenant Advocacy Project, the Prison Legal Assistance Project, and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Christopher Melendez ’15 received the Outstanding Clinical Student Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association. The award is presented annually to one student from each law school in recognition of outstanding clinical coursework and contributions to the clinical community.

Harvard Law School’s Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs has recognized graduating students Seth Hoedl ’15 and Seth Packrone ’15 for exemplifying putting theory into practice through clinical work.

Harvard Law School's 2015 Commencement ceremonies began with the Class Day program on Wednesday, May 27 and continued into the afternoon of May 28. This year’s Class Day speakers, chosen by the Class of 2015, were Gabrielle Giffords, former U.S. Representative from Arizona, and her husband Mark Kelly, a Navy pilot and NASA astronaut. HLS alum Deval Patrick '82, former governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, delivered remarks on Thursday afternoon at Harvard University’s 364th Commencement.