Legal History

A friendly competition between four Harvard Law students in 1960 has grown into the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, with 700 students competing worldwide.

In his last lecture to the J.D. and LL.M. classes of 2023, Michael Klarman celebrates civil rights heroes and issues a clarion call for democratic engagement.

As the inaugural Fred N. Fishman Professor of Constitutional Law, Laura Weinrib described the arc of union power in the 20th century and its relationship to political spending.

At Harvard Law School, Canadian Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Wagner discusses differences with the U.S. judiciary and argues that access to justice is a ‘democratic imperative.’

Speakers at a Radcliffe Institute conference look at the divisive, fraught history of Roe v. Wade and predict where legal battles will go next.

At Harvard Law’s Rappaport Forum, panelists debated the Supreme Court's reliance on history and tradition in recent decisions in Dobbs and Bruen.

In a Library book talk, Professor Vicki Jackson and panelists discuss constitutionalism, and rights to effective government

In the third of a yearlong lecture series examining “The Supreme Court in a Constitutional Democracy," panelists debate reforming the Court.

In remarks made as part of the biennial Vaughan Academic Program, Harvard Law Professor Adrian Vermeule argued that the late Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia began his judicial career as a champion of the administrative state.

What are the real differences between common and civil law systems? Probably not the ones lawyers typically think about, said Harvard Law School Professor Holger Spamann S.J.D. ’09 in a lecture commemorating his appointment as Lawrence R. Grove Professor of Law.

A panel of experts say that a seminal Supreme Court decision on the powers of the president may raise more questions than it answers.

In the first of a Harvard Law School series on the Supreme Court and its role in American democracy, panelists debated the impact of politics on the Roberts Court.

Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s book recounts the remarkable — and too little-known — life and achievements of civil rights lawyer and judge Constance Baker Motley

Nikolas Bowie ’14, a scholar of constitutional law, local government law, and legal history, was named a professor of law at Harvard Law School.

Anna Lvovsky ’13 has been promoted to professor of law at Harvard Law School. A scholar of criminal law and procedure, constitutional law, and evidence, she joined the faculty as an assistant professor in 2017.

Harvard Law Professor Jack Goldsmith says laws and norms established after President Nixon's resignation 'had a great run,' but the Trump presidency proved that new reforms are needed.

The Petrie-Flom Center hosted ‘Roe in limbo: A town hall on the leaked Dobbs opinion.’

The Supreme Court stands poised to decide whether a high school coach’s penchant for prayers with players poses First Amendment problems.