Esme Caramello appointed clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School

Esme Caramello ’99 has been appointed Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Caramello has been a lecturer on law and clinical instructor at the law school as well as deputy director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

“Esme’s experience in tenants’ rights is second to none,” said Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow. “Under her guidance, students connect practice and theory to solve important legal and policy issues affecting low-income individuals.  Passionate and compassionate, her strategic approach ensures that the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau will continue to lead in vital work. And it is wonderful to welcome an HLS alumna onto the clinical faculty!”

Caramello joined the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau in 2009 as deputy director and clinical instructor, after having worked in the Housing Unit at HLS’s WilmerHale Legal Services Center and at Suffolk University Law School’s Housing Clinic. As a clinical instructor at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center, she worked with students to help protect the rights of low-income tenants and homeowners.

Caramello co-wrote “Tenants Facing Foreclosure,” a tenants’ rights guide to help people in Massachusetts who were facing eviction after foreclosure. At the Legal Aid Bureau, she helped students argue several foreclosure cases before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, helping to secure major victories for homeowners and greater accountability for lenders trying to foreclose.

After graduating from HLS in 1999, Caramello worked as a litigation associate at Baker & McKenzie in San Francisco, and later served as a law clerk to Judge Charles P. Kocoras, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. For five years, she worked as a litigation associate at Holland & Knight, where she concentrated in intellectual property and complex business litigation. While at Holland & Knight, she also served as a Chesterfield Smith Community Service Fellow, from 2001-2003, working exclusively on pro bono matters. Caramello is a graduate of Harvard College, with a B.A. in social anthropology.