Clinical Practice

Harvard Law School's Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs has honored two graduating students who exemplify putting theory into practice through clinical work. This year’s honorees are Lerae Kroon ’14 and Brett Heeger ’14.

A number of Harvard Law students received special awards this year during the 2014 Class Day ceremony on May 28. The honored students were recognized for their outstanding leadership, citizenship, compassion and dedication to their studies and the profession.

On January 28, 2014, Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) student attorneys Nicholas Pastan ’15 and Breana Ware ’14 found themselves conducting a trial in federal court and asking a Judge to decline to enforce a Petition brought against their client pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Students and recent graduates share their experiences with the Environmental Law and Policy Program at Harvard Law and discuss the influence that participation in the range of offerings has had on their academic and professional careers in Environmental Law.

For the past several years, Harvard Law School students have spent their break time between semesters in Washington, D.C., parsing reams of heady data and crafting nuanced legal arguments to cases headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Thirty-three professors from Massachusetts law schools have signed on to an important legal opinion drafted by Harvard Law students in support of the Massachusetts Trust Act. The bill seeks to restore the immigrant community’s trust in local law enforcement by limiting the role of local police authorities in the deportation process.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has ruled that Lieutenant Colonel Wilson J. Ausmer, Jr., a highly decorated veteran, should be able to file an appeal of his disability claim even though he had missed the 120-day deadline to do so. The case was argued before the Court in October 2013 at Harvard Law School as part of the Veterans Clinic of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School.

In November, the Harvard Transactional Law Clinics (TLC) welcomed seven middle and high school students from Studio Heat to Harvard Law School as part…

The Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative, a nationally recognized collaboration between Harvard Law School and Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC), recently published the second volume of its landmark report “Helping Traumatized Children Learn” which offers a guide to a process for creating trauma-sensitive schools and a policy agenda to provide the support schools need to achieve that goal.

Jeanne Charn ’70, a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School, is the winner of the 2014 William Pincus Award for Outstanding Service and Commitment to…

Inside an unassuming yellow house on Everett Street in Cambridge, a warren of offices makes up a law firm run by Harvard Law School students…

The average week for a typical law school student involves poring over a list of daunting cases and deconstructing complicated arguments. But on Oct. 30, the work of three Harvard Law School students included something else: an appearance in federal court. The students, who are part of the School’s Veterans Legal Clinic, stood before the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims last Wednesday to argue for the rights of their client, a decorated U.S. Army veteran.

For people living with HIV/AIDS and other chronic health conditions, finding the optimal healthcare plan for their needs is a lot easier, thanks to a new assessment tool created by Clinical Professor Robert Greenwald and others at the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation.

In the 100 years since its founding, Harvard's Legal Aid Bureau—the oldest student-run legal services program in the country—has helped thousands of clients. On Nov. 8 to 10, the Bureau will mark its centennial with a gala celebration at the law school which will feature keynote speakers and panel discussions on “Closing the gap: Evolving legal education and improving the clinical experience,” “Serving low-income communities across the three branches of government” and “Access to justice: Looking beyond legal services.”

During a two-week period that spanned from late May to early June, recent Harvard Law School Graduate Chas Hamilton '13 tried two cases before twelve-member juries in the Boston Housing Court. Here he reflects on the experience.

The Board of Veterans’ Appeals of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs denies a soldier’s claim for disability benefits for an injury that occurred while he was on active duty. But the decision is handed down while the soldier is redeployed to Afghanistan, and he doesn’t realize he has the right to appeal until after he returns stateside—after the appeal deadline has passed. For students in HLS’s new Veterans Legal Clinic, the chance to work on this case and others like it is eye-opening.

When Harvard Law Professor Daniel Meltzer ’75 was named director of the American Law Institute in January, he joined a long line of members of the HLS community who have helped shape the direction of the law from inside the ALI.

Many for-profit colleges, which get the overwhelming majority of their revenues from federal financial aid programs, rely on high-pressure tactics and false employment and salary guarantees to lure students into taking out loans. Now, through the efforts of Harvard Law School alum Toby Merrill ’11, some of the victims of these practices can get free legal aid to enforce their rights.