Family, Gender & Children

Constitutional lawyer Menaka Guruswamy LL.M. ’01 successfully argued against a colonial-era law that criminalized gay sex in India. The ruling by India's Supreme Court last year went beyond decriminalizing gay sex to acknowledge the individual rights of LGBTQ people and apologize for past mistreatment.

A recent Massachusetts court case spearheaded by clinical students and teachers at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center (LSC) has created important new protections for survivors of domestic violence.

In her Class Day address to the Harvard Law School Class of 2019, Roberta “Robbie” Kaplan drew on experience from her own 25-year career and encouraged students to seek opportunities to make the world a better place.

Asseret Frausto ’19 is the winner of the Outstanding Clinical Student Award from the Clinical Legal Education Association (CLEA). The award is presented annually to one student from each law school for outstanding clinical coursework and contributions to the clinical community.

Emanuel Powell ’19 is the winner of this year’s Gary Bellow Public Service Award, established in 2001 to honor Professor Gary Bellow ’60, his commitment to public service, and his innovative approach to the analysis and practice of law.

Radhika Kapoor LL.M. ’19 came to HLS to take advantage of Harvard’s institutional expertise in international law, humanitarian law and post-conflict stability—and to foster her love of reading.

Lindsay Bailey’19, Lisandra Novo’19 and Elisa Quiroz ’19 are the winners of the team 2019 David Grossman Exemplary Clinical Student Award.

Richard Barbecho ’19 is this year’s winner of the Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award, granted each year in honor of Professor Andrew Kaufman, who spearheaded the pro bono requirement at Harvard Law School.

Having developed a focus on social justice growing up in Philadelphia, Liz Soltan is now using law as a means to help people who need it most.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics, HLS presented an inspiring conversation with Olympic medalist Michelle Kwan and Special Olympics medalist Melissa Joy Reilly.

Professor of Practice Naz Modirzadeh ’02, founding director of the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict, spoke before the United Nations Security Council in New York City on April 1 on safeguarding humanitarian assistance in counterterrorism contexts.

Roberta "Robbie" Kaplan will be the speaker for the Class Day ceremonies at Harvard Law School on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. Kaplan was chosen by representatives of this year’s graduating class.

Andrew Patterson '20 shares a reflection on his time spent working as an advocate for Legal Permanent Residents throughout the naturalization process with the local organization Project Citizenship.

A recent event at Harvard Law School brought together scientists and lawyers to start a dialogue on neuroscience, trauma, and justice as part of the Project on Law and Applied Neuroscience, a collaboration between the Petrie-Flom Center at HLS and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Alan Jenkins ’89, president and co-founder of The Opportunity Agenda, a social justice communications organization, will join the Harvard Law School faculty as a professor of practice in July.

During Winter Term, 12 Harvard Law School students traveled to 12 countries as Cravath International Fellows to pursue clinical placements or independent research with an international, transnational, or comparative law focus. Four of them share their experiences.

Last spring, Thomas Wolfe '19 shared his experience working on issues of water contamination in the Mississsippi Delta with the Mississippi Delta Project, an HLS Student Practice Organization that provides policy and legal services to clients in one of the poorest regions in the poorest state in the U.S.

Speaking at Harvard Law School, U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III '09 (D., Mass.) called Monday for a new national economic agenda based on “moral capitalism” that addresses the needs of embattled workers.

“Access to Justice,” the Winter 2019 issue of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences journal Dædalus, features twenty-four essays by leading experts in the field, including Harvard Law School alumni and faculty. It is the first open access issue of the publication.

The notice came in a white envelope, hand-delivered by a staffer at the project-based Section 8 development that my elderly grandparents lived in. From the outside, it looked like it could be a notice that they received on a weekly basis. However, this was a “Notice to Cease.” From what my immigrant Chinese family could tell, it meant eviction.