Legal History

One hundred and twenty five years after the Supreme Court’s decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, Harvard Law Professor Kenneth Mack ’91 says there are still lessons to be gleaned from the case.

The Last Lecture Series at Harvard Law School, sponsored annually by the 3L and LL.M. class marshals, is an HLS tradition in which selected faculty members impart insight, advice, and final words of wisdom to the graduating class.

Professor Emeritus Mark Tushnet weighs in on the new administration's agenda for the court system, including the Supreme Court, its accomplishments so far, and the challenges that lie ahead.

A panel of Harvard Law professors discussed the guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial, which proved an occasion for cautious optimism, a bit of anxiety, and questions about what comes next.

At the third Harvard Law School Rappaport Forum, experts debated the wisdom of a new bill that purports to address voting rights, campaign finance, and government ethics

Stephen E. Sachs, a leading scholar of civil procedure and constitutional law, will join the faculty of Harvard Law School as the inaugural Antonin Scalia Professor of Law, effective July 1.

President Biden appointed 16 members of the Harvard Law School community — seven faculty and nine alumni — to a new presidential commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.

Harvard Law School announced today the appointment of Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella as the Samuel LL.M. ’55 S.J.D. ’59 and Judith Pisar Visiting Professor of Law effective July 1, 2022.

To retain the public’s trust, Justice Breyer argued, changes should come not from political reform, but in recommitment to ideals within the Court itself and in the American people.

Is the Supreme Court in crisis, and if so, how can it be fixed? Three distinguished Court-watchers from across the ideological spectrum debated these questions at the Harvard Law School Rappaport Forum, a recurring speaker series established last year thanks to a gift from the Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Foundation.

Nina Perales has spent 25 years fortifying and advancing civil rights for Latinos, and this semester, is teaching a course at Harvard Law School about their ongoing struggle for equality in the United States.

Harvard Law Professor Kenneth Mack ’91 discusses the origins and history of the filibuster, a controversial and powerful political tool.

On its 55th anniversary, Harvard Law Today takes a look back at the founding of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review.

Three Harvard Law School professors have teamed up with MIT Press to launch a new journal focused on issues of inequality.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz ’87 recently spoke to Harvard Law Today about his work to ensure the integrity of the DOJ and beyond.

Harvard Law Today has compiled the names of just a few of the HLS graduates who are expected to fill some of the most high-profile posts in the new Biden administration.

In October 1962, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke on “The Future of Integration” as a featured speaker at the Harvard Law School Forum.

Five Harvard Law faculty react to the unprecedented second impeachment of President Donald J. Trump.

Harvard Law Visiting Professor Sanford Levinson puts the storming of the Capitol in historical perspective.

Guy-Uriel Charles will join the Harvard Law faculty as the inaugural Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. Professor of Law, effective July 1. He will also serve as faculty director of HLS’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.

Even if there was no COVID-19, online courts would still be the wave of the future: This idea was the starting point for a recent webinar, “Online Courts: Perspectives from the Bench and the Bar,” a half-day event convened by the Harvard Law School Center on the Legal Profession.