Introduction

“The Harvard Law School Clinical and Pro Bono Programs provide an exceptional educational experience for our students while also providing superb legal representation to clients in need. Our clinicians and our students work together to solve complex problems, address issues of profound social and legal import, and serve individuals and communities. Learning from excellent lawyers and teachers, our students gain deep expertise in practice and procedure and in substantive law across many areas. They also acquire, through their clinical experience, an invaluable sense of professionalism and team work and what we hope will be a life-long commitment to public service. I am very proud of the faculty and staff who lead and support our clinics, of the work our clinics and student practice organizations do, and of the great lawyers they help launch into the world.”
John Manning
Morgan and Helen Chu Dean of Harvard Law School

“The twin pillars of the Clinical Program at Harvard Law School are to provide exemplary legal services to local, national, and international communities and to ensure the continuous education, learning, and growth of the clinical community. Our remarkable students are at the heart of both of these goals. As student attorneys, they engage boldly and bravely. They bring their own diverse backgrounds and expertise, coupled with the knowledge they have garnered at Harvard, to advance savvy legal strategy and zealous representation. Our partners trust our students to develop sound policy and legal reasoning. Our clients feel seen, valued, and empowered. Our legal service is better, broader, and more joyful because of our students.
In the classroom and Clinics, our students teach as much as they learn. As we advise and mentor students on their path to becoming ethical lawyers, the students, in turn, challenge us to look at legal problems with a fresh set of eyes and creative new perspectives. They teach us. They enhance our community partnerships. They build teams and friendship among their peers that will continue to strengthen their own learning and bolster the legal profession for years to come. Our students teach and change us. And our students change the world: one classroom at a time, one case at a time, one client at a time. As our clinical students join the broader legal profession, we know their impact and contributions will only grow.“
Meredith Boak
Assistant Dean for Clinical and Experiential Education and Pro Bono Programs
Clinical Awards | In-House Clinics |
Externship Clinics/Independent Clinicals | SPO/Pro Bono Programs
Class of 2022: By the Numbers

Clinical & Pro Bono Awards

Brianna Banks

Gina Starfield

Anoush Baghdassarian

Liz BUtterworth

Stacey Menjivar, Henry Beshar

Cara Mund
In-House Clinics
There are 23 in-house clinics with on-campus offices, where students gain hands-on legal experience under the supervision of 112 clinical faculty and teachers. Each clinic is tied to a classroom component where students learn the substantive law in their area of practice. Their clinical experiences supplement and enrich classroom discussion.
In-House Clinics
Animal Law & Policy Clinic
Center for Health Law & Policy Innovation
>>> Food Law & Policy Clinic
>>> Health Law & Policy Clinic
Criminal Justice Institute
Cyberlaw Clinic
Education Law Clinic
Election Law Clinic
Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic
Harvard Immigration & Refugee Clinical Program
>>> Immigration & Refugee Advocacy Clinic
>>> Crimmigration Clinic
Harvard Legal Aid Bureau
Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program
>>>Harvard Dispute Systems Design Clinic
>>>Mediation Clinic
Institute to End Mass Incarceration Clinic
International Human Rights Clinic
Religious Freedom Clinic
Transactional Law Clinics
WilmerHale Legal Services Center
>>> Domestic Violence & Family Law Clinic
>>> Federal Tax Clinic
>>> Housing Law Clinic
>>> LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic
>>> Predatory Lending & Consumer Protection Clinic
>>> Veterans Law & Disability Benefits Clinic
Externship & Independent Clinical Program
Through our 15 externship clinics, students are placed at government agencies and other legal organizations across the U.S. and supplement that experience through a required course component taught by faculty and experienced licensed attorneys who are experts in their field. The Independent Clinical Program is designed to provide students an opportunity to be entrepreneurial and design a custom placement – in the U.S. or abroad – that will meet their individualized learning goals.
Externship Clinics
Capital Punishment Clinic
Child Advocacy Clinic
Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic
Criminal Prosecution Clinic
Delivery of Legal Services Clinic
Democracy and the Rule of Law Clinic
Employment Law Clinic
Federal Courts Clinic
Government Lawyer: Attorney General Clinic
Government Lawyer: U.S. Attorney Clinic
Government Lawyer: Semester in Washington
Judicial Process in Trial Courts Clinic
Sports Law Clinic
Supreme Court Litigation Clinic
Student Practice Organizations & Pro Bono Program
The HLS Pro Bono program allows students to gain practical legal experience under the supervision of licensed attorneys starting their 1L year. J.D. students are required to complete 50 hours of pro bono work before graduation. Through opportunities to volunteer in our 11 student-run Student Practice Organizations (SPOs) and through yearly spring break projects, amongst other individual projects, students have the ability to make a positive impact in their communities and contribute to the greater good.
I became involved with Defenders as a way of doing healing, liberating work. Being criminalized for my Blackness, my queerness, I really recognize this as personal labor. I see myself in the other students who are part of Defenders, who care about justice – real justice for Black and brown kids, for older adults, and for everyone in between.”
Jonathan Roberts, J.D. ’22

When I told my client that we had won her case, I could just hear the weight being lifted off her shoulders. It’s a beautiful moment when you’re able to give your client that win. It’s a moment when you can really feel the impact of the work we do at the Tenant Advocacy Project.”
Alison Roberts, J.D. ’22
Harvard Defenders prides itself on client-focused advocacy and putting them at the center of everything that we do. I have been so fortunate to meet and work with people who go above and beyond for the people that we represent and for the organization.
Paula Kelly, LL.M. ’22

Student Practice Organizations
Student Achievements

Paving the Way for Public Interest – 2022 Skadden Fellows
Students honored with Dean’s Awards for Community Leadership
Anoush Baghdassarian
Elizabeth Butterworth
Isaiah Feldman-Schwartz
Laura Antonieta Garcia
Samuel Abraham Gilman
Ali Hassan
Jack Lubin
Carly Margolis
Caitlin Rooney
Antoinette Victoria Zoè Russell
Abbie Starker
Lowry Yankwich
Gabriel Zimmerman
Omeed Alerasool
Jason Altabet
Sondra Anton
Christopher Arce
Daniel Vincent Banks
Allison Beeman
Henry Frederick Bedros Beshar
Michael Bliss
Daniel Brown
Courtney Janine Brunson
Toni-Shania Bunbury
Emily Chazen
Harry Chiu
Ava Cilia
Aycan Merve Ciplak
Kara Cobb
Katharine Coghlan
Lily Cohen
Rachel Cohen
Patrick Cremin
Christopher Brian Cruz
Libby Yakira Feingold Dimenstein
Anna Rose Doda
Courtney Dougherty
Abbey Doyno
Mazelle Etessami
Kimberley Everett
Grant Fergusson
Seran Gee
Zoe Michael Ginsberg
Gwendolyn Gissendanner
Matthew Goldkind
Sankalp Gowda
Isaac Green
Melanie Hagerman
Diana Haigney
Samantha Harris
Caitlin Hird
David Lawrence Hogan
Mohammed Mustapha Jagana
Hannah James
Anna Jessurun
Lavran Johnson
Daniel Kim
Nicholle Knapp
Stanislaw Pawel Krawiecki
Haley Kulakowski
Bernice Kwan
Sean Lau
Jeongha Lee
Jonathan Levitan
Stacy Livingston
Nathan Lobel
Eileen Macron
Hannah Makowske
Chad Mata
Catherine McAnulty
September McCarthy
William McConnell
Fenella McLuskie
Lena Rose Melillo
Stacey Menjivar
Loren Miller
Marcus Miller
Kaitlynn Milvert
Marcus Mitchell
Genevieve Molyneaux
Patrick Montgomery
Vincent Montoya-Armanios
Cara Mund
Zarinah Mustafa
Mira Naseer
Sherin Nassar
Austin Nielsen-Reagan
Victoria Joan Oto
Juan Manuel Palacio Moreno
Nicholas Papazyan
Tyler Cole Patrick
Alexis Picard
Matthew Pick
Stephanie Powers
Ruofei Qu
Kimberly Quick
J. Aaron Regunberg
Alison Curran Roberts
Jonathan Roberts
Nicole Mariel Rubin
Michael Shang
Staci Chyrene Shelby
Anna Sherman-Weiss
Emma Claire Shirey
Marisa Skillings
Gina Starfield
Joan Steffen
Anna May Teitler
Tsering van der Kujip
Velo-Vincent van Houden
Chloe Warnberg
Catherine Glen Willett
Lindsey Shannon Christine Wright
Eric Wriston
Samuel C. Yang
Emma Zariello
Kathy Zhang
Visit the OCP Blog for more student stories like these:
- 2023 Weiler Awards given to Sports Law Clinic students
- Advocating for inclusive policy making through the Health Law and Policy Clinic, AIDSWatch, and Beyond
- HLAB obtains six-figure settlement in family case
- Protecting Faith: My Time at the Religious Freedom Clinic
- Acting Like a Lawyer with the Transactional Law Clinics