Fall 2023 Information
Harvard Defenders is recruiting for its Fall 2023 class! Harvard Defenders is a student-run organization that represents low-income residents in the Greater Boston area in criminal show cause hearings and we offer criminal record sealing services. We are committed to developing effective, client-centered advocacy skills and challenging the injustices of the criminal legal system. Our Open House will take place on Friday 09/08, 12:30-2:30. Our application opens on 09/05 and closes on 09/13 BUT interviews begin 09/11 and end on 09/16. All class years are encouraged to apply. Apply at http://bit.ly/DefendersFall2023.
Working with Harvard Defenders
Harvard Defenders provides first-, second-, and third-year Harvard Law School students with an invaluable opportunity to engage in direct, hands-on legal advocacy. Working in small groups, students participate in all stages of case development including case intake, interviewing clients, witnesses, police officers, and victims, conducting legal research, visiting the scene of the incident, and participating at the final hearing.
In addition to representing clients, students gain experience running a non-profit organization — a unique feature of student practice organizations. Defenders gives students the opportunity to become involved in all aspects of daily administrative and managerial operations, including conducting annual recruiting initiatives, overseeing the intake and management of cases, developing trainings, and actively participating in a wide range of community outreach projects.
Harvard Defenders accepts a varying number of new members each fall through an interview process. All 1Ls, 2Ls, 3Ls and LLMs are welcome to interview. Throughout the year, students work with an assigned team of approximately ten students who meet once a week with Defenders’ clinical instructor, John Salsberg, to discuss cases. In addition, students must complete one hour of intake each week. This involves answering phone calls from potential clients and directing callers with legal issues outside the scope of show-cause hearings to other legal service agencies. Members are also expected to attend periodic training sessions.
For more information about Defenders, please email us.
Jack T. Litman Fellowship Program
The Jack T. Litman Program, established in 2012, is dedicated to the memory of Jack T. Litman, a renowned defense attorney who was a member of Harvard Defenders during his time at the law school. Each year, Harvard Defenders selects three law students to serve as full-time Litman Fellows. Fellows have the unique opportunity to handle all their own cases, which involves interacting with clients, interviewing them in preparation for hearings, and conducting extensive investigations, which often entail meeting with witnesses and police officers. In addition, Fellows develop their own litigation strategies and ultimately present their cases to clerk magistrates in the Boston area’s criminal courts.
Fellows are also be required to perform academic research, on a topic of their choosing, related to a legal issue that they encounter during their fellowship. The papers are supervised by a Harvard Law School faculty member and will be presented at a Symposium in the fall. Past year’s topics ranged from an academic paper exploring the moral and ethical dilemmas that defense attorneys face, to a guide on what to do when an attorney suspects child maltreatment, to the creation of a criminal immigration class.
The Fellowship allows for flexible schedules and independence while providing a rare opportunity to advocate on behalf of actual clients. Work is supervised by John Salsberg, Harvard Defenders’ Clinical Instructor, a practicing attorney with over thirty years of trial experience.
Fellows will be awarded $1000, in addition to SPIF funding. To apply for the Jack T. Litman Fellowship, please submit a cover letter and resume to hdefenderslitmanfellowship@gmail.com Applications now accepted.