Harvard Legal Aid Bureau

www.law.harvard.edu/students/orgs/hlab

The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) is unique among HLS programs of clinical legal education in that its legal services program is largely student run. Founded in 1913, HLAB has a long history of responding to the legal needs affecting low-income persons in the greater Boston area. It is the oldest student-run legal services organization in the nation and is a chartered Massachusetts charitable corporation. The Bureau consists of approximately 45 second and third-year student members who make two-year commitments to the Bureau's program of clinical education and legal services to the indigent. In the spring semester, the Bureau selects rising 2L members by a competitive process open to all HLS 1L students. Membership in HLAB carries with it an integrated two-year academic and clinical training in legal practice skills and ethics. HLAB members are expected to devote at least 20 hours per week of clinical practice and related activities throughout their second and third years of law school.

Following suitable training and orientation, Bureau members are qualified under Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03 to represent indigent clients in civil matters in the Massachusetts courts. Working under the supervision of a full-time Managing Attorney and five part-time Clinical Instructors, all Bureau members assume direct responsibility for representation of legal aid clients from intake interview to final disposition. Each year the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau handles approximately 275 cases in varied practice areas, including family law (divorce, domestic violence, custody, alimony, and child support); housing law (tenants who are facing eviction, conditions of disrepair, and rent subsidy issues); and government benefits (administrative appeals on behalf of clients whose welfare, food stamps, unemployment or disability benefits have been denied or terminated). Bureau practice frequently involves appearances by student attorneys before hearing officers, administrative law judges, and state courts. As a student-run legal services program, bureau members and their elected student officers are responsible for the governance of the Bureau organization. Working with the Managing Attorney and Clinical Instructors, they play significant roles in most aspects of Bureau practice. Working with the Faculty Director, Bureau members, and clinical instructors also contribute to the ongoing development of clinical pedagogy of the Bureau.

Clinical Information

Fall-Spring clinical
Open to 2L students by application (apply 1L spring semester)
Two year commitment
Co-Requisites: Evidence

09/10 Clinical Courses

Advanced Clinical Practice
Instructor: David Grossman
Fall-Spring course; Fall-Spring clinical
3L Legal Aid Bureau members only

Introduction to Advocacy (ITA): Civil - Skills and Ethics in Clinical Practice
Instructors: David Grossman
Fall-Spring course; Fall-Spring clinical
2L Legal Aid Bureau members only

Contact

23 Everett Street, First Floor
Harvard Law School
(617) 495-4408
hlab@law.harvard.edu