Clinical Legal Education at Harvard Law School

Clinical legal education has a long history at HLS, although recent years have seen a rapid proliferation of new clinical programs, including the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP).  All clinical courses, however, are designed to help introduce students to the various practical aspects of a lawyer’s role and responsibilities.  The HNMCP, founded in 2006, is designed to hone students’ conflict management skills, with the hope that a truly modern lawyer will look beyond litigation as a means of resolving and managing his or her clients’ disputes.

Through experience, reflection, and group discussion, clinical education promotes critical thinking about the conflicts and choices that professional life entails. It enhances doctrinal and theoretical learning, and it provides an important dimension of professional training.

The primary goals of Harvard Law School’s Clinical Legal Education Program are:

• To introduce and train students in basic skills of law practice and to promote understanding of and reflection on the ways in which he or she best learns from experience.
• To inculcate high standards of ethical practice by offering students the opportunity, in a supervised, reflective and analytical atmosphere, to shoulder the responsibilities, rewards, frustrations, temptations and ethical dilemmas involved in representing clients.
• To develop and enhance strong habits of self-initiated, reflective learning and self development so that students, on their own, will be able to attain high professional standards after graduation.
• To increase and enhance understanding of how legal doctrine and institutions can contribute to the lawyers’ role as counselor and problem solver.
• To aid students in thinking about and choosing careers that will be fulfilling and rewarding.
• To emphasize the value of public service, broadly defined and relevant to any career path, as an integral part of a satisfying life in the law.

HNMCP is connected with the clinical programs office at Harvard Law School and often collaborates with its other affiliates. Clinical legal education at Harvard Law School has three basic components: direct student responsibility for clients in a realistic practice setting; supervision and mentoring by an experienced practitioner; and companion classroom sessions in which clinical experience supports and contributes to further discussion and thought.