News and Highlights

SPRING 2008

• LSC student argues case before First Circuit: On May 7, Lena Konanova (’08) capped off her law school experience by arguing a case before the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.  The opportunity arose as part of her clinical placement working under the supervision of Steve Churchill, Lecturer on Law and Clinical Instructor, at the Center's Employment Civil Rights Clinic.  Konanova represented a client bringing a case of employment discrimination. (HLS Homepage, 5/14/08)
• LSC Clinical Instructors Write Guide to Help Tenants Stay in their Homes: Esme Caramello '99 and Rafael Mares '99 have written a comprehensive guide on tenants' rights after foreclosure as part of the revised Mass Law Reform Institute's Legal Tactics: Tenants' Rights in Massachusetts Publication. (HLS Homepage, 5/05/08)
• On the Front Lines: The newsletter of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School - Spring 2008
• Registration Advice from a 2L: Next Fall, Think Legal Services: "Far from panicking during Fall OCI, my new experiences with the Legal Services Center actually helped me with interviews. The law firms were impressed with my direct interactions with clients and my ability to manage multiple cases.", Rebecca (Becky) Lobenherz '09 (HLS Record 4/03/08)
• Nine months ago, roughly 100 private-sector Massachusetts lawyers told Attorney General Martha Coakley they'd give free help to state residents bitten by the home foreclosure epidemic. But not many have followed through, leaving housing advocates struggling to line up assistance for desperate families. Leaders of organizations that provide free legal help to low-income residents say the problem is acute because their own staffs have been flooded with foreclosure cases. "At this point, as many lawyers as you could have to do the work, you would have cases for them to take," said Paul Collier, director of litigation [at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center], who heads up the organization's predatory lending project. (Boston Business Journal, March 14-20, 2008, Vol. 28, No. 7)
• Celebrating Public Interest Law with the Legal Services Center: An Open Reception: The Legal Services Center sponsored an open reception to kick-off the school's first-ever public interest reunion, "A Celebration of Public Interest". The reception, held on Thursday, March 13, 2008, from 6-8:00 p.m. at HLS, offered alumni the opportunity to reconnect with LSC classmates and staff; share career experiences with current LSC students; discover what LSC is doing in the community today; and enjoy a toast with fellow LSC alumni!

• Landlord is No-Show at Hearing: Despite filing an eviction request with Boston’s Housing Court, landlord Jason Palmer did not show up at last Friday’s Housing Court hearing to evict his tenants…Brian Price, director of the WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School, said that while it is not illegal to not have home insurance, it is not wise. Price said it is often required to attain a mortgage and is recommended to protect against property damage or liability, such as a tenant suffering lead poisoning. (Roslindale Transcript, 2/27/08)

WINTER 2008

• Preventing Another Foreclosure Statistic: "Right now in the Boston area, [Roger Bertling] estimates, there are seven foreclosures a day with 2 million looming nationally over the next two years. A small fraction will make it to the [Predatory Lending] clinic at HLS's WilmerHale Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain . . . " (Harvard Law School Bulletin, Winter 2008)

• Although AIDS advocates have seen more Congressional goodwill than in recent years, the high hopes for the 110th Congress remain largely unfulfilled. The 2006 congressional elections provided hope for those living with HIV/AIDS. . . One year later, TAEP and NAPWA ask: Has the 110th Congress measured up to our expectations? The initial excitement caused by a Democratic-controlled Congress has been tempered by the reality of a less-than-sympathetic administration and the lack of a veto-proof majority in Congress. Article written by Robert Greenwald, Amy Rosenberg, Megan Hughes '09, and Lindsey Murtagh '09. [POZ-Health, Life and HIV, January 2008]

• Elizabeth Cho '08 - Recipient of Skadden Fellowship to Work at LSC: Elizabeth Cho has been selected as a Skadden Fellow to work in the Center's Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative for two years beginning September 2008. (HLS News, 12/13/07) Liz follows in the footsteps of other recent HLS students selected to work at the Center as Skadden Fellows in previous years: Michael Gregory '04 (2004-2006), Sarah Boonin '04 (2005-2007), and Karen Tseng '05 (2006-2008).

FALL 2007

• Tenants in some foreclosed Boston apartment buildings are living without adequate heat because the new landlords - mortgage companies often based in other states - have not repaired broken systems or paid for the delivery of heating oil. "Esme Caramello . . . [has] another client [who] has lost heat four times this fall because the company did not provide sufficient oil. The mortgage company in that case, also IndyMac, has been operating under a court order to provide heat since mid-November. The oil ran out on Dec. 6 and was not restored until Dec. 11, after Caramello returned to court. The heat went out again on Dec. 16, and was not restored until Wednesday [Dec. 19]." (Boston Globe, 12/22/07)

• GLBT Clinic Formally Announced: To address the unique legal dilemmas raised in part by the state's legalization of same-sex marriage in 2003, Harvard Law School has opened a legal clinic at the Legal Services Center that will represent low-income clients in matters of divorce, custody, child support, adoptions, wills, school-related matters, and other family-law and estate planning issues. Under the direction of Robert Greenwald, Lectuer on Law and Senior Clinical Instructor, the clinic will also do advocacy work to promote the rights and interests of the GLBT community. (Boston Globe, 12/04/07)
• LSC Receives Community Partnership Award: Massachusetts Advocates for Children (MAC) presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the Legal Services Center on Novemer 29 at their "Thanks for Giving" celebration. The event recognized those organizations and individuals who have helped champion the rights of children. The Center was honored for its partnership with MAC through the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative to ensure that children affected by family violence and other overwhelming experiences succeed in school.
• Employment Discrimination Training Held: The Legal Services Center (LSC) and the Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) are starting a new project designed to provide representation to low income persons who have experienced employment discrimination. Steve Churchill and students of LSC's Employment Civil Rights Clinic will screen and evaluate cases based upon in-person interviews and available documents. Those cases that are believed to be meritorious will be referred to VLP. VLP will assign the case to a lawyer who will represent the person on a pro bono basis. The lawyer assigned to the case will assist the person in the filing and development of the case at the MCAD up to a Probable Cause or Lack of Probable Cause determination.  VLP and LSC conducted its first lawyer training in Janaury. For more information, please contact Lynn Girton at Lgirton@vlpnet.org or Kim Jones at Kjones@vlpnet.org.
• Foreclosure Hits Tenants: Activists are warning about “cash for keys” and other schemes designed to trick Section 8 subsidized housing tenants into moving out of homes recently sold at foreclosure auctions. The Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, a nonprofit group that administers Section 8 housing programs for the federal government, said it recently found that about 13 percent of all homes sold at foreclosure auctions in Boston have Section 8 renters in them…“Federal laws trump state laws, so (Section 8 tenants) can stay,” said Rafael Mares, an attorney at Harvard Law School’s WilmerHale Legal Services, which is helping tenants during the current foreclosure crisis. (Boston Herald, 10/29/07)
• Hundreds of tenants in foreclosed buildings have been evicted or are facing eviction by mortgage companies that do not want to be landlords. "I pay my rent on time and I have to leave this place?" said Rafael Matos, 47, represented by Maureen McDonagh. "Come on. How am I going to find a new apartment?" (Boston Sunday Globe, 10/21/07)
• Legal Services Center hosts workshop conference for the City of Boston’s Main Streets Program, October 17, 2007.    Boston Main Streets, with 19 neighborhood-based districts throughout the City, is Boston’s main vehicle for revitalizing local commercial districts.  The Boston Main Streets program focuses its effort on providing merchants and community residents with the tools for their historic commercial districts to compete in today's market by assisting the local districts capitalize on their unique cultural and historical assets while focusing on the community's economic development needs. Five HLS 2Ls, enrolled in the Transactional Practice Clinical Workshop taught by Clinical Professor Brian Price, working in the Center’s Community Enterprise Project (CEP) clinic, made presentations to BMS program directors about legal issues related to non-profit tax-exempt federal and state law.  Liliane Ladejola-Diaba presented on “organizing non-profit corporations and maintaining tax-exempt status”; R. Ivan Hernandez explained “corporate and tax compliance, and employment law issues”; Eric Herrmann spoke about “corporate governance”; Victoria Shiah presented “executive director responsibilities and corporate authorizations”; and Jonathan Vance presented on “liability issues, fundraising and copyright fair use”.   They were joined in their presentations by Visiting Clinical Instructor Hugh Jones, Senior Counsel at the law firm WilmerHale.  
• I would never have had the confidence and experience to start a law firm right out of school without the clinical programs at HLS. I participated both in the transactional Recording Artists' Project / Community Enterprise Project ("CEP") at the Hale Dorr Center and the Criminal Justice Institute ("CJI"). Ryan Alexander ('07), "You Can Start Your Own Practice", (HLS Record 10/11/07)
• Harvard Law School and WilmerHale Rename the Legal Services Center: On Wednesday, October 3, 2007, the Legal Services Center celebrated its renaming to The WilmerHale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School.  The renaming of the Center, which Dean Elena Kagan referred to as "the cornerstone of the Harvard Law School clinical program", is to acknowledge the renewed commitment of the Harvard Law School and the law firm of WilmerHale to the provision of service to clients and education to law students by the Legal Services Center. (HLS Homepage 10/03/07)