Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA)

Welcome! As a career services office at Harvard Law School specializing in public interest law, our primary goal is to encourage law school students and lawyers to embrace a career that incorporates an ongoing commitment to public service work. We offer advising appointments for Harvard Law students and alumni with our attorney advisors, as well as a wealth of print and online resources for planning a public interest career and landing your job.

Quick Links

Sign up for your Advising Appointment (attorney advisors' bios here)
(Appointments are for Harvard Law School students and alumni, though alumni advising – with the exception of those in judicial clerkships – closes during the fall semester, our busiest season.)
Job Search Database
Publications Order Form (.pdf)

Contact Us

Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising
Pound Hall, Room 329
1563 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138 (map)

Phone: (617) 495-3108
Fax: (617) 496-4944
Email: pia@law.harvard.edu

OPIA Events

To OCI or Not to OCI (Sponsored by SPIN, Co-sponsored by OCS and OPIA): Room John, Chipman & Gray room; pizza provided

Not sure if you should do on-campus interviewing with the big firms this fall? Feeling like you should, even though you're more interested in a public interest career after graduation? Worried that if you don't, you'll be left out in the cold?

Interviews, call-backs, fly-out week, fancy hotels and dinners--and all you have to do is show up and sign your name on the dotted line. What about students who opted out of this process and did things "the hard way"--only interviewed with non-BigLaw employers and dared to spend half or all of their summer at a public interest organization? What ever happened to them?

Come hear recent HLS alumni and 3Ls talk about their decisions regarding OCI, how it can or cannot prepare you for a public interest career, and whether every student really should go through the OCI process.

Special guests Professor David Barron and OPIA Associate Director Lisa Williams. [Thu, 04 Sep 2008]
3L Job Search Strategy Dinner: Location: TBD
Come to hear pointers on how to plot a strategy for finding and going after what you want, and how to build connections with others planning to go into postgraduate public service work. [Mon, 08 Sep 2008]
Issues Facing LGBT Lawyers: Location: Pound 202 Sponsor: OCS/OPIA/LAMBDA Private and public sector attorneys discuss the challenges facing gay and lesbian lawyers in both the recruiting process and the workplace. Lunch served. [Tue, 09 Sep 2008]
Massachusetts Attorney General 2009 Fellowship Program and Summer Law Intern Program Info Session: Location: Pound 200 Come learn about entry-level attorney positions the engage in the practice of law and policy in the largest public sector legal office in the Commonwealth. [Wed, 10 Sep 2008]
2L Job Search Strategy Dinner: Location: TBD
Join us for dinner as we discuss factors to think about in choosing a 2L summer job for students who are thinking of pursuing public service work after graduation. Topics that are likely to be covered include whether to spend all or part of a summer at a traditional firm and how to go about pursuing the right 2L summer job. [Wed, 10 Sep 2008]
Public Service Initiative Information Session: Location: TBD
Learn about the guidelines governing this new program that provides tuition waivers for students committing to public service work upon graduation (ranging from full third-year tuition for incoming 1Ls to $5000 for 3Ls). See http://www.law.harvard.edu/students/sfs/psi/.
Staff from OPIA, Student Financial Services and the Pro Bono and Clinical Programs Office will explain the policies and answer questions. [Mon, 15 Sep 2008]
Diversity Issues in the Workplace: Location: TBD Sponsor: OPIA and OCS This event features a panel discussion of diversity issues that confront attorneys of color working in the public and private sectors. Lunch will be provided. [Wed, 17 Sep 2008]
Public Service Orientation: Location: Austin North
HLS alumni Bryan Stevenson, Dean Elena Kagan, Professor David Barron, and Assistant Dean Alexa Shabecoff are featured guest speakers at this event for 1Ls, which introduces students to the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising and public service opportunities available at Harvard Law School. [Wed, 17 Sep 2008]
1L OPIA/OCS Orientation: Staff from the Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising (OPIA) and the Office of Career Services (OCS) will provide an overview of the services our offices offer and a preview of the summer job search. [Thu, 18 Sep 2008]
Faculty Brown Bag Lunch with Martha Minow: The Faculty Lunch Speaker Series is a unique opportunity for students to interact with HLS professors who have been involved with public service work. At each event, a professor will speak informally about his/her experiences and be available for discussion and questions. In order to facilitate better conversation, space is limited to 15 students. Sign up by calling OPIA at 5-3108 or stopping by our office at Pound 329. Please bring your own lunch. [Fri, 19 Sep 2008]

OPIA Blog

New Proposal to Alleviate Debt for Law School Graduates Entering Government Service: A new student loan repayment program is now awaiting approval from President Bush before it goes into effect. The proposal, which is contained in the Higher Education Act, is part of an effort to make higher education more affordable an accessible. Under the terms of the proposal, the attorney general will assume the obligation to [...] [Wed, 13 Aug 2008]
Dean Kagan Named an Equal Justice Works Public Interest Law Leader: Dean Elena Kagan was named as a recipient of the 2008 John R. Kramer Outstanding Law Dean Award from Equal Justice Works. The annual award goes to three individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of public interest law. Since she started in 2003, Dean Kagan has enacted extensive and innovative initiatives to promote [...] [Wed, 13 Aug 2008]
Illegal Hiring Practices Exposed at the Department of Justice: A report released last week by the Department of Justice’s inspector general and internal ethics office revealed the widespread politicization of hiring practices within the agency. During the tenures of both Attorney Generals John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzalez, highly qualified, left-leaning applicants for important civil service positions were passed over in favor of less competent [...] [Mon, 04 Aug 2008]
Making a Difference Through Microfinance: Last year, over 100 attorneys from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe contributed 3,617 pro bono hours to building a microfinance network in Latin America. The result was an $8.5 million dollar microcredit investment fund that would open entrepreneurial doors for millions of low-income people through tiny loans. Private law firms are increasing their pro bono commitments to [...] [Tue, 15 Jul 2008]
New Index Measures the Rule of Law Around the World: The World Justice Project recently unveiled the Rule of Law Index, a new initiative that will examine and assess the rule of law in over 100 nations. While it is still in its prototype stages, the initiative could potentially be used as a tool to increase government accountability and renew commitments to the basic principles [...] [Wed, 09 Jul 2008]
The Case of a Lifetime: As a second year law student, Abbe Smith took on a particularly tough case her first day at NYU’s prison law clinic back in 1980. Patsy Kelly Jarrett was facing a life sentence for a 1973 robbery and murder. She was convicted on the strength of a single shaky eyewitness who placed her in the [...] [Tue, 08 Jul 2008]
Looking Beyond the Corporate Salary: As a recent College graduate remarked in the New York Times, “We came to Harvard as freshmen to change the world, and we’re leaving to become investment bankers - why is this?” His question addresses the growing trend in which students from top schools are being funneled into high-paying corporate jobs and away from other [...] [Thu, 03 Jul 2008]
Visiting Assistant Professorships Provide Real-World Insights: While law schools continue to provide rigorous academic and intellectual training, some are starting to supplement this with more practical instruction. Several law schools have started Visiting Assistant Professorship programs in which practicing attorneys join as full-time faculty. By giving these attorneys a chance to concentrate on their scholarship and teaching, law schools hope to [...] [Tue, 24 Jun 2008]
A Step Forward for GLBT Rights: In a reversal of past department policies, Attorney General Michael Mukasey allowed the Department of Justice Pride group, which represents gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered employees, to use the Great Hall for its annual awards ceremony. During the tenure of Attorneys General Ashcroft and Gonzales, DOJ Pride had been forbidden from using the Hall or any [...] [Fri, 20 Jun 2008]
A Law School Surplus?: With the provisional accreditation of two new North Carolina institutions last week, the United States became the first country in the world to host 200 law schools. Quantity, however, does not necessarily produce quality, explained a recent AP article. The proliferation of law schools has resulted in a surplus of lawyers, many of whom are [...] [Thu, 19 Jun 2008]