Welcome to the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau

The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau was established in 1913 “for the purpose of rendering legal aid and assistance, gratuitously, to all persons or associations who by reason of financial embarrassment or social position, or for any other reason, appear worthy thereof.” As the nation’s oldest student legal services organization, the Legal Aid Bureau aspires to be an engine for progressive change and social justice.

The Bureau is a student-run organization composed of approximately 40 second and third-year student-attorneys, and 7 staff attorneys. Practicing under the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Rule 3:03, we provide free legal services in civil (non-criminal) matters to low-income people in order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers to economic opportunity.

The Bureau specializes in four major areas of practice: (1) housing law, including evictions from public and private apartments, and responding to evictions resulting from the foreclosure crisis; (2) family law, including divorce, child custody, paternity, visitation, and support issues; (3) government benefits law, including appeals of the denial or termination of welfare, food stamps, unemployment, or social security disability benefits; and (4) wage and hour law, including unpaid overtime and regular wages.

The help we offer ranges from referrals to full case representation, depending on client need and available resources. The Bureau is committed to providing high quality legal assistance to low-income individuals regardless of their race, sex, national origin, language, sexual orientation, gender expression, citizenship, or disability.

REAL CLIENTS. REAL CASES. REAL COMMUNITY.

NEWS & HIGHLIGHTS

BUREAU NEWSLETTER