We are thrilled to celebrate the Class of 2024’s accomplishments in the Harvard Law School Clinical & Pro Bono Program! Over the past three years, these students devoted nearly 400,000 hours to representing individuals on issues ranging from tenants’ rights and family law matters to immigration cases and criminal appeals. Through these intensive experiential learning opportunities, the Class of 2024 gained invaluable legal skills while making a tangible positive impact in communities across the nation.
Table of Contents
- Messages from the Deans
- 2023-2024 By the Numbers
- Clinical and Pro Bono Program Awards
- Student Achievements
- Clinics in a Minute
- Stories from the In-House Clinics
- Stories from the Externship Clinics
- Independent Clinical Projects
- Stories from the Student Practice Organizations
- Spring Break Pro Bono Trips
- Pro Bono Honors
- Retirements and Promotions
Messages from the Deans
“Public service is a hallmark of legal education at Harvard Law School. I’m extraordinarily proud of our students, faculty, and staff, and of the tremendous and tangible impact they make through our incomparable Clinical and Pro Bono Programs. By participating in one or more of Harvard Law School’s 38 legal clinics and 11 student practice organizations, our students gain essential skills while supporting real causes and clients who need their help. I applaud them for the enormous difference their efforts have made and will make in the lives of people in communities in and around Boston, across the United States, and around the world.”
John Goldberg
Harvard Law School’s Interim Dean, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence
“The twin pillars of the Clinical and Pro Bono Program at Harvard Law School are to provide exemplary legal services to local, national, and international communities and to ensure the continuous education, learning, and growth of the clinical community. Our remarkable students are at the heart of both of these goals. As student attorneys, they engage boldly and bravely. They bring their own diverse backgrounds and expertise, coupled with the knowledge they have garnered at Harvard, to advance access to justice with savvy legal strategy and zealous representation. Our partners trust our students to develop sound policy and legal reasoning. Our clients feel seen, valued, and empowered. Our legal service is better, broader, and more joyful because of our students. In the classroom, clinics, and student practice organizations, our students teach as much as they learn. As we advise and mentor students on their path to becoming ethical lawyers, the students, in turn, challenge us to look at legal problems with a fresh set of eyes and creative new perspectives. They teach us. They enhance our community partnerships. They build teams and friendship among their peers that will continue to strengthen their own learning and bolster the legal profession for years to come. Our students teach and change us. And our students change the world: one classroom at a time, one case at a time, one client at a time. As our clinical students join the broader legal profession, we know their impact and contributions will only grow.”
Meredith Boak
Assistant Dean for Clinical and Experiential Education and Pro Bono Programs
2023-2024 By the Numbers
-
Total Clinical Placements in 2023-24 1,184
-
Total LLM Clinical Placements in 2023-24 26
-
JD ’24 Class Participation in Clinics 88%
-
JD ’24 Class Participation in 2+ Clinics 55%
-
Average Pro Bono Hours Per JD ’24 Student 635
-
Total Pro Bono Hours completed by JD ’24 393,490
-
JD ’24 Students with >1,000 Pro Bono Hours 134
-
Student Practice Organization Members 23-24 640
See Also“I Never Will Forget”: Memories from Mississippi …oral.history.ufl.edu/files/I-Never-Will-Forget.pdf · “I NEVER WILL FORGET ... Amanda Noll, Paul Ortiz, Breanne Palmer, Kathy - [PDF Document]Non-Recruiting Assistant Coach in Poughkeepsie , NY for Marist CollegeESU, Koehler Fieldhouse to Host 2025 NCWWC Region II Championships on Feb. 23 - East Stroudsburg University AthleticsGrit: Afghan Refugee Conquers Virtual Learning, 14 SOL Attempts to Graduate in June, Head to College
Clinical and Pro Bono Program Awards
Student Achievements
Clinics in a Minute
The Clinics in a Minute video series offers a quick glance into what it’s like to be a student in the clinics. Check out all the videos here!
Stories from the In-House Clinics
TheIn-House Clinics areinternal to Harvard Law School with an on-campus office, taught byClinical Professors of Law, Clinical Instructors, and Lecturers on Law. The clinics are paired with a classroom component in which clinical experiences contribute to further discussion in the areas of law.
- Criminal Justice Institute “‘Ask your client.’ This was the advice my supervising attorney gave at our first team meeting. ‘When you aren’t sure about something, ask your client.’ That advice has stayed with me,” writes Zohar Freeman ’24.
- Criminal Justice Institute Farris Peale ’24 won a dismissal for their client in CJI, learning firsthand how to litigate a tough case.
- Crimmigration Clinic “The power of the clinical community—one that I have been privileged to call home for the last two years—is in its refusal to let client’s stories be ignored,” writes Tara Djukanovic ’24.
- Crimmigration Clinic Rachael Maguire ‘25 and Bridget Pranzatelli ‘24 petitioned for certiorari with the Supreme Court in November on a long-running clinic case.
- Cyberlaw Clinic Former Facebook employee Dylan Moses ’24 came to the Cyberlaw Clinic to learn about the intersection of cybersecurity and the First Amendment; he learned more than he’d even imagined in the clinic.
- Education Law Clinic “My commitment to achieving educational equity stems from my own experience in the U.S. public school system,” reflects advanced clinical student Vanessa Agudelo ’24.
- Election Law Clinic “To me, the right to vote is not only a symbol of our democracy, but a precious representation of my history as a African-American woman in America,” writes Regina Fairfax ’24.
- Election Law Clinic Morgan Hurst ’24 looks forward to bringing her education from the Election Law Clinic back to her home state of Texas.
- Election Law Clinic Marisa Wright ’24 and her clinic team fought to restore voting power to Wisconsin residents – and won.
- Food Law and Policy Clinic “Moving beyond the Zoom screen and spending time with our partners in South Africa was not only fulfilling but integral to understanding the on-the-ground context of food bank operations and the feasibility of particular policy recommendations,” writes Kristen McEnroe ’24.
- Harvard Dispute Systems Design Clinic Salomé Van Bunnen LL.M. ’24 worked with a school in Tanzania to create a negotiation course especially aimed at women and girls.
- Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic Julio Quiroz Colby’s ’24 clinical experiences were pivotal to informing his fellowship project building out a new practice area for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition.
- Institute to End Mass Incarceration Clinic Aliyah Graves-Brown ’24, Apoorva Dixit ’24, and Zainab Kahloon ’24 worked to prevent the construction of a new federal prison in Appalachia and investigating opportunities for alternative investment in the impacted community.
- International Human Rights Clinic Jake Soria ’24 travelled to New York and Kosovo to hold the United Nations accountable for placing hundreds of displaced Roma in housing where they were exposed to lead poisoning.
- International Human Rights Clinic Nikki Santos ’24 has spent three semesters working to hold the seventh largest supermarket chain in the world accountable for human rights abuses in its seafood supply chain.
- Mediation Clinic As Co-President of Harvard Mediation Program, Kate Strickland ’24 found the community she was seeking in law school among her fellow mediators.
- Mediation Clinic Bertha Aniagyei LL.M. ’24 describes the Harvard Mediation Program as the “experience of a lifetime” and found the answers to her questions about the role of a mediator.
- Religious Freedom Clinic Nathan Bartholomew ’24 worked on a pair of cases seeking justice for incarcerated Rastafarians whose dreadlocks were shorn by prison officials.
- Transactional Law Clinics Joshua Payne ’24 discovered the importance of minority business certification services while working with his client.
- Transactional Law Clinics “Working in the clinic, improving upon feedback from your instructors, and helping your clients reach their goals truly gives you the opportunity to showcase your best and to see your classmates shine as well,” writes Kaetlyn Conolly ’24.
- Transactional Law Clinics “This program offers constant opportunities for practical self-development through conversations with instructors, clients, and peers—all while simultaneously assisting disadvantaged groups in the community,” writes Alec Johnson ’24.
Legal Services Center
The Legal Services Center is the community-based clinical law program of Harvard Law School located in Jamaica Plain. Through six unique clinical offerings—Family Justice Clinic, Consumer Protection Clinic, LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic, Housing Law Clinic, Veterans Legal Clinic, and the Federal Tax Clinic—students working under attorney supervision provide essential legal services to low-income clients.
- Advanced Clinical Students In an advanced clinic, students who have completed at least one semester in an LSC clinic return to their clinic for a succeeding semester or semesters. Because advanced clinical students have already completed the classroom requirements for their clinic, when they return, they can devote all their time to the specific lawyering opportunities they want to pursue.
- Consumer Protection Clinic Annika Reno ’24 represented a client in federal court whose car had been unlawfully seized by debt collectors.
- Consumer Protection Clinic Lorea Mendiguren ’24 represented clients and conducted research on the potential and pitfalls of buy now, pay later loans.
- Consumer Protection Clinic “During my time in court through the clinic, I aimed to speak to every defendant (before the debt buyers’ attorney did) to inform them of the legal options they were entitled to,” writes Morgan Sperry ’24.
- Family Justice Clinic “As a young boy, I could’ve never imagined that one day I’d be advocating for people facing similar challenges. As a student attorney at the Legal Services Center, I’ve been able to do exactly that, all while sharpening my legal skills,” writes Alfredo Rosales ’24.
- Housing Law Clinic Melissa Morgan ’24 fought for her client’s safe housing in the Housing Justice for Survivors Project.
- LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic Caroline Hatley ’24 worked on a policy project designed to combat the use of far-right online forums to organize online harassment campaigns against LGBTQ+ activists and allies.
- Tax Litigation Clinic Madison Wulf Elbich ’24 filed an first amicus brief for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals just two weeks in to her first clinical experience.
Stories from the Externship Clinics
The externship clinics offer hundreds of placements at government agencies and organizations across the United States. These clinics are taught by faculty and experienced licensed attorneys who are experts in their field. Each clinic is accompanied by a required course component, where students reflect on the legal issues they work on throughout the semester.
- Child Advocacy Clinic “Interning at the Boston Juvenile Court (BJC) through the Child Advocacy Clinic afforded me a unique opportunity to experience trial advocacy and learn how judges approach difficult decisions,” reflects Diane Bernabei ’24.
- Child Advocacy Clinic “Armed with newfound insights and unwavering determination, I embark on the next chapter of my career with a renewed sense of purpose – to champion the rights and well-being of every child, and to nurture their voices in the pursuit of justice,” writes Fatima Khan LL.M. ’24.
- Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic Tala Alfoqaha ’24 and Katie Pleiss ’24 spent the winter term in D.C. at the MacArthur Justice Center, working on ongoing appellate cases related to civil rights and the criminal justice system.
- Democracy and Rule of Law Clinic “I sleep easier at night knowing that the team, along with a new clinic student in my place, is hard at work advocating for democracy and ensuring the people in my state and across the country have their voices heard and respected,” writes Lizzie Wallace ’24.
- Government Lawyer: Attorney General Clinic “Almost exactly 1 year after reading my favorite case, I found myself at 28 Liberty Street — a few steps from the Brooklyn Bridge, even fewer steps from Wall Street — dealing with a federal farming case of my own,” writes Edward Jung ’24.
- Government Lawyer: Attorney General and Semester in Washington “Little did I know that the generous guidance and support from OPIA and OCP advisors, clinical instructors, and alumni would lead to two distinct yet equally enriching externships in D.C.” writes Alice Chen ’24.
- Government Lawyer: Semester in Washington Heather Zhou ’24 worked on real legislation between attending hearings and markups in her placement with Senator Richard Blumenthal’s Judiciary Committee staff.
- Government Lawyer: Semester in Washington “Working at the Joint Committee on Taxation was a great opportunity to practice statutory interpretation in the real world, with real stakes,” writes Samantha Strimling ’24.
- Judicial Process in Trial Courts Clinic “If you spend a semester working in a community court—seeing so many cases and people each day—you start to get a sense of the cumulative impact of the criminal legal system,” writes Caroline Gillette ’24.
Independent Clinical Projects
The Independent Clinical Program gives students who are interested in a specialized area of the law or field of practice that is not currently offered in the existing clinical curriculum an opportunity to design a custom placement that will meet their individualized learning goals.
Stories from the Student Practice Organizations (SPOs)
In the Student Practice Organizations (SPOs), students can gain practical legal experience under the supervision of a licensed attorney starting their 1L year.
- Harvard Defenders Apoorva Dixit ‘24 and Déborah Aléxis ‘25 organized the Jack T. Litman Symposium to spotlight incarcerated artists.
- Harvard Defenders “Being part of Defenders also gave me a true appreciation for that old saying, ‘good lawyers never work alone,'” writes Josh Alpert ’24.
- HLS Immigration Project Bennett Stehr ’24 worked on the HIP policy team to work towards structural change that might provide a more fair and equitable immigration system.
- Harvard Mediation Program “The best part about HMP is that you are guided by your clinical instructors and staff at every step of the project and training,” says Manoranjitha Reddy Ani LL.M. ’24.
- Tenant Advocacy Project “This experience showed me how easy it is for people to fall through the cracks and how our system needs to place greater priority on access to legal representation in civil matters,” writes Mohini Tangri ’24.
- Tenant Advocacy Project Matthew Rock ’24 spearheaded a new TAP initiative: reasonable accommodation letter clinics for Boston tenants.
Spring Break Pro Bono Trips
Students Who Have Completed 2,000+ Pro Bono Hours
Kamille Marie South Bernard
Zohar Freeman
Kaitlyn Alexzandria Ham
Erin Marie Hegarty
Liam S. Hoover
Fatema Jaffer
Meghan E. Mullennix
Elizabeth A. Olsen
Bridget A. Pranzatelli
Matthew Dean Rock
Evelyn Shan
Anne Stone Whitney
Students Who Have Completed 1,000+ Pro Bono Hours
Janna Elizabeth Adelstein
Vanessa Agudelo
Laura Noelle Aguilar
Daniel J. Albert-Rozenberg
Joseph B. Alpert
Joshua M. Alpert
Tomás Arango
Hayley M. Barton
Benson Jeffrey Beidler
Christopher George Berven
Mary Faith Groark Blank
Ana A. Bordallo
Joelle Ruth Boxer
Travis Frederick Cabbell
Kelly Capatosto
Morgan Carmen
Elliot Caron-Vera
Xinyun Chen
Maleeha Nazneen Chida
Robert L. Clinton, IV
Julio Q. Colby
Elizabeth M. Dassow
Anne DeLong
Olivia Jane den Dulk
Christopher Kalimos Dietz
Apoorva Dixit
Kunal Dixit
Tara Djukanovic
Eliza Rose Qualey Drury
Kyla Elizabeth DaSilva Duffy
Chloe Elizabeth Dyer
Marie T. Edouard
Quinn Risa Evangelakos
Edwin Arthur Farley
Katherine McClain Fleming
Luna Floyd
Allyson N. Gambardella
Arjun Gananathan
Aliyah Iman Graves-Brown
Kennedy Breanne Green
Lauren Greenawalt
Gabrielle E. Grossman
Masooma Haider
Abigail Donna-Marie Hall
Julia E. Hammond
Amanda Gillian Hart Harrison
Sarah L. Hart
Taufan Ariq Hidayatullah Hatibie
Catherine Q.T. Hoang
Naomi Helen Campbell Jennings
Ethan Judd
Zainab Kahloon
Sara Kamouni
Jacqulyn M. Kantack
Manvitha Kapireddy
Lea H. Kayali
Ava Bayani Kazerouni
Andrew Byrne Keefe
Alexandra Kersley
Shaun Henry Kleber
Sarah Emma Kliment
Layla Kousari
Michaela Emory LeDoux
Bomie Lee
Natalie Elizabeth Leitman
Mira Isabelle Lerner
Michel A. Li
Dana Lurie
Raquel Victoria Maria Maldonado Navarro
William F. McCann, III
Sonali Mehta
Joshua Garrett Metzger
Melissa Ashley Morgan
Michaela A. Morris
Jyothsna Roopa Mulpuri
Kelly Anne Murphy
Noelle Marie Musolino
Stephen Alexander Neilson
Molly A. O ́Neil
Sabrina Alessandra Ochoa
David A. Olin
Pranaya K. Pahwa
Chinmay Gopal Pandit
Scarlett Sun Park
David Paul
Farris Mary Alexandra Peale
Kathleen Pleiss
Wyatt Cooper Pless
Beatriz Ramon
Aurek L. Ransom
Annika Quinn Reno
Helena T. Rickards
Robin Wang Zhang Rivaux
Lucas A. Rodríguez
Alfredo Rosales
Katherine Parker Royce
Nicoly Benicio Santos
Jeremiah Scanlan
Sofia Scotti
Emily Shanti Shah
Rushi Shah
Alizeh M. Sheikh
Delana Elizabeth Zeeba Sobhani
Jake Alexander Soria
Bennett Stehr
Benjamin Matthew Stern
Kathryn S. Strickland
Grace Lucille Summers
Kristi L. Tanaka
Hina Uddin
Dee Dawoon Um
Shashank Vura
Kelsey Emma Waldron
Daniel McKinley Walker
Simone Wallk
Angeni Wentao Wang
Scott (Xiantao) Wang
Marisa Danielle Wright
Alie Yu
Alyssa Hope Zhang
Yue Zhou
Elizabeth Anne Lubben Zotti
Keep up with the Clinical and Pro Bono Programs on social media:
View this profile on Instagram
HLS Clinical & Pro Bono Programs (@hls_ocp) • Instagram photos and videos
