by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #9: How can we make legal education accessible and affordable?

(Submitted by Mitha Nandagopalan ’18)

The cost of a legal education has skyrocketed in recent decades, well past inflation and wage growth over the same time period, to the point where law school graduates may find themselves carrying six-figure debt. It is in part this immense debt that pushes many recent law graduates, especially from elite law schools, into high-paying firms, even though there is substantial need for legal services in the public sector – and even though many of those students may have entered law school hoping to find public sector jobs and meet that need.

We cannot solve access to justice issues until we make legal educations more affordable and enable graduating lawyers to take jobs that address rather than perpetuate existing inequalities.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #14: Abram Chayes “[held] the United States to its own best standards and principles.”

(Submitted by Katrina Braun, ’17)

Abram Chayes graduated from HLS in 1949. He held a number of positions in government, including being the legal adviser to the State Department in the Kennedy administration, during which time he helped devise the strategy for dealing with the Cuban Missile Crisis. He also became a highly respected author on international law topics.

In the 1980s, he successfully represented Nicaragua in an international lawsuit against the U.S., charging that his country had illegally mined Nicaraguan ports and sought to overthrow its government. Many in the U.S. saw Chayes’s choice to represent Nicaragua as a betrayal of his homeland. Chayes, however, told an interviewer at the time that “[t]here’s nothing wrong with a lawyer holding the United States to its own best standards and principles.”

Chayes went on to litigate more cases in the international arena, and taught for many years at HLS. There is now a scholarship in his name supporting law students doing summer work in international public service.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #8: How do we reduce the trauma the legal system inflicts on its litigants?

(Submitted by Gillian Schaps ’18)

Many individuals turn to the legal system to solve or fix a traumatic element of their life – they seek protection from physical or sexual abuse, to sever a controlling relationship, to keep a child safe. And while our courts offer legal interventions that can sometimes achieve those goals, the process isn’t easy. In fact it can take months of repeated court dates, hours of testimony about the traumatic experience itself, and coming face to face with your abuser dozens of times. Research tells us that many people would rather avoid the court system than seek its protection. Lawyers on the ground will tell you that litigation can make trauma worse by increasing animosity from parties who were already abusive and controlling.

So how do we reduce the burden on parties while still protecting due process? We think outside the box. Multiservice Centers are popping up around the country – they house lawyers, social workers, detectives, and forensic investigators all under one roof so a survivor of child abuse has to tell their story once and only once. We provide opportunities for shuttle mediation outside of court. We differentiate between cases that would actually benefit from legal force versus ones that are better suited for other interventions – housing assistance, relocation, social workers, family supports, rehabilitation. We get judges out of the courtroom and into community centers. Mostly, we stop pretending that the legal system can fix everything while also making it better at fixing the things that it can.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #13: Navi Pillay has advanced human rights at the forefront

(Submitted by Ha Ryong Jung (Michael), JD ’18)

As the first South African to receive a doctorate in law at HLS, Navi Pillay served as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and respectably asserted that her role was to be “the voice of the victim everywhere.” As a vocal advocate for women and minority groups, she was an active non-white lawyer under the Apartheid regime and a judge at the ICTR and ICC for a significant period of time, ruling that rape and sexual assault could constitute acts of genocide.

She has been influential through difficult times in history, believing that human rights are central to preventing conflict. She values the power of collaboration in protecting and promoting the rights of individuals around the world. She is a courageous role model.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #12: Mark Martins is establishing and upholding the rule of law at home and overseas.

(Submitted by George Hageman ’17)

Brigadier General Mark Martins has taken on some of the most challenging assignments in the U.S. Army JAG Corps. As the commander of the Rule of Law Field Force—Afghanistan, Martins reformed detention operations and fought corruption. Now, as the Chief Prosecutor of Military Commissions, he leads the cases against 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the USS Cole bomber.

A Rhodes Scholar and West Point valedictorian, Martins leads by example. He works tirelessly to see the case through, building up the legitimacy and fairness of the institution in the face of immense public pressure. As Dean Minow said when awarding him the HLS Medal of Freedom in 2011, “how lucky this nation is that Mark Martins has given these enormous talents and gifts.”

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #11: Robert Taft championed conservatism in the Senate.

(Submitted by Samuel Settle ’19)

After graduating from HLS in 1913, Taft worked as a private attorney in Cincinnati. He entered Ohio politics, becoming an outspoken opponent of the Ku Klux Klan.

Later, Taft was elected to the US Senate, where he helped create the conservative coalition–a bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats who fought the expansion of the New Deal.

Taft was famous as a serious, principled statesman. His willingness to take unpopular stands led John F. Kennedy to include him in Profiles in Courage.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #7: How can we build better child-sensitive legal frameworks to ensure the protection of our next generation?

(Submitted by Ha Ryong Jung (Michael) ’18)

Children around the world are suffering from weak legislation and inadequate law enforcement, whether in the courtrooms, detention facilities, institutions, schools, or homes. Especially in the field of juvenile justice, children are being indiscriminately shackled, subjected to incredibly harsh sentencing, forced to spend years in horrible detention without education or rehabilitation, and treated inhumanely in all steps of the justice system.

Children should not need to undergo the traumatic experience of being arrested by the police, standing in front of a judge, and being locked behind bars, especially when the system isn’t sensitive to their specific needs. The law should progressively find ways of better loving and caring for our kids, both at the systemic and implementation levels according to the context of each country.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #10: Mitt Romney’s contributions to the world as a business leader, civil servant, philanthropist, and family man have been far-reaching.

(Submitted by Alex Knight ’18)

Mitt Romney is well known for his impressive list of accomplishments in both the private and public sectors. He served as the CEO of Bain & Company, and later founded and developed Bain Capital into one of the largest private equity firms in the country. Mitt also served as the President of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, where he is credited for saving the city from significant financial peril, and as Governor of Massachusetts, where, among other things, he helped spearhead Healthcare reform legislation—the first of its kind in America.

Perhaps more impressive than his career as a businessman and government leader, Governor Romney is also known for his devotion to his family and to philanthropy. Both within his faith (The LDS Church) and outside of it, Mitt has given, and continues to give, countless time and resources to others. More than anything else, this devotion to his family, and the world around him is the reason why Governor Romney embodies the noblest ideals of Harvard Law School.

As President Barack Obama put it, “I admire [Governor Romney] very much as a family man and a loving father, and those are two titles that will always matter more than any political ones.”

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #9: Lara Quint is a public servant who enriches every institution and person she interacts with.

(Submitted by Maseeh Moradi ’18)

Following her HLS graduation in 2002, Lara Quint spent a decade at the Office of the Federal Public Defender in Washington, D.C., where she represented indigent defendants at all stages of the criminal justice process. For the past 3 years, Lara has worked in the office of U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, now serving as Chief Counsel there. Among the many legislative initiatives she has spearheaded, Lara helped lead the effort on the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016.

HLS students who have spent summers on Capitol Hill report being inspired by Lara’s intelligence, energy, and bigheartedness. She is generous in offering to assist and mentor students, often going the extra mile to help (and will have frozen yogurt with students in the Senate basement cafe whenever they ask!). She has a deep-seated passion for social justice and lives a life marked by activism and kindness. For these reasons and more, she is a role model to us all.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #8: Khalil Shariff is a civic champion of developing communities throughout the world.

(Submitted by Malik Ladhani ’18)

After graduating from HLS in 2002, Khalil Shariff returned to Canada, where he worked with the Toronto office of McKinsey & Company. Since 2005, Khalil has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC). AKFC is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network, a group of development agencies that address social, economic and cultural dimensions of development. Active in 30 countries, these agencies share a mission to improve living conditions and opportunities for the poor, without regard to their faith, origin or gender. AKFC’s programs demonstrate that success is possible when poverty is tackled on multiple fronts, over the long-term, and with communities in charge.

Khalil has also been centrally involved in the start-up of a new institution, the Global Centre for Pluralism, dedicated to advancing the value and practices of respecting diversity, and now serves on its Board.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #7: Henry Reuss “was a lawyer, a legislator, an environmentalist, urbanist, economist, statesman, a visionary, and a guerrilla.”

(Submitted by Shaun Goho, Senior Clinical Instructor, Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic)

Henry Reuss graduated from Harvard Law School in 1936. He served in the Army during the Second World War, receiving the Bronze Star. After the war, he was the deputy general counsel of the Marshall Plan.

Reuss represented Wisconsin’s Fifth Congressional District in Congress from 1955 to 1983. In 1959, he was the original proponent in Congress of what would become the Peace Corps. As Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Conservation and Natural Resources, he held hearings that led to the end of the Department of Agriculture’s stream channelization program. He was Chairman of the House Banking Committee from 1975 to 1981.

An advocate of what he called “statutory archeology,” in 1970 Reuss discovered a largely-forgotten provision of the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 that made it illegal to discharge “any refuse matter” into rivers, lakes, or streams. His subcommittee staff issued a report on the possibility of citizen lawsuits under this provision and Reuss himself used the law to bring suit against dozens of polluters in Wisconsin. Lawsuits under what came to be known as the Refuse Act played a major part in reducing industry opposition to the legislation that would become the Clean Water Act.

As his longtime friend John Kenneth Galbraith wrote of him after his death, Reuss “was interested in everything, deeply informed, active on all fronts, from the structure of the International Monetary Fund to the 1899 Refuse Act to endless proposals to save and rebuild our cities and our transportation systems. He understood just how complicated, just how expert, just how motivated and just how engaged government had to be….”

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #6: How can we build an effective international legal regime to combat the refugee crisis?

(Submitted by Katrina Braun, ’18)

There are really multiple refugee crises throughout the world. Indeed, according to the UN there are 65.3 million people displaced as of the end of 2015 – the highest number of displaced persons recorded at any time in history. Upwards of 20 million of these people are refugees, over half of whom are children.

Lawyers have an important part to play in managing these crises, both internationally in adapting the current worldwide regime to current circumstances and promoting compliance, and domestically in pushing for implementation of international standards and directly serving vulnerable populations to help them acquire documentation and navigate the legal hurdles to resettlement.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #6: Margaret Montoya is injecting critical dialogue on racial justice and diversity into legal discourse

(Submitted by Mario Nguyen ’17)

Margaret was the first Latina woman to ever be admitted to HLS in 1975. Upon graduation in 1978, she won the Harvard University Sheldon Traveling Fellowship to study affirmative action internationally. In 2003, she supervised a group of students to file an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case of Grutter v. Bollinger.

Margaret is currently a Professor of Law at the University of New Mexico where she has been published throughout legal academia and served as the lead scholar for 2010 Diversity in the Legal Profession Report for ABA.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #5: How can we innovate the law to be more inclusive of low-income people?

(Submitted by Mario Nguyên ’17)

The best statistics available report that only five percent of Harvard Law students come from the bottom 50 percent of the socioeconomic spectrum in the U.S. It is no wonder why our legal system not only largely ignores the problems low-income people face, but it also augments them.

It shouldn’t take a lawyer to be able to know – and exercise – your every day rights. We must start by reducing barriers to access the legal system and then revolutionize legal pedagogy to create law students who both consider the law’s implications on low-income people and reject the desire to have clients who are dependent on us to have a voice in the system of rules that govern our daily lives.

Ultimately, attorneys need to find ways to make ourselves unnecessary.

 

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #5: Luke Cole was an innovator in environmental justice lawyering

(Submitted by Olivia Bensinger ’17)

Upon graduating from HLS in 1989, Cole moved to California and co-founded the Center on Race, Poverty, & the Environment. He represented low-income communities and workers facing environmental hazards, always centering the community and their needs.

Cole practiced and produced scholarly work advocating for an “on tap, not on top” approach to lawyering. He advocated alongside migrant farmworker communities in Kern County, California and fought for damages from climate change for the Native Village of Kivalina, Alaska.

“Before a community group embarks on a legal course, however, a threshold question must be answered: Will a lawsuit help or hurt the community’s struggle?”

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Vocational Goal #4: Bridging the civil-military divide

(Submitted by George Hageman ’17)

We are all lucky to be at Harvard, and with that privilege comes responsibility. I worry that we, America’s future decision-makers, have lost touch with one group in particular: the military. While we study, other young men and women fight and die on our behalf. Increasingly, the people who send troops into harm’s way have never been there themselves.

Since joining the United States Navy last Memorial Day, I’ve received two salutes: the first from my father, and the second from a homeless veteran. Therein lies the problem: military service is a family business rather than a shared burden, and those who serve are all too often left behind. I want to do my part, however small, to bridge that growing divide and bring us just a little closer together.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #4: How can we guarantee that all basic human needs are met so that people can focus on innovation, creativity, and meaningful relationships instead of survival?

(Submitted by Daniel Wu ’17)

In our current system, many survive paycheck-to-paycheck due to the high costs of housing, feeding, and educating their families. Yet while many lack basic necessities, others have more than enough resources to provide to cover several lifetimes of these expenses.

When scarcities are salient, people cannot reach their full potential. Lacking the basic needs found at the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy, we have no foundation on which we can build. Our structures not only cause suffering, then, but also waste human potential.

Imagine a society in which all people can engage in creative acts, innovation, and meaningful human relationships. We could better leverage our collective talent, capacity, and variety to advance and better society.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #4: Julie Su ’94 has dedicated her career to advancing justice on behalf of poor and disenfranchised communities

(Submitted by Yih-hsien Shen, Assistant Director, Director for J.D. Advising, Office of Career Services)

A 1994 graduate of Harvard Law, Su brought dozens of landmark lawsuits during her years as a civil rights lawyer and as California’s Labor Commissioner, securing millions of dollars and policy changes benefiting low wage workers, immigrants, and victims of crime and human tracking.

Her dedication to civil rights has been longstanding. In her prior role as the Litigation Director at Asian Pacic American Legal Center in Los Angeles, Su initiated grassroots campaigns against sweatshop abuses and received the MacArthur Genius Grant. While attending HLS she was one of the “Griswold 9” that used civil disobedience to focus attention on the lack of female and minority professors.

“My primary focus [is] to make the promise of a just day’s pay for a hard day’s work a reality.”

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Vocational Goal #3: Using developmental science to more effectively and compassionately respond to and advocate for system-involved youth

(Submitted by Emily Graham ’18)

Neuro- and developmental science research tells us that the brains of young adults continue to develop well into the mid-twenties, indicating that young people are both less culpable and more amenable to rehabilitation than older individuals convicted of crimes. Yet in virtually every jurisdiction in the United States, young people are sentenced to the same harsh mandatory minimums as older individuals.

I want to use these scientific advances to advocate for second chances, whether by promoting “youth discounts” in sentencing among legislatures, by advocating for rehabilitation-centric sentences as a direct representative, or by challenging current practices under the 8th Amendment through strategic litigation.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #3: How can we provide access to the justice system for indigent clients in civil matters?

(Submitted by Mitha Nandagopalan ’18)

The constitutional right to counsel only extends to criminal cases. Indigent civil litigants may therefore nd themselves in court without representation, but with their homes, jobs, and families at stake. They may be unaware of procedural deadlines and requirements, of the claims or defenses that they have a right to bring, and of the consequences of signing an agreement or accepting a settlement.

Pro se individuals struggling to vindicate their rights face a crisis in a system designed with the presumption that litigants will have counsel. We need to make the justice system more accessible, whether by establishing and enforcing civil Gideon or by restructuring the system itself to be more comprehensible and less burdensome for pro se litigants.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #3: Gina Clayton ’10 works to create communities that unite, train, and empower women with incarcerated loved ones to advocate against mass incarceration.

(Submitted by Ginger Jackson-Gleich ’18)

After graduating from HLS in 2010, Clayton worked to establish the Essie Justice Group in the San Francisco Bay Area. EJG then piloted a training program for women focusing on trauma healing, managing money through crisis, and advocacy. Now the organization partners with over 20 Bay Area non-profits to identify and serve women in need.

EJG focuses on building a loving and powerful network in order to equip women with the tools to heal families and communities and the resources to make social change. Using a curriculum designed by and for women, EJG seeds groups for women to give and receive support in order to help them access their collective power as leaders and advocates.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Vocational Goal #2: Protecting at least one child — and hopefully many more.

(Submitted by Ha Ryong Jung ’18)

Recognizing that children have specific rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, I aspire to understand the variety of frameworks used around the world to protect children and to find the most effective combination of these systems to deliver the much-needed protection for this overlooked population.

Child-sensitive measures should exist whenever children come into contact with the justice system, and core principles of the child’s best interest and non-discrimination should be upheld. I hope to contribute to these efforts in working for and with children.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #2: How can we restructure the family law system to reflect how families actually function

(Submitted by Gillian Schaps ’18)

Lawyers like rules—and we craft the law to function as a set of clear-cut, predictable rules. But if there is one thing that breaks this mold, it’s family.

Families come in all shapes and sizes, and thus far the law has been unable to keep up. Today outdated laws rip families apart when they don’t meet the two (cisgender, heterosexual) parent model.

We need to build flexibility and creativity into the laws that define and govern family life, rethinking parental rights and zero-sum frameworks. It’s time family law moves beyond white, normative views of the nuclear family to support the wide variety of loving, stable environments that enable people to grow and thrive.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #2: Lam Nguyen Ho ’08 is setting a standard for community activism lawyering in Chicago.

(Submitted by Tess Heligren ’18)

After graduating from HLS in 2008, Ho moved to Chicago where he set up free community-based legal clinics. In 2014, with support from HLS’s Public Service Venture Fund, Ho founded the Community Activism Law Alliance (CALA).Under Ho’s leadership, CALA sets an innovative example of community activism lawyering by working with local activists to help advance social justice for undocumented immigrants, sex workers, day laborers, and other underserved populations.

Under Ho’s leadership, CALA sets an innovative example of community activism lawyering by working with local activists to help advance social justice for undocumented immigrants, sex workers, day laborers, and other underserved populations.

“My background (immigrant, poverty, domestic violence, queerness) exposed me to the dehumanizing consequences when our justice system fails. It instilled a sense of responsibility to help others struggle against similar, and harder, challenges.”

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Legal Challenge #1: How can we promote economic development without displacement?

(Submitted by Dan Traficonte ’17)

Across the US and the rest of the world, economic growth demands space for new infrastructure, housing, and businesses. But new development often comes at the cost of displacing people—sometimes even entire communities.

Development without displacement is possible. e terms of economic development projects, most of them hashed out in contracts and in local land-use provisions, can be structured to minimize the displacement of communities and maximize the locally shared benefits of each new project.

Lawyers should work to create development for people, not just profit.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Vocational Goal #1: Apply advances in information technology and data science to make healthcare more efficient

(Submitted by Hugh McSwain ’18)

Modern healthcare in the US intersects medicine, business and law. I came to HLS to take advantage of the tremendous opportunities available for students who want to pursue entrepreneurship and non-traditional legal careers.

My experiences at HLS—including the Health Law and Policy Clinic, the Entrepreneurship Project, and course work—have expanded my knowledge base and skillset by allowing me to participate in advising local start ups, to advocate for changes within the healthcare system, and to learn from venture capital attorneys and investors.

I am proud to say I am an HLS student, and I fully believe HLS provides me with skills and resources to succeed in health IT/digital health entrepreneurship.

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.

by The HLS 300

Inspiring Career #1: Cornelius Hedges became the intellectual father of Yellowstone National Park

(submitted by Shaun Goho, Clinical Instructor, Environmental Law and Policy Clinic)

Hedges, a 1856 graduate of HLS, moved to the then-territory of Montana in 1864, where he would live until his death more than 40 years later. There, he held a variety of public offices, including U.S. District Attorney for Montana Territory; territorial superintendent of public schools; member of the 1884 Constitutional Convention; and State Senator from 1889-1893.

In 1870, Hedges was part of the Washburn Expedition that explored the Yellowstone region. Near the end of the journey, the participants sat around the campfire and discussed Yellowstone’s future. Many of them said that they planned to file land claims, intending to profit from the anticipated influx of tourists eager to see the region’s natural wonders. Hedges, however, suggested that Yellowstone “ought to be set apart as a great National Park.” In the following years, he actively campaigned for the creation of the park. In 1872, Congress enacted and President Grant signed into law the statute establishing Yellowstone National Park—the first of its kind in the world.

“Thoughtful, kind, charitable, ever ready to heed the call of the unfortunate, without selfishness or guile, no better man has ever lived in Montana, nor to any is there a higher mead of praise for what he did and gave to Montana.”

How will we contribute to the advancement of justice and the well-being of society? Submit to The HLS 300 here.