Many Choices, One Community

Harvard Law School combines the remarkable scope of a world-class research institution with the intimacy and collegiality of the first-year section experience and hundreds of small seminars, reading groups, and independent writing and research opportunities. Harvard’s size is a great source of strength. It permits us to have a truly diverse student body drawn from across the nation and around the world. It also gives us a global alumni network, an unmatched course catalogue and library collection, and an active faculty engaged in teaching and research in dozens of different disciplines.

From the very first day, your Harvard experience will be much more about your small group than about the big lecture halls of some undergraduate schools. Orientation will introduce you to your 1L sections with fewer than 80 students. Many faculty section leaders have social events for their sections before the coursework even begins. You’ll then join your 39-person Legal Research and Writing section, where one of our Climenko Fellows will provide you with the practical lawyering tools you need for your summer employment and beyond.

Vibrant and Enriching Intellectual Life

In choosing courses and academic experiences, Harvard students have the flexibility to pursue a broad and diverse curriculum or to pursue a specialized program in one area of law, like human rights or intellectual property or business law or almost anything else. Our clinical programs in particular bring Harvard Law School students into the Boston/Cambridge community.

Student and Faculty, Engaged in the World

Harvard Law School students are not satisfied sitting in their dorm rooms and highlighting casebooks. They are looking to transform the world, one client—or one country—at a time. From the World Court to municipal court, in corporate boardrooms and developing nations, HLS students connect cutting-edge classroom theory to real-world, real-time legal practice and policy development. HLS students are people who want to make an impact. They are changing the face of legal scholarship, altering the course of political events, and improving the lives of individual clients in clinical settings.

Public Service at the Heart of the Experience

Our pro-bono program ensures that students graduate with a minimum of 50 hours of uncompensated public service work under their belts. Most HLS students do quite a bit more than that. In fact, the average student graduating last year performed more than 500 hours of public service while at Harvard.

Training the Next Generation

From law professors, to public servants, to business and community leaders, Harvard Law School is training the leaders of tomorrow.

Making Your Own Harvard Law School

The bottom line is that Harvard Law School is what you make of it. You get to choose. Your three years at Harvard will not be like anyone else’s three years at Harvard. Wade in and choose your niche or just start connecting and let the ideas – and opportunities – come to you.”