A: There were two primary reasons that I decided to head to law school after working in government and politics for nearly five years.  First, while working for the Missouri Governor, I realized that my liberal arts education had taught me to read and write, but had not equipped me for the type of rapid decision-making that a fast-paced political job requires. I worked for two Chiefs of Staff who were especially good at analyzing an issue and instantly developing a plan of attack.  I recognized that the lawyers I worked with were generally better at breaking down complex situations into their component parts and addressing each in an orderly and methodical way, and hoped that law school would help me develop that skill.  Second, in a business where job security is limited to the length of a term in office, I saw first-hand the value of having a law degree after the Governor lost his re-election bid.  The members of his administration with a law degree had a much easier time finding new jobs than those who were not lawyers.  I calculated that three years of law school would provide a type of safety net that will likely be useful at some point in the future.

Q: What attracted you to HLS?

A:  The other students.  When I finished my 1L year at Northwestern and left to spend the summer in the US Attorney’s Office in Boston, I had every intention of returning in the fall. However, while I was at the USAO in Boston, I became friends with a great group of HLS students who were also interning there, and when my 1L grades came back better than I expected, they convinced me to throw in a transfer application.  Based almost entirely on their representations that HLS is a great place to be, I decided to transfer when I was accepted.  They weren’t wrong, and today, several people from that group are among my best friends.

Q: How was the assimilation process for transfers at HLS?  What activities did you participate in?

A:  It was a little easier for me than most transfer students, because I had a group of friends from the summer who felt somewhat responsible for taking care of me (since they had convinced me to apply to transfer and to make the move when I was accepted). However, I quickly found an even larger group of friends.  A key benefit of the large student body at HLS is that you can pretty easily find a group of people who are interested in similar issues and activities - be it exploring the bars of Cambridge or helping elect a candidate to office. HLS is such a large place that you don’t need to participate in activities just because everyone says you should. There are plenty of clubs, organizations, and opportunities to explore the things you are actually interested in, which is a huge advantage over most other law schools.

Q: You are now working for the Congressional Oversight Panel, which is Chaired by HLS Professor Elizabeth Warren.  How did that happen?

A:  I am in my current position as a Senior Advisor for the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) because I went to HLS.  I did not take a class with Professor Warren, and did not know her when I was there.  However, a classmate of mine is now a fellow at HLS, and when he heard that she was looking to hire staff at the COP, he sent my resume to her (with what I assume was a strong recommendation).  A few interviews later, I was hired.  I should mention that whenever Professor Warren introduces me, she always makes a point of noting that I was not courageous enough to take her class - a characterization that I largely do not dispute.

Q: Any other thoughts would you have for someone who is considering applying to transfer to HLS?

A:  If you’re like I was in law school, and you’re not sure you want to be lawyer, HLS is a great place for three reasons.  First, because it is so large, you will find a group of people who are also skeptical about the traditional law student path, who will support and encourage your interest in exploring other potential opportunities.  Second, the culture at HLS highly values people who are willing to buck the pressure to head for a law firm and instead pursue a career in government or public interest.  Third, the HLS degree will open doors in unexpected places in a way that no other degree can.  It’s no guarantee, but you will meet a large number of extremely smart, motivated people who will almost certainly be helpful in a variety of unforeseen ways over the course of your career.  It’s an opportunity that’s worth the effort of a transfer application.

A: This summer, I will be working with the International Rescue Committee with the protection program in one of its field offices in Northern Uganda. Northern Uganda has been plagued by conflict for over 20 years, leading to the displacement of much of the population. Although the situation has stabilized and many are returning to their home communities, the conflict severely diminished access to justice and rule of law. As individuals leave displaced persons camps, it is important that they return to secure and well-governed communities where rule of law prevails. To this end, IRC is seeking to strengthen the legal component of its protection programming and to transition its activities towards strengthening access to justice and rule of law. Given that the organization’s rule of law programming in this area is in the early stages, I will be helping to further develop the organization’s access to justice programming ideas, such as using community-based paralegals and legal assistance centers to supplement the formal justice system, as well as to explore ways to integrate traditional justice mechanisms and mechanisms appropriate for dealing with juvenile offenders into the organization’s programming. This work will involve field research, desk research, and liaising with community, NGO, and government stakeholders.

Q: How did you come to select your internship and why?

A: I selected this internship for several reasons. First, I worked in Africa for several years prior to coming to law school but never in a conflict or post-conflict setting. I knew I wanted to use this summer to gain field experience in such a setting and was looking at internships almost exclusively in post-conflict settings in Africa. Second, I wanted to work on community-level rule of law and access to justice programming. IRC had sought out an HLS intern through the Chayes program to work on precisely these issues. Because the Kitgum program is in the early stages of developing its rule of law initiatives, it seemed like a great opportunity to play a significant role in program development on issues I was already very interested in. Finally, I know a number of people who have worked with the IRC and have had great experiences with the organization.

Q: Can you discuss what sorts of activities you are involved in here at HLS?

A:  During my first year at HLS, I was involved in two projects with Advocates for Human Rights and subcited and edited for the Human Rights Journal. Next year, I will be involved in a new HLS student group, the Law and International Development Society.

Q:  What are your preliminary thoughts on what you might want to do after graduation?

A: As I am doing a joint MPA/ID degree with the Kennedy School and still have 3 more years before graduating, I’m not sure precisely what I want to do. Immediately after graduation, I would like to work in the field again, perhaps with a local NGO in an advocacy role, and am particularly interested in children’s rights, access to justice, and justice sector reform.

Q: What is one thing about HLS that you think everyone should know?

A: Beyond the wealth of opportunities and support HLS offers for international human rights work, one of the main reasons I chose to attend HLS was because I could study human rights law within the broader context of Harvard University and its various schools and programs. Particularly given my interest in pursuing a joint policy degree focused on international development, there was no question that Harvard was the best fit for my overall interests. When deciding which school to attend, law school applicants – particularly those interested in less traditional areas of law, such as international law and human rights law, or those who do not intend to practice law formally – should consider what a university as a whole offers.

Matthew Perault: (10:44)

Q: What made you want to transfer to HLS and why?

A: I wanted to transfer because employment prospects as an HLS graduate are far superior to those available to graduates of my former school, especially on the West Coast, where I hope to end up. Also, HLS has an amazing faculty and clinical programs, which were important to me as I moved beyond my first year.

Q: How was the transition to HLS?

A: Almost effortless.  The faculty is first-rate and the students are of a caliber really unparalleled.

Q: What do you think of the school so far? Do you have a favorite element?

A: I’d say the faculty. The facilities and student body are excellent, but the faculty is what makes HLS unique.

Q: What advice do you have for those students currently at other schools
looking to transfer to HLS?

A: If you are willing to sacrifice the comfortable social relationships built during your first year, then transferring is a great option. You can experience a totally new academic and indeed geographic environment, and you can learn certain elements of the law among the most capable and enthusiastic of peers.

Voltaire Sterling: (14:36)

“I wanted to transfer law schools after my 1L year because I was really interested in studying international legal issues, and the school I was attending did not offer a very comprehensive international law program.’

“I set my sights on HLS because I knew that they had one of the top international law programs in the country. Of course, I was not deterred by HLS’s impressive reputation and incredible career opportunities.  The application process was fairly painless. I found it quite easy to compose a personal statement convincing the admissions committee of my desire to go to Harvard!’

“While HLS offers a challenging and rigorous academic schedule, I have not once regretted my decision to transfer here. My favorite thing about being a member of the HLS community is that I am constantly receiving invitations to lectures or panel discussions involving some of the most notable intellectuals of our time. I was very pleased to attend a lecture by Amartya Sen, whose works I had read in almost every undergraduate class, in my first month at Harvard. A few weeks later I was sitting in on a talk given by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Before attending HLS I could only dream of the opportunity to see these greats in the flesh.’

“My best advice to other students looking to transfer to HLS is to let your personality shine through your application.  While your 1L grades are definitely important, the personal statement should not be overlooked– it is a great place to standout.”

“Looking back over the last three years since my decision to transfer to HLS, and reflecting on the various wonderful personal, academic and professional experiences that HLS made available to me over these years, I cannot imagine having done things differently, and I highly recommend making the transfer to HLS to anyone considering doing so.’

“After growing up in central New Jersey and going to college in New York City, I felt a need to see a bit more of the world beyond the northeastern US, and ended up spending a year teaching English and studying Spanish in Madrid. In addition to developing my interest in foreign languages, I was captivated by the international atmosphere and world view that I was exposed to in Europe, and I decided that I wanted to do something with an international focus in my legal career.’

“After my first year of law school, I was still committed to doing something international, however I was still unsure of the specifics. My academic and professional interests had always been broad, and my college majors in Economics and Political Science, as well as several humanities courses that I took, had only widened my interests. This became a principal factor in my interest in transferring to HLS.’

“Because I was still figuring out what I wanted to do, I felt that HLS would offer me a wide variety of options, and also that the various departments and programs were among the best in each of their respective areas. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a richer array of options than those offered at HLS, with its long list of top professors in all fields of study, various clinical programs, and dynamic campus life revolving around the many student organizations and journals, run by intelligent and inspiring students, all of whom bring amazing experiences to share with one another.’

“With all of these options, HLS makes the task of exploring one’s interests easy and rewarding for anyone willing to commit the effort to their own personal and professional development. Personally, I am amazed and humbled by the various academic and professional opportunities that I was offered during my two years after transferring, from a three-week internship working with a judge in Peru (during HLS’ month-long Winter Term), to my experience working on two of the various specialty journals, to two different internships working in microfinance with organizations in the Boston/Cambridge area, to my 2L summer, which I split working at a New York City law firm and then at a New York City microfinance/urban development organization, to fascinating courses in diverse areas such as Human Rights, International Finance, and Law and Public Health, as well as a course on the world history of legal thought from 1850-2000, a seminar on the writings of Freud and Nietzsche, a reading group on the city of Mumbai, and language courses in French and Portuguese at Harvard undergrad. HLS’ training and reputation also helped me to get two papers that I wrote as part of my coursework accepted for publication in law journals. Currently, I am working at a Brazilian law firm in São Paulo, practicing international corporate law. Living and working in Brazil has been a fascinating experience thus far. Another advantage of HLS is that when you travel to other countries everyone knows Harvard, which is good from both a professional as well as a social standpoint, since HLS is a good conversation starter, which is nice even when the questions people ask you are about Legally Blonde.’

“Finally, and perhaps most importantly, in terms of the transition to HLS there was (and, I believe, continues to be) an excellent organizational effort among the 3L transfers to hold events and get-togethers so that the relatively large group of transfer students from both classes could all meet each other. The 3Ls were also readily available and extremely helpful in answering all of our questions about academic and student life, which further served to ease the transition process. I quickly acquired a group of friends among the transfer students during the transfer orientation, and eventually, with the help of classes, student groups, journals, etc, my close friends consisted of both transfers and non-transfers, and also included 1Ls, 3Ls, and members of the large LLM class, in addition to my fellow 2Ls. Indeed, the reason why much of this post is not specifically about my transfer experience is that, after a certain point in my experience, I stopped noticing the transfer/non-transfer distinction and just thought of myself as a normal HLS student.’

“In all, I can say that my transfer to HLS helped me tremendously in my personal and professional development. In my first year out of law school, it is difficult and a bit daunting to predict exactly what the future will hold in terms of my career, but I can be certain that my background at HLS, and the many different academic and professional experiences that I was able to take advantage of during my time there, will serve me well as my career path continues to develop.”

We have had a few questions from transfer applicants, so here are a few answers for the curious…

Q: Is transfer admission based more on personal factors (i.e., necessity to move to Boston) or on “merit”?

A: We will look very closely at your performance at your current law school, as well as at your undergraduate record, activities, etc.  But, if you have a particular need to be in Cambridge/Boston, that should be noted in your application.

Q: Does Harvard only have a handful of spots for transfer students?

A: In the past couple of years, because of opportunities at HLS to go off campus in the second and third year (e.g., to study abroad), we have felt there was more room for transfer students and thus have admitted more transfer students each year.

Q: Can transfer students write onto the Harvard Law Review?

A: Yes, but you have to act fast. If you want to be considered for membership, you must participate in the writing competition which will take place on May 16-23, 2009.  Remember too that there are 14 other journals and numerous student activities that transfer students can join.

Q: I feel pretty comfortable at my current law school. Should I consider transferring?

A: That’s really up to you.  Some students believe there are opportunities available to HLS students and graduates that are hard to pursue in other schools, but this may not be the case for you.

Q: I want to be a legal academic. Is it possible for a transfer student to work with faculty members at HLS and prepare for such a career?

A: Absolutely. In fact, an interest in legal academia is a common reason given by our transfer students for choosing to come to Harvard. We regularly produce the largest number of entry-level law teachers of any law school in the country. And faculty members are thrilled to work with highly talented transfer students.

Q: Would I be lost in the shuffle at Harvard without having had the first-year section experience?

A: There is no question that the 1L sections provide students at HLS with a good community from which to branch out, but there are a ton of opportunities to find small communities of interest here. Are you interested in human rights? Join the Human Rights Advocates and go to work. Are you interested in environmental law? The Environmental Law Society is a terrific group of students to get to know. You can find your niche, even without that first year under your belt.

Q: OK — so by when do I need to submit an application?

A: July 1.

More information can be found at the following link:

http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/jd/apply/transfer.html ]]> http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/admissions/2009/05/06/admissions-transfer-qa/feed/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/admissions/2009/05/04/la-alianza-conference-on-law-and-policy/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/admissions/2009/05/04/la-alianza-conference-on-law-and-policy/#comments Mon, 04 May 2009 09:33:24 -0400 admissions http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/admissions/?p=834 1L and Chair of La Alianza’s Conference on Law and Policy, Reuben Rodriguez, recently filled us in on this annual event.

Q: What is La Alianza and in particular what is the Law and Policy Conference all about?

A: La Alianza is the organization for Hispanic and Latino students here at Harvard Law School.  Our mission is to make HLS the nation’s premier center for Latino legal education by fostering a sense of community among Latino students and raising awareness of Latino legal issues.

One of the major events every year is the Latino Law and Policy Conference where we bring leaders from the world of law, business, and politics to talk about pressing issues of interest to the Latino community.  This year’s theme was “Building Bridges: Connecting the U.S. and Latin America.”  Our keynote speaker was Jose Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the Organization of American States, and we had panels on the Obama Administration’s Latin America Policy, Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime, Domestic Policy Affecting Latinos, the Summit of the Americas, and the Obama Campaign’s Latino Vote Efforts.  Finally, we topped the whole thing off with a Salsa party with a live band on Saturday night.  Planned in conjunction with the Latino Caucus at the Harvard Kennedy School, the conference is currently in its twelfth year.

Q: What has gone into preparing for this conference and what have you gotten out of the experience as co-chair?

A: We started planning the conference back in October.  Going into it, I’d never planned anything larger than dinner reservations, so I was somewhat unprepared for the experience.  I mostly learned what to do next along the way.  Starting in November I met weekly with representatives from the Kennedy School to discuss conference themes, panels, guests, promotion, and logistics.  Apart from larger thematic challenges, I was responsible for the logistical intricacies involved in any conference such as booking hotel rooms, updating the conference website, ordering tote bags, and searching for speakers.  While stressful at times, the experience taught me a lot about all the little details that go into planning an event and I made some good friends at the Kennedy School in the process.  It’s not every day you get to hang out with a major world figure  like Secretary Insulza, although perhaps it happens more frequently here at Harvard than other places.

Q: What do you think are some pressing issues facing Latinos in the legal world right now?  What is the organization doing to address them?

A: The past few decades have seen a great influx of Latinos into positions throughout the legal world, from partners at law firms to general counsels at government agencies; however, it remains a pressing issue to make sure that Latinos are continually represented at all levels of the legal world and in rates proportional to the number of Latinos in the community.  La Alianza is working to provide a community at Harvard Law School that will enable students not just to have a positive experience at HLS, but to excel academicaly, socially, and professionally.  Even before they arrive on campus, La Alianza sends incoming Latino students helpful literature like Getting to Maybe.  Once the students arrive, La Alianza is a connection to successful alumni mentors across the country and the world.  We hope these and other programs will encourage the further growth and success of the Latino legal community.

Q: Why should admitted and prospective students seeking a strong Latino community choose Harvard?

A: Harvard Law School and the Cambridge and greater Boston community is rich with culture.  The Latinos at HLS have worked diligently to create and foster strong relationships both within the Law School and the greater community.  With a dedicated student community and Latino alumni association, the Latino community at HLS is filled with opportunity to express oneself and to get involved in a variety of facets at the Law School.  From organizing social events like our much beloved Salsa Party, to working on more substantive projects like the annual Latino Law and Public Policy Conference and the new Latino Symposium Speaker Series, the possibilities for a Latino student to engage his or her new peers and the broader Latino community are many.

As for me, the thing that jumped out at me about Harvard was the sense of dynamism around here.  There’s just this sense of excitement that everyone seems to share, whether it’s about their clinic, their journal, their reading group, or a group like Alianza.  I saw it when I went to the Admitted Applicant Program and I’ve seen it throughout this year.  Being in a place where so many people are excited about what they, you can’t help but want to be a part of it.

Give us a sense of what you’ve been doing since you graduated from HLS.

Since I graduated, I’ve been immersed in elections and voting rights work, and very happily so. Immediately after a clerkship, I drove to Little Rock to volunteer on General Wes Clark’s presidential campaign, with a utility infielder’s role cycling through a fair number of responsibilities in five very short months. I then went to work in Washington as the in-house counsel for America Coming Together, which would become the country’s largest independent voter registration and mobilization operation. When the 2004 campaign cycle was over, I moved up to New York, to woo the woman I’d started dating when we were both 1Ls, with lockers in the basement of Pound Hall; we’ve been married for the last two years, and I still feel unfathomably lucky for every one of those days.

In New York, I joined the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law: part think-tank, part advocacy shop, and part nonprofit law firm. I’ve been there ever since, working on voting rights and election administration and redistricting, with a brief leave this past fall to help run the national voter protection program of the Obama campaign. The Brennan Center gives me the chance to conduct original research, to publish for both scholarly and public audiences, to advocate for voting rights policies, to counsel federal and state administrators and legislators, and then to litigate, when all else fails to deliver the change the voters deserve.

What classes or activities exist at HLS for those students interested in public policy? Did you partake in any of them? If so, how do you think they’ve shaped the way you decided to approach your career?

There are countless classes and activities at HLS for anyone interested in public policy, along the spread of the ideological spectrum, and on any substantive topic you might imagine. Actually, one of the biggest surprises for me in the HLS curriculum was the degree to which most of the classes involved public policy to some degree, from first-year torts to the most specialized third-year electives. Clinical courses even more so; there is no better way to get a handle on policy problems than to get some hands-on experience in the area. And now as a practitioner, I’ve got an even greater appreciation for the way in which each and every class informs policy. In public interest litigation, for example, I’m constantly wishing that I’d paid more attention in civil procedure.

As for activities, one of the virtues of an institution the size of HLS is that there are so many active students with varied interests, any three of whom can and will form a club of some kind. So there are avowedly partisan groups, and groups that focus on a public policy subject, and then there are lectures and speakers year-round, not just at HLS but throughout the entire university campus. I was involved in some of these activities — I was active in the Student Public Interest Network, and in the Civil Rights Project, and on the founding board of Harvard’s American Constitution Society chapter, all of which are connected to the public policy world in various ways. There were dozens of other options that friends chose instead. And at least for me, one of the principal benefits of all of these activities was the chance to get to know the other students involved — I spent far more time just talking or hanging out with friends, many of whom now have fascinating policy-related careers, than I did in policy-related activity time.

Having been out in the world of politics and public policy now for a few years, what would you tell someone interested in following a similar path?

Dive in. The single best way to get involved in politics is to volunteer on a campaign; the single best way to get involved in influencing public policy is to find a subject-matter that interests you, find someone who’s working in the area, and offer to help. Your ability and your hard work will be recognized and rewarded  even if it won’t always be recognized immediately. There are many different paths to make a career in public policy possible. Some start off looking for a job in their chosen subject, while others make their policy interest their avocation; some aim for public office, and others prefer to work outside of the government. There is no “best” answer, and the only common thread is that the people who have made the most successful lives in the public policy world have spent an enormous amount of time and energy working on the subjects that interest them most.

Any advice for the incoming class?

Have fun. You’ll have plenty of friends at HLS; spend time with them, and they will be some of your best friends for years afterward. Talk to your professors outside of class, not because it’s the right thing to do, but because they are extraordinary people. Look around enough to find something that really fires you up, something you can get truly passionate about, and stick with it for a while. Make sure that the path you happen to be on at the moment is the path you actually want to be on, and not just the path of least resistance and switch course if you have to. Wander out to the Common on the first night it really snows. Have fun.