Archive for Lifestyles of the Broke and Infamous
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1L Job Search
Hi, again! I thought that I’d post in a bit more detail how the 1L job search works here at HLS. In November, you can select an advisor in both OPIA, the office that covers public interest advising, and OCS, the office that covers private sector employment and clerkships. This advisor is your go-to person [...]
March 11, 2011
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100 days to go!
No, I haven’t been keeping count myself. Last week, the 3L class marshals hosted the “100 days to go lunch” for all graduating students. The purpose of the lunch was to announce our class speaker and give us information on regalia, class rings, etc. But really what it did was tell us all that our [...]
February 21, 2011
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Five HLS Students Awarded Prestigious Skadden Fellowships for Public Service Work
Four Harvard Law School students and one recent graduate have been chosen to receive Skadden Fellowships to support their work in public service. This prestigious fellowship was awarded to 29 people this year. The Harvard Law School recipients are Elizabeth Benton ’11, Stephen Cha-Kim ’11, Dustin Saldarriaga ’11, Emily Werth ’11 and Michael Zabelin ’10. [...]
December 15, 2010
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It’s mid-November already?!
I wanted to let all of the applicants know that it is November 13 and 60 degrees here in Cambridge. Beautiful, sunny skies. And this is how it has been every single day this month. OK, that’s not true, but it is a beautiful day in what has been a bit of a chilly and [...]
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La Alianza picked a peck of… apples?
A couple weeks ago, I went apple picking for the very first time. The purpose of the trip was to bond with other members of La Alianza, the Latino student group on campus. I have to say the trip was more of a success than I expected. As part of our group package we were [...]
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Research Away
Most of my time spent in law-related activities outside the classroom at HLS revolves around my research assistant (RA) work for two professors. I am also on a journal and attend as many Women’s Law Association events as I can, but the journal commitment for 1Ls is not terribly time consuming, so I dedicate a [...]
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A Day in the Life
As I went through the law school decision-making process last year, I was certainly not shy about asking many questions about what differentiates school X from school Y, if there were differences in career prospects depending on what school you attended, quality of life, make-up of the student body, etc. However, I realized once I [...]
October 18, 2010
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The Return of Fall Break
After I graduated from undergrad, I assumed I would never have a fall break again. The beautiful three-day weekend that used to give us the perfect chance to go apple-picking couldn’t possibly exist in law school, too. I had forgotten, however, about a little guy named Christopher Columbus (and I don’t mean Christopher Columbus Langdell, [...]
October 13, 2010
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Meet our 1L Class…
I wanted to take a minute to introduce you to our newest students here at HLS, the class of 2013. This year’s entering class is unique in several ways. To start, they are one of the most experienced groups in school history with over half 2 or more years out of college and nearly ¾ [...]
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Entrepreneurial HLS Alum Wins MacArthur “Genius Grant”
Rebecca Onie, HLS ’03, embodies the entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary spirit the new Public Service Venture Fund (see previous post) is hoping to support and foster in our students. Rebecca started with a seemingly simple concept – that health outcomes could be bolstered by improving access to basic resources such as food and housing – and [...]
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Food, glorious food
In Josh’s introduction to the blog, he hoped that some of us would share our thoughts on living on a budget. I’d like to focus on the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, in particular, food. (For reference, take a look at how Wiki depicts it. But do not ever cite to Wikipedia while in [...]
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One Heck of a Walk…
Every morning, I leave my off-campus apartment between Harvard and Central Squares and embark on my 15-minute journey to the law school. As I speed-walk toward a class in contracts or torts, weaving in and out of photo-snapping tourists (generally to the tune of a Kanye song), I have a moment to reflect on the [...]
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The Truth about Dorm Living
Walter Gropius: German architect, Founder of the Bauhaus movement, designer of Harvard Law School dormitory complex named in his honor, the butt of many a pun involving the first syllable of his last name…the list goes on and on. Three weeks into living in the Gropius dorms, I’m starting to understand why these dorms are [...]
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One month into 1L year…
One month into 1L year in Section One. One incredibly Socratic professor with a penchant for suspenders. One section leader and professor who occasionally goes by Papa Bear. One professor who daily leaps and bounds about the classroom. One Legal Research and Writing Climenko Fellow with a knack for 80s humor. And one professor who [...]
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A Big New Home
The law school can seem like a really big place, especially at first glance. While many law schools are contained within a single building, HLS’s sprawling campus (relatively speaking) casts a simultaneously grand and perhaps intimidating shadow over a 1L like me. And, already, I’ve experienced both the grandeur and the intimidation. During the first [...]
September 28, 2010
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Are you a public service entrepreneur?
HLS’s innovative new program, the Public Service Venture Fund (PSVF), has launched a new website you should check out! The Fund is an innovative approach to offering flexible support for students interested in public service careers. The first program of its kind at a law school, PSVF will offer “seed money” for startup nonprofit ventures [...]
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So They’ve Graduated…Now What?
The HLS Class of 2010 graduated on May 27, but what are the newly minted alums doing now? Many of them are still hanging around Cambridge taking bar review courses. (In fact, we can hear the class in the Ames Courtroom as we type!) But take a look at what some other HLS 2010 alums [...]
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Summertime: Lea Downey
I’m writing this from a cruising altitude on my flight from Chicago to Austin, Texas. After three final exams, a paper that never seemed to end, and some serious hassles getting out of Boston—which I guess are inevitable with the amount of travel going to Harvard can involve, but that hardly makes it fun to [...]
May 26, 2010
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Student Profile: Alexis Lien
I’d like to introduce you to my good friend, Alexis Lien. Alexis is a 3L who grew up in Oregon. When you meet Alexis, the first thing you notice is her smile and her warmth. I decided to interview her because I think she encapsulates the qualities of so many HLS students: friendly, energetic, bright, [...]
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Grapevine gossip confirmed!
My post a couple days ago on Law School Prom conveyed the unconfirmed rumor that Russell Brand and Jonah Hill showed up at our party, and lo and behold, after my submission went up on the website I was sent photographic proof! Russell Brand at the Liberty Hotel with HLSers. This is amazing! Yes, amazing [...]
April 30, 2010
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Word Up!
Last month at the public interest auction a group of people in my section won a night of karaoke with our civil procedure professor, our legal writing professor, and our legal writing professor’s husband (who happens to be an actor on the Wire). Well last week it was time to pay the piper. The group [...]
April 30, 2010
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Law School Prom
For those of you nostalgic for the good old days of high school dances, don’t worry! They come around again in law school! In case it’s not enough of a throw-back for you that you’ll get a locker here, we also have law school prom. As with most things, we call it something different. It’s [...]
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Clinical Week: Elaine Lin
Guest blogger Elaine Lin is currently a 3L at HLS. Clinicals. And the random opportunities that come with that. My time at the law school generally. Where does one start? I came to law school with an eye for family law because I had been working with a woman and children’s homeless shelter in California. [...]
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Public Interest Week: Mike Patrone
This past summer, I had the fantastic opportunity to spend ten weeks working for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Florida. I had tremendous opportunities to gain hands-on experience and take on substantial responsibility even with only one year of law school experience. Further, fighting white collar crime in my hometown community, recently dubbed the nation’s [...]
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Public Interest Week: Neha Sheth
Guest blogger Neha Sheth is currently a 3L at HLS. You can have HLS support and fund four public interest international trips on four continents in three years. Hmm, maybe I should have done more than four….But seriously, the international opportunities—and the opportunities to do international work domestically—are incredible; my own travel experiences are just [...]
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Public Interest Week: Lea Downey
I’ve already mentioned some fantastic public interest opportunities at HLS here and here, so today I’m touching on more of a niche issue: the advantage Harvard gives to students seeking summer work in what some call “secondary markets.” For those of us who see the value of working in New York, DC, or the Hague, [...]
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Public Interest Week: Anit Jindal
Seeing how this week’s theme is public interest, I thought it made sense for me to talk about my public interest summer job search. I feel like a lot of people come into law school with strong leanings towards either public or private interest. I was not one of those people. I honestly am not [...]
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Public Interest Week: Toby Merrill
Guest blogger Toby Merrill is currently a 2L at HLS. One of the things that I knew when I was choosing a law school was that I wanted to do public interest work, both at law school and, more importantly, after law school. Two years later, one thing I still remember from my admitted students [...]
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Public Interest Week: Leocadie Welling
Guest blogger Leocadie Welling is currently a 2L at HLS. During my nearly two years at HLS, I have been involved in public interest through a few different avenues. One of my favorite experiences in public service, and in law school overall, was my 1L summer job with the City of New York. I worked [...]
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Public Interest Week: Erin Walczewski
Last week I wrote about my summer working in the private sector, so this week it’s time to give my public service summer a turn. I was beckoned to the Windy City by the Chicago Mayor’s Fellowship during the summer between my 1L and 2L years, and it was among the most amazing things I’ve [...]
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Private Sector/OCS Week: Erin Walczewski
In honor of this week’s private sector theme, I wanted to shed some light on what happens when private law firms come here to HLS to recruit. Whether you hear people calling it OCI or EIP (On-Campus Interviewing or Early Interviewing Program), it’s the same thing — hundreds of firms and companies descend on Cambridge [...]
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Private Sector/OCS Week: Elizabeth Zamora
As an incoming 1L, I knew nothing about the private sector. Like many 1Ls, I had no idea what kind of practice I wanted to go into or how to go about it. Luckily, the Office of Career Services has a lot of resources available. Toward the end of my first semester at HLS I [...]
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Private Sector/OCS Week: Emily Murphy
One thing that many private sector summer employees—including myself—like to brag about is the free, delicious food. Law firms are famous for treating law students to lavish meals during their summer employment. In my eleven-week summer, I went out for a fancy lunch with attorneys about twice a week. These two-hour, steak-filled lunches may seem [...]
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Private Sector/OCS Week: Mike Patrone
Before telling you why I chose HLS, I’d like to share a brief story about a childhood mentor and role model. Harvey Schein graduated from Harvard Law School and went to work for a large, prestigious law firm. Craving new excitement, and armed with his HLS degree, Harvey transitioned into business and joined CBS. He [...]
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Turkey Trek, Part 2 of 2
I said I would have more to write about my Harvard-sponsored spring break trip to Turkey, and indeed I do. In the interest of sounding smart and well-cultured I should probably be devoting this blog real estate to the substantive things I learned, but I am a human interest person at heart and that’s where [...]
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International Legal Studies Week: Aminu Gamawa LLM ’10
Aminu Gamawa is currently an LL.M. student at HLS. Life Before HLS Before coming to Harvard, I was actively involved in public interest lawyering and development work in Nigeria. My major areas of interest are human rights, access to justice, and dispute resolution. Because of my passion for social change and access to justice, I [...]
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International Legal Studies Week: The Harvard Law & International Development Society
Guest blogger Anne Healey is currently a 2L and Vice-President of Collaborations of the Harvard Law & International Development Society. You can also read about Anne’s personal experience here. Access to justice for Burmese refugees in Thailand. Criminal justice reform in post-conflict Liberia. Private sector development in Tanzania. These are just some of the real-world [...]
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International Legal Studies Week: Kate Van Akin JD ’11
Guest blogger Kate Van Akin is currently a 2L at HLS. I can’t seem to stay in the country for longer than six months at a time. Studying abroad was a huge part of my college experience, and when I graduated, I went back overseas to work as a paralegal in Dubai for three years [...]
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Turkey Trek, 1 of 2
Greetings from Istanbul! It’s spring break, and I’m on a ten day Turkey Trek with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. It’s a student-led voyage that takes students to a particular locale, usually the home country of the trip’s organizers, and then combines the must-see tourist destinations with meetings and info sessions with really high [...]
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Decision Time! How Allison Decided…
One of my favorite things about being a law student is getting the opportunity to live as a resident tutor in one of the Harvard undergrad dorms, advising and mentoring students in Winthrop House along with a team of other graduate students from around the university. Inevitably, the crop of seniors headed to law school [...]
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Moral Kombat and Ocean’s Replevin
I have been to two law schools’ parody shows (ours and BU’s, which my friend Karen was in) in the past two weeks. It seems the recipe for this sort of thing is standard, although there may be different flavors at different schools. Make fun of law school students. Make fun of law professors. Include [...]
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Ocean’s Replevin
Every year a group of students at the law school put together a musical parody. They poke fun at professors, politics and legal concepts in general. The show is pretty hilarious… if you are a law student. This year they even put together a non-law-students’ guide to the references in the show. I’m embarrassed to [...]
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Parody
Thinking about first term civil procedure cases? What about if I add lights, choreography, and one-liners? In a continuing tradition, the Harvard Law School Drama Society showcased its annual “Parody” last week, poking fun at life at Harvard Law through an elaborate musical. The 2010 theme, “Ocean’s Replevin,” revolved around a heist planned in response [...]
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Alum Profile: Jacob Howard ’09
One of Harvard Law School’s Class of 2009 alums, Jacob Howard, has committed himself to legal service in the American South. This may seem unique for someone who grew up in Minnesota and Michigan. But his commitment to the South couldn’t be more sincere. And it stems from his dedication to prisoners and criminal defendants [...]
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Lunching with Professors
It is pretty common practice for my professors to invite their students to lunch. In fact earlier this week I was thinking about it and I realized that of the eight professors I have had across both semesters, I have had lunch with six of them. Faculty lunches are a good opportunity to unwind with [...]
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Dinner Party Part Deux (and Trois)
If you make it to your 3L year and have never been to a professor’s house, you have only yourself to blame. Simple oblivion cannot be the reason you missed the boat on this one—there are just too many opportunities. You must have actively chosen not to get on the boat multiple times. If you [...]
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No One Leaves
Since October, a group of my 1L classmates along with 2L and 3Ls have been knocking on doors to talk to people facing foreclosure around Boston about how to stay in their homes. In Massachusetts last year, 27,928 foreclosure proceedings were initiated according to the Boston Globe. With an estimated one in seven home loans [...]
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Sparkly Ladies’ Night
A few nights ago I went to Sparkly Ladies’ Night. Most people thought I was kidding when I said I was going to a party named that, but I’m not joking, that’s really what it was called. My 1L section was quite sociable, and the first year here are HLS we started having girls’ nights [...]
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Public Policy and Pizza
Last week, our chapter of the American Constitution Society hosted an event they called, “Citizens United: What Just Happened?” The student body’s interest in the recent controversial Supreme Court case was clearly extreme, because I showed up to find easily 150 fellow students spilling into the aisles and perimeters of the mid-sized John Chipman Gray [...]
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Life as an Attorney General
In the latest of a string of lunch talks, the Office of Public Interest Advising, affectionately dubbed OPIA, hosted Director of the National State Attorney General Program at Columbia Law School and former Attorney General of Maine James Tierney. After a room full of voracious law students devoured the pizza offered (ah, the pleasures of [...]