Category Archives: Clinical Voices

Two Trials and a Graduation

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By Chas Hamilton (JD ’13)

Chas Hamilton (JD ’13)

During a two-week period that spanned from late May to early June, I tried two cases before twelve-member juries in the Boston Housing Court. In between those two seminal events I was able to squeeze in one more: graduation on May 30 from law school.

I want to share these jury trial experiences in order to provide an account of the importance of clinical education to the overall law school experience. As a student-attorney in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB), I have had the privilege of serving socio-economically disadvantaged individuals and families in communities across Boston in a multitude of ways ranging from canvassing foreclosed properties and informing residents of their legal rights, to representing tenants in court when their landlords have attempted to evict them. As with many other forms of litigation, the vast majority of eviction cases in Boston Housing Court do not go to trial. The much more frequent occurrence is for the case to settle at some point between the landlord’s commencement of the eviction and the court scheduling the case for trial. In certain instances settlement in this window of time will be impossible, and the case will be scheduled and prepared for a trial.

The two jury trials were scheduled two weeks apart, the first on May 20-21 (the May Trial), and the second on June 3-5 (the June Trial). As a general legal services provider in the greater Boston-area, the members of HLAB accept cases through a multi-stage intake process in which the facts and circumstances of potential clients and their cases are considered. Both cases were accepted for representation through this intake process.

The May Trial involved a bedbug infestation in our client’s (Client A) apartment that she became aware of in the 2012 summer. The landlord, a property management corporation, brought an eviction action against Client A after she elected to withhold her monthly rent in light of the infestation, which at that point had lasted two months. By the date of trial Client A no longer wanted to live in her apartment—the infestation had had such a detrimental psychological impact on her that she could barely bring herself to sleep in the apartment that for years she had called home. Because Client A was not interested in returning to the apartment, the remaining question was whether she would have to repay her months of withheld rent—which by the time of trial had grown to 10 months—or whether the landlord would be required to compensate her for its failure to timely address the bedbug infestation. After a day and a half of trial we were able to reach a settlement awarding Client A nearly $5,000.

The June Trial also concerned the conditions in our client’s (Client B) apartment, though the circumstances were a bit different. We began representing Client B in late 2010 when her landlord began the eviction process. Early on in the relationship it became clear that Client B suffered as a result of serious bad conditions in her apartment including rodent infestation, poor ventilation, the occasional absence of water, and a persistent gas leak. However, before the case was completed, Client B moved out of the apartment. Even though the question of who deserved possession of the apartment had become moot as a result of Client B’s move, there still remained a question of whether her landlord owed Client B any money damages for the significant conditions of disrepair in her home during the course of her 14-year tenancy. The trial was scheduled for June 3 and 4, but the proceeding required a third day in order to accommodate the testimony of all the witnesses, including an inspector from Boston’s Inspectional Services Department, as well as a private housing inspector, each of whom had an opportunity to inspect our client’s home. After three days of trial the 12-member jury returned a judgment in favor of our client for almost $9,000, nearly ten times what she currently pays in monthly rent.

While each of these trials was exciting and represented a milestone in my nascent legal career, it was far from my intention to try two cases in such a short time period, not to mention with graduation in the middle. Over the past two years I have learned that this is the nature of litigation—your case that has been ambling through the court’s scheduling calendar is suddenly marked up for the first available date, which might only be weeks away. I was reminded of this possibility when on May 2 I entered Boston Housing Court prepared to argue a relatively simple opposition motion and the judge decided, based on an unexpected vacancy in the court’s calendar, that the case would be scheduled for a two-day jury trial on May 20-21. At the time, I was prepared for the June jury trial, which had been scheduled almost two months prior. In an instant I was faced with the reality that the month of May had become a lot busier.

There was a lot of preparation required for both cases. In each case I was joined by tremendously talented and hardworking co-counsel and supervised by phenomenal clinical instructors. In the May Trial, I was joined by Dave Barber, a fellow 3L and HLAB student-attorney in the Housing Practice, and clinical instructor Liz Nessen, with whom I had worked extensively over the past two years. In the June Trial, I worked with Matt Nickell, a 2L and also an HLAB student-attorney in the Housing Practice, along with clinical instructor Lee Goldstein. In addition to these individuals there were numerous others who helped in a myriad of ways, from conducting additional research, to preparing exhibits for trial, to providing feedback on opening and closing remarks. There were many long days and late nights that were consumed by case strategy, witness preparation, and the more mundane, but very necessary organization of trial folders containing all documents we believed would be relevant at trial.

While the trials themselves were exciting, I found the preparation beforehand more thought provoking. For example, “time” was an important factor in both cases. For the May Trial, the major question was the amount of time that the bedbug infestation was allowed to exist in our client’s apartment. For the June Trial, the major questions were the amount of time that bad conditions existed in our client’s apartment, as well as when the landlord became aware of these bad conditions. In each of these cases it was important for me to find a way to illustrate the determinative chronology first for my own understanding of the case, but later to determine the most effective way of communicating it to the jury.

In September I will begin work in the Litigation Department at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP. In the immediate future, I hope that I will have an opportunity to make use of my trial experience at Paul, Weiss. The nature and scope of trials in a large law firm that specializes in litigation will undoubtedly be quite different from the experiences I had in Boston’s Housing Court, but they are similar in their fundamental characteristics: developing a theory of a case and understanding your strengths and weaknesses; marshalling the rules of evidence for documents and testimony that you want to introduce, as well as those you want to exclude; being able to tell your client’s story. These are the aspects of trial that I have come to enjoy most, and I hope that I can continue to develop proficiency in these areas while at Paul, Weiss.

Considering the longer term, HLAB has given me insight into the way that individual legal services and social policy can be joined to profoundly impact a community. This model, which combines individual client interaction with a broader vision for change, is one that I hope to make use of, wherever I find myself in the future.

L to R: Eloise Lawrence, Staff Attorney; Stephanie Goldenhersh, Clinical Instructor; Maureen Devine, Clinical Instructor; Brad Jenkins (JD ’13); Susana Arteta, Chas Hamilton (JD ’13), and Melissa Minaya

CJI Alumnus Jon McCoy Wins Motion for New Trial

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By Rob Proctor, CJI Clinical Instructor

A judge found Criminal Justice Institute alumnus Jon McCoy’s (JD ’13) motion and exhibits so compelling that she granted a new trial. Jon’s client, a 19 year-old who held a green card and was raised in the United States, was deported and separated from his family after being convicted of a drug charge. At the time of his arrest, he had no prior criminal record and there was no evidence of drug use. Additionally, Annie Dookhan, the chemist who “analyzed” the substance found with the client, admitted to purposely tainting evidence during that period. Dookhan is currently at the center of a crime lab scandal and “is accused of falsifying test results in as many as 34,000 cases” (NPR). Criminal Justice Institute attorneys are hopeful that they will be able to reunite this young man with his family.

Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program Students Shape How Town and Unions Work Together

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By Heather Kulp, Clinical Fellow, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program

Nantucket Firefighter Nate Barber

Preparation. Practice. Persistence. Those qualities make for a good firefighter, and as Nantucket Firefighter Nate Barber learned from working with Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) students, they also make for a good negotiator.

As a member of Nantucket’s Local 2509 of the International Association of Firefighters and a former undergraduate negotiation student at Boston University, Mr. Barber knew relations between the Town of Nantucket’s management and his union could be better. Since the firefighters’ contracts only lasted two or three years and the negotiation process itself often took that long, the union and the management sat down for contract negotiations every year. And every year, the negotiations spilled over into the next year or, if it was the final year of the contract, went to arbitration. This impacted everyone: arbitration provoked more fighting, poorer relations, and less of what everyone wanted. They hadn’t had a mutual agreement for six years. As one of the interested parties, though, Mr. Barber knew he was not the person to fix a broken bargaining system.

Adam Glenn ’10, Elaine Lin ’10, and Nate Barber

After taking a Harvard Negotiation Institute course with Robert Bordone, Director of HNMCP and Thaddeus R. Beal Clinical Professor of Law, Mr. Barber quickly identified HNMCP as a potential source of assistance. The first step was to train union and management employees in basic negotiation skills. Harvard Negotiators students Adam Glenn ’10 and Elaine Lin ’10 provided such training. Once trained, though, the parties realized the negotiation process itself, not the parties’ skills, was creating roadblocks.

During the 2010 Fall Semester, clinic students Ken Gantz (an exchange student from University of California, Berkeley), James Goldschmidt ’10, and Emilie Aguirre ’12 took on that challenge. They conducted focus groups and interviews with multiple stakeholders and brainstormed ways to restructure a more effective negotiation process. The students also researched models of collective bargaining from other municipalities. In the end the students identified specific challenges to the current negotiation system and recommended procedural reforms designed to make a collaborative collective bargaining process more likely. They presented their findings to the board of selectmen, the town manager, the assistant town manager, the town human resources director, and union representatives.

Too often, reports and recommendations are stashed in a drawer, never to be employed. But in Nantucket, the firefighter’s union and the town management found the recommendations to be so helpful, they changed their contract negotiation approach.

Ken Gantz, James Goldschmidt ’10, and Emilie Aguirre ’12

Instead of using the town manager as the primary negotiator for the town, the students recommended the selectmen appoint a negotiator with greater authority to settle. That way, if both sides discussed an option at the table, the management representatives could modify it or agree to it outright, without having to go back to the selectmen for approval.

“That was one of the best negotiation suggestions the students had,” Mr. Barber relayed. “We’ve had one round of negotiations since the project, and we settled at the table.”

While settling at the table is certainly beneficial, HNMCP students know that a sustainable bargaining system also ensures both sides’ interests are met. Without addressing the primary issues head on and discussing them in intelligent ways, the students knew their clients could easily revert to entrenched behaviors. Thus, they helped both sides focus on what mattered most, instead of getting bogged down in smaller, less important issues.

Mr. Barber praised the students for taking a genuine interest in each side. This helped create a more constructive negotiation environment. “Before, no one had talked about negotiations in terms of how the process had gone. People just bickered about what they’d gotten or not gotten. This time, the town and the union worked hard on improving negotiations before we negotiated, and that was apparent. We got a fair contract that both sides are happy with.”

The agreement included a provision to double the number of firefighters during busy summer months, a primary concern for the firefighters. In turn, the town representatives received some cost savings that made the increase in personnel easier for the town to approve.

The biggest challenge for the firefighter’s union was describing the new process to its members. They were so used to the former system of “fighting it out” in arbitration that it took awhile for them to see the benefits of a collaborative process. But once Mr. Barber explained that the new process allowed them to vent frustrations at the table and add value to their contract, not one firefighter voted against it.

The firefighters and the town are planning to use the same process for future negotiations, as both sides felt it created a healthier, more trusting relationship between the parties. Having a successful model has encouraged the town and other unions to rethink their bargaining structures, too. Since the firefighters’ negotiation, no other town employees’ unions have gone to arbitration. The police department is considering using a collaborative bargaining process similar to the firefighters, especially since the same town officials are involved in negotiating the police contract.

As for the firefighters, they are anticipating a well-staffed summer season. “We have a lot to build on,” Mr. Barber conceded. “It will get better with each round. We like where we are, and where we are headed. Everything’s looking up after HNMCP worked with us.”

HLAB Files Amicus Brief in Successful Appeal to SJC

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L-R: Shira Hoffman ’13, Jennifer Ramos ’13, and HLAB Clinical Instructor Stephanie Goldenhersh

Via the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau Blog:

“For the student attorneys at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, the nation’s oldest legal services organization, a victory in court is always a reason to celebrate. But recently, HLAB student attorneys Jennifer Ramos ’13 and Shira Hoffman ’13 achieved a legal victory with a type of case work that students at HLAB don’t often do — one that had the potential to substantively affect many of the low-income clients HLAB serves. Supervised by clinical instructor Stephanie Goldenhersh, Ramos and Hoffman filed an amicus brief in support of a low-income mother in Worchester, MA in an appeal to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court of a decision about the child support payments she was receiving from her children’s father….”

Clinical Students Contribute to Massachusetts Judicial System

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Massachusetts state courts have been struggling with budget cuts for years. One of the most drastic cuts has been to the law clerk programs, which once employed law graduates to assist judges.

Fortunately, the Judicial Process in Community Courts clinical program at HLS is helping to address this financial gap by placing students with individual judges at the Superior Court, District Court, Boston Municipal Court, Juvenile Court, and Land Court Departments of the Massachusetts Trial Court. Students are also placed at the U.S. District Court. Students work alongside judges observing court proceedings, as well as researching and writing about various topics in many different areas of the law. The majority of the student projects involve research and drafting for pending motions in both civil and criminal cases.

During the 2013 spring semester, students produced over 500 hours of legal research and writing for their supervising judges in addition to the time they spent in court room observation and discussions. The Hon. John C. Cratsley (Ret.), Lecturer on Law and director of the program, sees this “as a major contribution at a time when funding for law clerks has been virtually eliminated”. Liz Solar, HLS Director of Externships, noted: “This clinic provides students with a unique opportunity to see firsthand the inner workings of a complex court system and how all the issues of contemporary society play out in the courts on a daily basis.”

In addition to researching and writing, students also worked on complex projects including a comparative look at the judicial evaluation process in other states, judicial conflicts of interest, and comparative sentencing practices. Several of the students’ final papers evaluated issues of immediate concern to the Massachusetts judiciary:

  • Jake Lieberman (JD ’14) and Jared Young (JD ’14) worked with the staff attorney for a committee of the Supreme Judicial Court studying changes to the 2003 Code of Judicial Conduct. Each drafted proposed language for conduct not presently covered in the ten year old version of the Code.

  • Mary Triick (JD ’13) and Jessica Gorman (LLM ’13) wrote about the new Harassment Prevention Statute (G.L. c 258E) and its impact on the community courts. Jessica evaluated how and why these orders differ from domestic violence restraining orders under G.L. c 209A and whether this statute already needs amendment. Mary evaluated the new initiative at the Harvard Mediation Program to offer mediation for some of these disputes in two local courts.

  • Karla Morey (JD ’13) wrote about the contemporary issue (part of which was argued at the SJC on May 9, 2013) regarding “The Case for Adopting a Categorical Approach in Response to the Annie Dookhan Scandal”.

Participating judges had high praise for the quality of work produced by their HLS student interns. The following are typical comments:

“[My HLS student] was GREAT! He has strong legal research skills and is an excellent writer. He is incredibly quick, very smart, and a really nice person.”
The Hon. Janet L. Sanders, Suffolk Superior Court

“[My HLS student] did excellent work for us on a number of projects. Her work was described by our judges as ‘excellent’, ‘quick study’, ‘she is great’, and ‘she gets it’. She’s a winner. Keep them coming.”
The Hon. Stephen M. Limon, Boston Juvenile Court

“I just wanted to let you know that it was wonderful having [an HLS student] as an intern. She did a great job, and tells me she enjoyed her experience here. Thanks again!”
The Hon. Robert B. Foster, Land Court

“[My HLS student] was terrific. She was very enthusiastic, very inquisitive. She clearly put a lot of thought into each assignment and was eager to follow up with any suggestions I made into new areas of research.”
The Hon. Robert N. Tochka, Boston Municipal Court

“[My HLS student] was great. Written work and research was terrific. I really enjoyed having her with me.”
The Hon. Rosalind H. Miller, Boston Municipal Court

“It was my pleasure to supervise [my HLS student]. She was a great intern. Her research and writing skills were excellent.”
The Hon. Ernest L. Sarason, Boston Municipal Court

“Please give [my HLS student] the highest possible grade for his work with me. Thank you for making it possible for him to work with me.”
The Hon. Mark L. Wolf, U.S. District Court

To learn more about the Judicial Process in Community Courts clinical program, visit the program website or contact Program Director Judge Cratsley at  jcratsley at law.harvard.edu.

Michael Dukakis Visits Negotiation Workshop

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L to R: Michael Dukakis, Robert Bordone, Teresa Napoli ’13 – Photo Credit: Martha Stewart

This past spring, Clinical Professor Bob Bordone‘s students were treated to a visit by former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who was also the Democratic nominee for President in 1988. Governor Dukakis’ visit came at the end of the semester-long Negotiation Workshop, in which students explored negotiation theory and practice, working intensively on skill-building to improve their effectiveness as negotiators. Dukakis spoke to students in detail about the negotiation dynamics of the Park Plaza case – a contentious 1970s Boston urban renewal project – as well as about the way negotiation tools and concepts came into play during his two terms as Governor. In addition to sharing personal stories of a life of public service, Gov. Dukakis also echoed many themes of the Negotiation Workshop – the importance of preparation, of relationships, and of collaboration.

To learn more about the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program, visit their website.

Governor Dukakis – Photo credit: Martha Stewart

Governor Dukakis – Photo credit: Martha Stewart

L to R: Governor Dukakis, Professor Bordone, and Assistant Dean Lisa Dealy – Photo credit: Martha Stewart

LSC’s Isabel Lima Receives Richardson Staff Award

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Isabel Lima

The Class of 2013 selected the Clinical Programs’ very own Isabel Lima for the Suzanne Richardson Staff Appreciation Award, which is given each year to a member of the staff who demonstrates commitment to the student experience and concern for students’ lives and work at the Law School.

From Dean Martha Minow:

“Isabel has worked at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center since 1980, and currently serves as Office Manager. One student explained, ‘Isabel is the heart and soul of the legal services center. From making sure each student is prepared from the day they set foot in the clinic, to translating for Spanish-speaking clients, and keeping our cases organized, there is no one who demonstrates more commitment to clinical education and our many needy clients than Isabel.’ Congratulations and deep thanks to all named here and to all students, faculty, and staff who make this school such a stimulating, rewarding, and meaningful community.”

Congratulations, Isabel!

Clinical Voices: Reflecting on a Semester in Washington

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Final Dinner with the Semester in Washington Crew

Today’s “Clinical Voices” comes from Jonathan Wroblewski, who runs the Semester in Washington program at Harvard Law School. Here is his note to his students at the end of the semester:

The 2012 edition of the Harvard Law School Semester in Washington has ended, and it has been a wonderful semester in so many ways!

We’ve explored what policy making is and the building blocks that make up rigorous and thoughtful policy making. We’ve met fascinating people, including Senator Tom Udall, National Security Staff Deputy Counsel Michael Bahar, Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu, White House Human Rights Director Samantha Power, policy entrepreneur Jeanne Smoot, Sentencing Commission General Counsel Ken Cohen, Professor Doug Berman, and many more. We visited the Facebook policy shop and wrestled with issues of privacy and commerce. We’ve worked on some critical writing skills and heard some pretty good “Elevator Pitches,” including ones to revamp foreign aid, reform defense spending, and make a change at the top of the FHFA. We visited the Supreme Court and watched as the Solicitor General defended the Stolen Valor Act. We’ve set goals for ourselves; met some (maybe most); and missed a few, too. We’ve worked hard at our placements and shared and learned from each other’s experiences. We’ve thought about the ethical responsibilities of the government lawyer and picked apart how government bureaucracies work. We ventured outside of the Washington of tourists and monuments and served some of the people who call Washington home. We shared a few meals together and gotten to know one another a lot better. For each of us there were expectations met, expectations missed, and some surprises.

Most gratifying is that we were able to create a small community of learning away from Cambridge and in this strange city of Washington, D.C. I have enjoyed getting to know all of you and sharing some of your experiences over the past three months. Please don’t hesitate to call on me if there is ever anything I can do for you. I will be in Cambridge in the fall to recruit for our Semester in Washington Class of 2013. I hope to see some of you there. And if you are ever near the Main Justice Building, please drop me a line and let’s find time to catch up.

Enjoy the summer!

Clinical Voices: Exciting Win for CJI Students

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Ieshaah Murphy (JD ’12) and Nicholas Heimbach (JD ’12) in court

Today we introduce “Clinical Voices”, an opportunity for clinical professors, instructors, supervisors, and administrators to share their perspective on the HLS clinical experience and to highlight the work of students who may be too bashful to bring attention to themselves. Our first update comes from Robert Proctor, a clinical instructor with Criminal Justice Institute (CJI).

It is my pleasure to announce that Ieshaah Murphy (JD ’12) along with her colleague, Nicholas Heimbach (JD ’12), successfully defended a young man who was charged with Assault and Battery with a Dangerous Weapon and faced a potential penalty of up to five years in prison after he was brutally attacked by two security guards. During a three-day jury trial at the Dorchester Division Court, Ms. Murphy and Mr. Heimbach overcame seemingly insurmountable odds and obtained an acquittal on all charges!

Mr. Heimbach and Ms. Murphy’s intense cross examination of the government’s witnesses were major turning points in the case, and Ms. Murphy’s closing argument was described by another law student as “a thing of beauty.” This rare feat is just another of her many accomplishments and honors while attending Harvard Law School, which includes two moot championships. I am very proud of these students!