HARVARD LAW SCHOOL CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
Summer 2016
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
At Harvard Law School, more than 800 students will be doing clinical work this academic year. They will be engaged in factual and legal investigations; interviewing clients and witnesses; drafting legislation, legal memoranda and briefs; and preparing for trial amongst other legal work. In this blog post, a former clinic student, faculty, and staff share advice as students take on these challenges. Derek Manner ’16 Winner of CLEA’s Outstanding Clinical Student Award Almost every lawyer I’ve spoken with says that their favorite part of law school was their clinic. This was certainly true in my case as well. One of the reasons I enjoyed it so much was that I got some pretty good advice about how to be successful before I started. The head of the department who was supervising me suggested that I needed to spend as much time in the office with the other attorneys as possible to get a feel for the work. It also helped that my direct supervising attorney and I quickly developed a strong working relationship built on an open line of communication. This was particularly helpful when I knew my schedule would be hectic and I needed to front load some of my hours so I could focus exclusively on law school at times. Finally, clinicals are a big time commitment. So make sure that you’ve built chunks of time into your schedule every week to adequately complete your work. This is easier said than done due to last minute activities that pop up, so try to factor in some flex time.
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ing a woman safe from domestic violence, protecting the human rights of people in faraway places, negotiating a contract, advocating for legal rights in cyberspace, seeking asylum for someone targeted for his political activity in his home country, improving access to healthcare and healthy foods, and on and on—don’t forget to smile periodically as you undertake this critical work. What a joy and privilege it is to advocate for someone who needs your help.
Shaun Goho, Senior Clinical Instructor Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic So you are about to start your first clinic—what can you expect? My answer is based on what you would experience in my clinic, the Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic, but I expect that it would also apply to most other clinics here at HLS. First, you should not expect to be stuck in a back room researching legal memos to answer simple, clearly-defined questions. On the contrary, you should expect to be dealing with challenging problems to which there is no easy answer. Second, you will be front and center in each project and will interact frequently with clients and government decisionmakers—legislators, regulators, or judges. This role can seem frightening for some people, but it ultimately makes the clinical experience far more rewarding. Third, clinics can be hard work. This does not mean that you are expected to put in extra hours; we make sure that all students can stick to their allotted clinical hours. The clinic is hard because you don’t just spend your time reading a casebook; instead, you need to engage in original legal and policy analysis and work on your Danial Nagin, Clinical Professor of Law writing and oral presentation skills. Again, however, you will Faculty Director of Legal Services Center and find that the time spent working on these skills pays huge diviVeterans Legal Clinic dends. Finally, you are not left entirely to your own devicVice-Dean for Experiential and Clinical Education As you are about to embark upon your first semester in a law es. You will have clinical faculty and staff, as well as your felschool clinic, keep in mind a few key ideas. First, you will be low students, supporting you each step of the way. In the end, I undertaking two roles at once: student and advocate. Having a think you will find your time in a clinic to be one of the best client and a cause radically alter the dynamic of being a student. learning experiences you have in law school. Your client’s stresses and burdens are now yours too. Your obligations are not simply self-generated; they are imposed exter- Laura Johnston, Administrative Director nally by codes of conduct for zealous and ethical law practice. Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation You are now beholden not just to your own standards and Law If you’re feeling overwhelmed with balancing the clinic work School standards, but owe separate duties to your clients, to with your other law school and life responsibilities, don’t hesitribunals, and to third parties. These additional layers both com- tate to reach out for help to your clinic supervisor, faculty, clinplicate and enrich the experience of being a student. Second, ic administrator, the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs, the rhythms of clinical work will feel different. Real cases and or any of the health and wellness resources available to you at projects don’t always follow a linear or expected path. So pre- HLS and Harvard. All of us in the clinical community are inpare to face—and embrace—some amount of uncertainty in vested in making a successful and meaningful experience for your clinical work. And third, have fun. Even though the stakes students – we are here to help! can be very high indeed—saving a family from eviction, keep-
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
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PRO BONO Recently, the American Lawyer released the annual National and International Firms Pro Bono Rankings. The report ranks the nation’s 200 highest-grossing firms by their pro bono score for work performed by U.S.-based lawyers. Half of the score comes from the average number of pro bono hours per lawyer in 2015, while the other half represents the percentage of lawyers who performed more than 20 hours of pro bono work. Internationally, the report ranks firms with at least 20 nonU.S. lawyers by their scores for pro bono performed by those lawyers. Half of the score comes from the average number of pro bono hours performed by lawyers outside of the U.S. in 2015. The other half comes from the percentage of lawyers outside the U.S. who did more than 20 hours of pro bono work. We encourage students to review the report and consider it a resource when evaluating law firms and incorporating pro bono work into their legal careers. Students can find additional pro bono resources on the Student Pro Bono Resources section of the Clinical and Pro Bono Programs website.
Harvard Law School has 11 Student Practice Organizawhile helping real people and communities in need of legal tions (SPOs) providing students a wide range of opportunities services. to gain practical legal experience starting in their 1L year. The Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs will be holdEach SPO is headed by 2L and 3L students who serve in lead- ing a Student Practice Organization Panel on ership positions and one or more supervising attorneys who Wednesday, September 14 from 5pm – 6 pm in provide legal oversight and supervision to students. Most Austin Hall 100. Please mark your calendars and join us to SPOs also work closely with an HLS clinic so students enjoy learn more and ask question about the life and work of SPOs. a cohesive experience in the respective area of the law during Then SPOs will also be available at the Student Activities their time at HLS. Fair from 6pm – 8pm in Milstein. Every fall semester, Student Practice Organizations host information sessions to familiarize new students with their work and application process. Most (but not all) SPOs require an application and all of them require students to complete a training. Everyone, including LL.M. students, is welcomed and encouraged to participate in SPO practice. While students do not receive academic credit for participating in SPOs, their hours can count towards the 50-hour pro bono graduation requirement starting 1L year. Current 3L students have a 40 hour pro bono requirement. Student responsibilities and time commitment requirements vary across SPOs. Students who participate have found the experience to be positive and meaningful. They report that they enjoy the community they build with other students
Student Practice Organization Panel 2015
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
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FOOD LAW AND POLICY CLINIC Via HLS News
Credit: Harvard FLPC More than 350 leaders in food waste and food recovery participated in breakout sessions and working groups to identify key steps in terms of policy, innovation, and measurable actions to reduce waste.
“$1.3 billion per year is spent on sending food to landfills.” “Food waste makes up 21% of landfill waste in the United States”
selling or donating milk 12 days past pasteurization. In her welcome to participants to the conference, Martha Minow, Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, said: “Preventing the waste of food and promoting access to food: what could be more fundamental? That is why Harvard created the first food law and policy clinic in the nation and works every day to expand and deepen public dialogue on a real reduction of food waste.”
“As much as 40 percent of food produced in America gets thrown out.”
As part of the two-day event, more than 350 leaders in food waste and food recovery participated in breakout sessions and working groups to identify key steps in terms of policy, innovation, and measurable actions to reduce waste.
Broad Leib moderated the plenary panel, “Operating at the In“This month you’ll tersection of Hunger Relief and Environmental Protection,” toss 24 pounds of which featured Karen Hanner, managing director, manufacturfood in the trash.” ing product sourcing, Feeding America; Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for the EPA’s Office of Land and EmerFood recovery entrepreneurs, farmers, business persons, acagency Management; and Doug Rauch, former president of demics, government officials and many others converged at Trader Joe’s and founder of the Daily Table. Harvard Law School for two days of learning, strategizing, and networking to address the growing issue of food waste. “Wasted food is a failure of the system. It’s a societal breakdown of valuable product being thrown away,” said Stanislaus. The conference, “Reduce and Recover: Save Food for Peo“How do we really make this resonate? How do we really tip ple,” held June 28 and 29, was sponsored by the Harvard Law this in society?” School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), with support from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Massachusetts De- Janet Bowen, a representative from the EPA, discussed an EPA partment of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) program called “Food: Too Good to Waste,” a toolkit that proand RecyclingWorks in Massachusetts. vides strategies for consumers to prevent food waste at home, which ultimately reduces costs for families. She said a pilot In September 2015, the USDA and Environmental Protection program in Rhode Island was successful in lessening food Agency set the first-ever national food waste reduction goal, waste. Compared to baseline food waste in households, there aiming to reduce food waste 50% by 2030. The Reduce and were significant reductions in weight and volume of food wastRecover conference focused on brainstorming innovative ways ed in the test households. to reduce food waste in the U.S. and national awareness about the problem. “We need to provide more awareness that there’s something [consumers] can do for this issue,” she said. “Consumers play a huge role in this. Forty-five percent of all food waste happens in consumers’ homes,” said Assistant Clin- After the morning sessions, attendees lined a buffet featuring ical Professor Emily Broad Leib ’08, director of the Harvard chicken, rolls, broccoli salad, and cookies. Colorful signs were Food Law and Policy Clinic. scattered on the table, noting that all of the food provided at the conference was re-purposed catering excess, prep trim, and Many consumers depend on expiration date and sell-by date over-ordered ingredients — practicing the priority of eliminatlabels when purchasing or disposing of food, but they often ing food waste from the source. don’t realize that those labels aren’t based on any science or federal legislation. The Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, established in 2010, provides legal advice to nonprofits and governDuring a session on food labels and expiration dates, attendees ment agencies seeking to increase access to healthy foods, supwatched the documentary produced by the Harvard Food Law port small-scale and sustainable farmers, and reduce waste of Policy Clinic on food labels. The documentary, “Expired: Food healthy, wholesome food, while educating law students about Waste in America,” focuses on a Montana law that prevents ways to use law and policy to impact the food system.
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
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HEALTH LAW AND POLICY CLINIC
Via Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation
(l-r) Sarah Downer, CHLPI; Dr. Seth Berkowitz, Massachusetts General Hospital; Kim Prendergast, Feeding America; and Kate Hilliard, Food Bank of Corpus Christi.
On June 13, 2016, CHLPI Clinical Instructor Sarah Downer presented to over 100 attendees at the American Diabetes Association’s 76th Scientific Sessions on policy and advocacy tools to address diabetes in low-income populations. In a session titled Improving Diabetes Outcomes in Low-Income Populations: When Food Access is the problem, Sarah joined Massachusetts General Hospital expert in diabetes clinical care Dr. Seth Berkowitz, Feeding America Consulting Project Manager Kim Prendergast, and Nutrition Education Manager of the Food Bank of Corpus Christi Kate Hilliard to discuss the link between diabetes and diet.
Closing the panel, Sarah called on the attendees to be advocates for policy change and champions of using food and nutrition interventions to address diabetes. She outlined policy priorities including: (1) requiring/incentivizing screening for food insecurity in the clinical setting, (2) developing braided funding streams for healthcare and community-based resource providers to support delivery of enhanced services, (3) increasing research into the impact of different levels of foodbased interventions on diabetes, and (4) acting immediately to conduct pilot and demonstration projects within our current public healthcare systems.
Dr. Berkowitz shared the latest research on how food insecurity increases the risk of diabetes and contributes to worse diabetes outcomes. Kim Prendergast described Feeding America’s member food bank partnerships with healthcare providers and the impact of the organization’s innovative diabetes-appropriate food box intervention for individuals with diabetes. Kate Hilliard discussed strategies her food bank uses to reach the underserved populations in Corpus Christi, including individuals who move frequently, do not speak English, and/or do not have health insurance.
Attendees were enthusiastic about pursuing opportunities to expand access to medically-tailored food to their patients, who face numerous health and resource challenges and often must make terrible choices between paying for medication or buying food.
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
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CRIMMIGRATION CLINIC Via Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program
Students enrolled in the Crimmigration Clinic at Harvard Law School engaged in cutting-edge research and immersed themselves in legal proceedings at the intersection of criminal and immigration law. The four students enrolled in this Clinic were constantly occupied in this evolving field, partaking in mock arguments of appellate court cases and going to immigration court to observe hearings. The Clinic worked on four main projects this past year, all of which made innovative contributions to the field of Crimmigration. First, the Crimmigration Clinic worked with criminal defense attorneys in Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute and throughout the country who represent noncitizens in criminal defense proceedings. Since 2010, these attorneys have a constitutional duty to advise their noncitizen clients about the immigration consequences of criminal charges. Crimmigration is a constantly evolving and complex field of law and often criminal defense attorneys need help deciphering immigration consequences. Thus, the Crimmigration Clinic has helped meet that need by working with criminal defense attorneys to ensure their clients receive proper advice.
The third project entailed conducting a survey of federal cases that interpreted the “particularly serious crime” bar to asylum and withholding of removal in the United States. This survey divided offenses by different categories (property, drug, violence, etc.) and will hopefully provide a more consistent framework for Crimmigration rulings in the future.
Phil Torrey Lecturer on Law and Senior Clinical Instructor Crimmigration Clinic
The second Crimmigration Clinic project was spurred by a 2015 Supreme Court ruling which determined that non -citizens can not be deported if they are convicted of possessing a drug that is on a state drug schedule but not the federal drug schedule. Last year, clinical students mapped out the federal drug schedule since its inception – the first comprehensive list of this kind. This year, the Massachusetts drug schedules were mapped out by the Clinic. This information can now be applied in retrospect to prevent the deportation of noncitizens when a mismatch between state and federal drug schedules is evident.
The Crimmigration Clinic also works with vulnerable populations in immigration detention facilities to ensure they receive appropriate protections. For example, a recent study found that at any given time there are 75 transgender women in immigration detention facilities, and many of them will experience some form of sexual assault. This year, Clinical students drafted a memorandum outlining the myriad of claims an individual could potentially bring against the federal government to seek recourse for abusive practices at a detention facility. Crimmigration Clinical students have the unique ability to contribute to an emerging field while helping individuals who find themselves subject to both criminal law and immigration law. By working with local and national practitioners and nonprofit organizations, students make a lasting and crucial impact in this field.
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
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HARVARD IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE CLINIC Via Harvard Gazette
A deadlocked Supreme Court dealt a major blow to President Obama’s executive actions to grant relief from deportation to nearly 5 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. The 4-4 tie in U.S. v. Texas, a challenge by that state and 25 others against Obama’s executive actions, leaves in place an injunction by a lower court that blocked the government from implementing two programs that would protect both children and their parents from deportation.
Phil Torrey, lecturer on law with the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program and the supervising attorney for the Harvard Immigration Project, hopes the ruling will help galvanize the movement for immigration reform.
“I’m disappointed,” said Deborah Anker, clinical professor of law and director of theHarvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program at Harvard Law School. “What this means is that it puts hundreds of thousands of people at risk of deportation, including parents of U.S. citizens or legal residents.”
The two Obama programs are an expansion of the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), which help parents remain in the country and obtain work permits.
What it means legally is that after the court’s one-sentence decision, which mentioned “an equally divided court,” it is up to the presiding judge in Brownsville, Texas, to decide whether or not to go forward with a trial. “The decision on the merits of the case are still going to be litigated,” she said. “The decision by the Supreme Court is not an affirmation of either position.”
Opponents who challenged Obama in the courts argued he overstepped his constitutional powers by issuing the executive actions, bypassing Congress. Republican governors lead the 26 states that sued the government.
“Hopefully it will continue to energize the movement to push for comprehensive reform, especially with elections coming forward,” he said.
The decision by the Supreme Court will likely fuel the acrimonious debate on immigration reform, which has intensified as the national election campaigns continue.
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
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CYBERLAW CLINIC Via Cyberlaw Clinic As often happens during the heat of the New England summer, we on the Cyberlaw Clinic team find ourselves thinking about the past academic year and looking ahead to the next. It is a great time to pause and reflect on the work of our students and the overall state of our program, which has now served the HLS student body and the broader technology law and policy community for more than sixteen years. This post serves as something of an “academic year in review” for the 2015-16 school year and a preview of things to come.
significantly expanded the Clinic’s focus on issues relating to human rights, digital civil liberties, and corporate social responsibility. We could not be more excited to have Vivek on board in these expanded roles. And, as if that weren’t enough excitement on the staffing front… we’re hiring! Multiple positions, in in fact — a Clinical Instructor and one or two Clinical Fellows. Please help spread the word far and wide as we look to expand our team. Teaching Members of the Clinic teaching team taught a number of courses at Harvard Law School during the past academic year, including: “City Use of Technology,” a fall course taught by Clinical Professor and Berkman Klein Center Faculty Director Susan Crawford; “Counseling and Legal Strategy in the Digital Age,” a fall seminar taught by Clinical Professor and Berkman Klein Center Faculty Director, Christopher Bavitz and Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law Dalia Topelson Ritvo;
Staffing The Clinic settled into an energized and productive routine over the last two years due in large part to the fact that our stellar students have been led by a stellar teaching team — Clinical Professors Chris Bavitz and Susan Crawford, Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law Dalia Ritvo, Clinical Instructor Vivek Krishnamurthy, Clinical Fellow Andy Sellars, and Project Coordinator Kira Hessekiel. Given all our successes of the past couple of years, it is with mixed emotions that we bid farewell to two integral members of that team — Dalia Ritvo and Andy Sellars — each of whom is moving on from the Clinic this summer. Dalia, our former Assistant Director, is heading home to Colorado, where she will be closer to family. And, Andy is taking the helm of a brand new tech clinical program just across the Charles River at Boston University, where he and his students will serve BU and MIT students. Both Andy and Dalia will maintain ties to the Berkman Klein Center in 2016-17 as Affiliates, and we know that they will continue to be friends, colleagues, and collaborators in years to come.
“Cyberlaw Clinic Seminar,” a seminar taught during the fall and spring semesters by Chris and Dalia; “Technology, Justice, and the Delivery of Legal Services,” a 1L reading group taught by Chris, along with Harvard Law School Clinical Professor Esme Caramello; “Problem Solving Workshop,” a 1L law student seminar taught by Susan during the HLS winter term; and “Music and Digital Media,” a spring seminar which Chris taught this past spring for the sixth consecutive year. Student Engagement The Cyberlaw Clinic enrolled 30 students in Fall 2015, 4 continuing students in Winter 2016, and 31 new and continuing students in Spring 2016, for a total of 65 student slots during the 2015-16 academic year. Those students enrolled for a total of 167 credits over the course of the year, and the Clinic’s supervising attorneys managed more than 10,000 hours of student work. We have a summer intern with us this summer — Griffin Davis from University of Pennsylvania Law School — who is keeping our projects afloat.
In the midst of these changes, we are pleased to report that Vivek Krishnamurthy has been promoted to Assistant Director of the Cyberlaw Clinic and will play a vital role in managing the program going forward. Vivek has also been appointed Lecturer Read the full story on the Cyberlaw Clinic’s website. on Law for the coming academic year and will co-teach the Cyberlaw Clinic Seminar with Chris Bavitz. Vivek joined the Clinic in fall 2014, and his diligent work in recent years has
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HARVARD NEGOTIATION AND MEDIATION CLINICAL PROGRAM Via Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinic At the first-ever United State of Women Summit, the Obama adFrom the White House press release: ministration, private-sector companies, foundations and organizations announced $50 million in commitments, along with new poli- “New collaboration with Harvard Negotiating & Mediation Clinic cies, tools and partnerships that will to expand career readiness resources continue to expand opportunity for through making available negotiation women and girls. These announcements training for community college students include a pledge by more than two doznationwide. Negotiation training can be en leading companies to take actions to critical in helping workers of any age continue to close the gender pay gap, secure a good job, salary and benefits— new resources to empower community but many workers, especially women college students to negotiate their first and those newly entering the job marsalaries, new campaigns to change how ket, can face distinct barriers. The Deour country values caregiving and impartment of Education and Harvard Law prove portrayals of women in media, School’s Negotiation and Mediation and enhanced global efforts to promote Clinical Program—as part of their progender quality worldwide. gram in negotiation training—are announcing the development of a new toolkit for community college students The Harvard Negotiation & Mediation around the country to equip them with HNMCP Director Prof. Bob Bordone and HNMCP Asst. Clinical Program (HNMCP) is very the knowledge and tools that will better Director Rachel Viscomi at the United State of Women proud to be part of this massive and prepare them for starting a career and Summit important initiative. HNMCP will be successfully negotiating their first salary. conducting a clinic project with the DeIn addition to being available for compartments of Education and Labor to bring negotiation skills train- munity college students, the toolkit will be made publicly available ing to women in community colleges who are preparing for their later this year—so will be an important readiness resource for all first jobs, and their first salary negotiations. those newly entering the job market.”
EMMET ENVIRONMENTAL LAW AND POLICY CLINIC
Via Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic Staff Attorney Shaun Goho recently authored a paper that was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Health Perspectives entitled The Legal Implications of Report-Back in Household Exposure Studies.
tate transfer laws, landlord/tenant laws, and premises liability tort laws, Goho concludes that in most circumstances, study participants will not have any legal duties to disclose their individual study results to other people or government agencies. In the rare circumstances when such a duty will arise, it is usually when the In a household exposure study, researchers sample the air or dust identified chemical is one that could be harmful to the occupants in a home and analyze those samples to determine the presence of the home—meaning that the study participants are still better and concentration of different chemicals. It is common in such off learning their individual results, even if a legal disclosure studies to notify the owners or occupants of those homes about duty might therefore arise. the results of the analysis of the samples taken from their homes—a process known as report-back. Because report-back in Goho recommends that researchers should continue to share the household exposure studies provides information about the pres- results of household exposure studies with participants, but that ence of potentially-harmful chemicals inside a home, it is possi- they should disclose these legal risks through the informed the ble that the receipt of such results will create legal duties for the consent process. The paper includes recommended language for study participants. informed consent forms. This paper is the first study to systemically examine the potential This paper results from a multi-year collaboration between the legal implications of report-back in household exposure studies. Clinic and the Silent Spring Institute. After reviewing federal and state hazardous waste laws, real es-
CLINICAL AND PRO BONO PROGRAMS
The Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs extends a warm welcome to Crisanne Hazen (Assistant Director) of the Child Advocacy Program, Adriel Borshansky (Clinical Fellow) and Rachel Krol (Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law) of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Program, Caleb Smith (Clinical Fellow) of the Federal Tax Clinic, Caitlin McCormick-Brault (Associate Director and Clinical Instructor) of the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation, Lee Miller (Clinical Fellow) of the Food Law and Policy Clinic, Toiya Taylor (Clinical Instructor) and Lisa Fitzgerald (Clinical Fellow) of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, and Michelle Kweder (Administrative Director) of the Harvard Prison Legal Assistance Project.
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nomics and Business. In addition, Rachel has worked on negotiation and conflict resolution projects with nonprofit, educational, and governmental institutions including Seeds of Peace, GenHERation, the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership at SCH Academy, and the National Institutes of Health. She practiced law with the firms Drinker, Biddle & Reath LLP and Ahmad Zaffarese LLC in Philadelphia, in the areas of finance, securities, and civil litigation. Rachel received her J.D. from Harvard Law School and her B.A. from Columbia University. Prior to attending law school, she taught at the International Montessori School of Prague in the Czech Republic. Rachel is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and a Clinical Instructor at HNMCP.
Crisanne Hazen Assistant Director, Child Advocacy Program (CAP) Before joining CAP, Crisanne worked as a supervising attorney at Legal Advocates for Children and Youth, a program of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, in San Jose, California. Starting her career as an Equal Justice Works fellow in 2006, she practiced multiple areas of law affecting children and youth, including education, guardianship, family law, housing, and in immigration.
Caleb Smith Clinical Fellow, Federal Tax Clinic (LSC)
Caleb graduated cum laude from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. While in law school, Caleb worked extensively with low-income taxpayers both at the school’s legal clinic and in the community. He was student director of the low-income taxpayer clinic and one of two students selected to prepare oral arguments for a case the clinic had before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In the community, Caleb volunteered Adriel Borshansky Clinical Fellow, Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinic regularly at a non-profit preparing tax returns for low-income individuals, and taught free winter courses on tax preparation Adriel is a 2015 graduate of the Harvard Divinity School to other volunteers. For these and other endeavors Caleb was (HDS) where he earned a Masters in Theological Studies forecognized with Community Service Honors from his law cusing on Judaism and Islam. During his time at HDS, Adriel school each year he attended. served as a mediator in Boston courts and later as a board member for the Harvard Mediation Program. While at HDS he Caitlin McCormick-Brault was a co-founder of the HDS Racial Justice and Healing Initia- Associate Director and Clinical Instructor, Center for tive. He also served as a facilitator and senior staff member for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) Seeds of Peace in both Maine and in the Middle East for four years. Adriel is working on special research and writing proPrior to joining CHLPI, Caitlin spent nine years in private jects within the Clinic and with Harvard Law School student practice in Washington D.C. with the nation’s top public polipractice organizations. Most recently, Adriel spent the 2015-16 cy practices at the law firms of Patton Boggs and subsequently year teaching at the School for Ethics and Global Leadership in Akin Gump Straus Hauer & Feld. While in private practice, Washington, DC. Ms. McCormick-Brault advised clients on legislative and regulatory matters pertaining to health care. She has extensive experience navigating the legislative and regulatory process, Rachel Krol drafting legislative language, preparing regulatory comment Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law, Harvard letters, and developing and implementing strategies for indiNegotiation and Mediation Clinic vidual clients and coalitions. She has worked directly on matBefore joining the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Proters related to all the major health care legislation in recent gram, Rachel taught negotiation at The Wharton School of the years, including the Affordable Care Act, the Health InforUniversity of Pennsylvania and led interactive negotiation and mation Technology for Economic and Clinical Health leadership workshops designed specifically for young women (HITECH) Act, the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension through her company, Connect More Consulting. Rachel has Act, and many others. also served as a teaching team member for executive education seminars offered by the Harvard Negotiation Institute and courses at Penn Law School and Vienna University of Eco-
LEARNING THE LAW | SERVING THE WORLD
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Lee Miller Clinical Fellow, Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC)
Michelle Kweder Administrative Director, Prison Legal Assistance Project
Lee comes to FLPC as the inaugural Jane Matilda Bolin fellow and a recipient of the Yale Law Journal Public Interest Fellowship. At FLPC he coordinates a farm bill research consortium comprising six leading law schools with food and agricultural law and policy expertise. Lee received his JD from Yale Law School, where he co-founded the Yale Food Law Society. During law school he pursued experiential opportunities in the field of food and agriculture law across all levels of government. He led an extended project to improve national regulation of concentrated animal feeding operations, helped launch a legal services hub for farmers in Connecticut, and pushed forward pro-agriculture zoning reforms in New Haven.
Michelle joins the Prison Legal Assistance Project (PLAP) with recent experience as a Lecturer at Simmons College where she taught undergraduates in the College of Arts & Sciences and MBA students at the School of Management. She has a diverse background, having served in former Boston Mayor Menino’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations, and as the executive director of a domestic violence agency, a consultant to mission-driven organizations, and a volunteer instructor teaching entrepreneurship at NECC-Concord prison. She recently completed her Ph.D. at UMass Boston in Business Administration – Organizations and Social Change. Michelle is replacing Sarah Morton who will return to PLAP next year.
Toiya Taylor Clinical Instructor, Harvard Legal Aid Bureau Toiya Taylor began her legal career as a Law Clerk for the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court in 2000, and opened her own law practice in 2002. She practiced extensively in both the Massachusetts Juvenile and Probate and Family Courts as both an attorney and a Guardian Ad Litem. She represented parents and/or children in care and protection, guardianship, child support, child custody, DYS revocation and delinquency matters. She also served as an ARC attorney in the Norfolk and Suffolk County Probate and Family Courts where she represented children pro bono in high conflict matters to assist with resolution. Taylor was also a mentor for new panel members of the Children and Family Law Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services and a bar advocate with Suffolk Lawyers for Justice, Inc. in both the Dorchester Juvenile and West Roxbury District Courts. She received her J.D. from Boston College Law School and is the 2014 recipient of the Mary Fitzpatrick Award for Outstanding and Zealous Advocacy to the Poor. Lisa Fitzgerald Clinical Fellow, Harvard Legal Aid Bureau Lisa Fitzgerald joins the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau after graduating from Harvard Law School this year. As a student, she participated in a number of Student Practice Organizations including the Harvard Mediation Program and the Harvard Immigration Project. She is also an alumna of HLAB, having been a student attorney in the clinic for 2 years.