PSJD: Your Pathway to Public Service Legal Careers

Acknowledgements This guide is structured to give readers an overview of legal services and directions for how to get from the halls of Harvard Law School and other law schools to the “trenches” of legal services. It contains personal narratives from HLS alumni enthusiastically working in legal services. It lists HLS courses and extracurricular activities of interest to those planning to pursue careers in legal services. Finally, it lists some legal services websites to use as a starting point in identifying potential employers.

Thanks to Harvard Law OPIA Staff:

Kim Schroer, Public Interest Fellow (Summer 2013); Alexa Shabecoff, Esq., Assistant Dean for Public Service; Kristen Nelson, Public Interest Fellow (1998-2000); Karen Marchiano, Public Interest Fellow (Summer 2000);

A big thank you to all of the legal services attorneys, scholars, and professionals who generously gave their time to speak candidly about the legal services field. Without them, this guide would not have been possible. They are:

Jeff Purcell, Greater Boston Legal Services; Jess Rosenbaum, D.C. Access to Justice Commission; Nina Datsur, Union Settlement Association; Kristin Small, Empire State Justice Center; Sarah Mattson, Legal Assistance of New Hampshire; Levon Henry, DNA People’s Legal Services in Arizona; Amy Chen, Bay Area Legal Aid; Professor Jim Greiner, Harvard Law School; Professor Russell Engler, New England School of Law; Richard Zorza, coordinator of the National Self Represented Litigation Network; Meredith McBurney, ABA Resource Center; Jim Sandman, President of the Legal Services Corporation

Thanks also to the Harvard Law School graduates who took the time to write the narratives we have included with this Guide —Greg Schell ’79 of the Migrant Farmworker Justice Project, Dan Lindsey ’90 of LAF Chicago, Beth Harrison ’03 of the Legal Aid Society D.C., and Nicole Dooley ’09 of the Legal Aid Justice Center in Virginia — their words say more than we could ever describe.