Students Help Prep For Supreme Court

It may be several years before they actually get the opportunity to argue cases before the United States Supreme Court, but soon students at Harvard Law School (HLS) will have the chance to prepare for one.

HLS announced last week that starting in the fall, it will offer a new Supreme Court clinic where students will assist attorneys in cases that could end up before the Supreme Court.

“Students will be able to put their skills to use in real pro bono cases,” said Lisa P. Dealy, administrative director of clinical and pro bono programs.

Other law schools that already offer similar Supreme Court clinical programs include Stanford University, the University of Texas, and the University of Virginia.

Assistant Dean for Communications Michael A. Armini said that HLS’ Supreme Court clinical program comes in the midst of students’ growing demands for more opportunities to apply the theories that they learned in classrooms to real legal situations.

“In recent years, there’s been an explosion of clinical courses at Harvard, and we now offer more clinical placements than any other law school,” Armini said.

According to Dealy, the clinic will be led by former acting Solicitor General Walter E. Dellinger III and students will have a chance to work alongside senior attorneys from the international law firm O’Melveny & Myers.

In teams, they will develop case strategies and draft briefs and arguments.

Dealy said that the law firm was willing to work in conjunction with HLS’ Supreme Court clinic because of the talent they would receive in return.

“Clients will benefit from having smart, energetic law students working on their cases under the supervision of talented and experienced lawyers,” she wrote in an e-mail.

Though students will not be presenting their case before the Supreme Court, the clinics will allow participants to get a feel for the dilemmas that lawyers confront and hone their legal researching and writing skills, Dealy said.

The Supreme Court clinic is one of many clinical programs offered by HLS. In the 2006-07 academic year, there are 57 other clinical offerings in areas such as International Human Rights, Employment Discrimination, Criminal Prosecution, and Local Government Law.

“The Supreme Court clinic is the latest example, and given our strong ties to the Court, we believe it will be the best of its kind,” Armini said.

—Staff writer Kevin Zhou can be reached at kzhou@fas.harvard.edu.