Harvard Law School facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Harvard Law School
Emblem
Motto	Lex et Iustitia (Latin for 'Law and Justice')
Parent school	Harvard University
Established	1817; 208 years ago (1817)
School type	Private law school
Dean	John C. P. Goldberg (interim)
Location	Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
Enrollment	1,990 (2019)
Faculty	135
USNWR ranking	4th (tie) (2024)
Bar pass rate	99.4% (2021)
ABA profile	Standard 509 Report

Harvard Law School (often called HLS) is a famous law school that is part of Harvard University. It is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in the United States that has been open continuously.

Each year, about 560 students join the three-year program to earn a JD degree. This is one of the largest classes among top law schools in the U.S. First-year students are divided into groups of about 80. These groups take most of their first-year classes together. Besides the JD, Harvard also offers advanced law degrees called LLM and SJD.

HLS has the largest academic law library in the world. The school has about 115 full-time teachers. Many graduates from Harvard Law School pass the bar exam. This exam is needed to become a lawyer. Between 2000 and 2010, more than a quarter of all Supreme Court clerks came from Harvard Law School. This is more than any other law school in the United States.

History of Harvard Law School

How the Law School Started

Harvard Law School began as a 'law department' at Harvard in 1819. Because of this, it is known as the oldest law school in the U.S. that has always been open. Other early law schools, like William & Mary Law School, closed for a time.

A painting of Isaac Royall Jr. from 1769.

The law department started two years after Harvard received money for its first law professor. This money came from Isaac Royall Jr., a wealthy man who owned enslaved people. Royall left land to Harvard when he died in 1781. He wanted the money from this land to create a professorship in law or medicine. The money from the land was used to create the Royall Professorship of Law in 1815. The Royall family was deeply involved in the slave trade. This meant that the work of enslaved people helped fund the teaching of law at Harvard.

The Royall family's coat of arms had three wheat sheaves. This design was used in the law school's emblem in 1936. It also included Harvard's motto, Veritas, which means 'truth' in Latin. For a long time, many people did not know about the emblem's connection to slavery. In 2016, after students asked, the school decided to remove the emblem. This was because of its link to slavery. In 2021, a new emblem for Harvard Law School was introduced.

The Isaac Royall House, Royall's old home, is now a museum. It has the only remaining slave quarters in the northeastern United States. In 2019, the government of Antigua and Barbuda asked Harvard Law School for reparations. This was because the school benefited from Royall's enslavement of people in their country.

Growing and Changing How Law is Taught

By 1827, the law school was having a hard time. Then, Nathan Dane, a well-known Harvard graduate, gave money for a new law professorship. He insisted that Joseph Story, a Supreme Court Justice, be given this job. For a while, the school was even called "Dane Law School." In 1829, John H. Ashmun became a professor. Many of his students from his old law school followed him to Harvard. Justice Story believed in creating a top law school. He wanted it to be based on merit and dedicated to public service. This helped the school's reputation grow.

For much of the 1800s, not many students attended university law schools. People thought learning law through apprenticeships was enough. In 1848, HLS removed all requirements to get in. In 1869, they also removed exam requirements.

In the 1870s, under Dean Christopher Columbus Langdell, HLS started a new way of teaching law. This became the standard for American law schools. It included classes like contracts, property, torts, criminal law, and civil procedure. Langdell also created the case method of teaching. This is now the main way law is taught in U.S. law schools. The case method teaches students by having them read and discuss real court cases. Langdell believed law could be studied like a "science." This gave university legal education a special purpose. It was different from just training people for jobs.

Harvard Law in the 1900s

Langdell Hall, a building at Harvard Law School.

In the 20th century, Harvard Law School was known for being very competitive. Some people called it a place where you could test your skills against the best thinkers. An old saying goes that new students are told: "Look to your left, look to your right, because one of you won't be here by the end of the year." Books like One L and The Paper Chase describe this tough environment. Harvard Law was slower than other schools to accept women. Women were not admitted as students until 1950.

Some people criticized the school in the 1980s. There were disagreements among teachers about being fair to minority groups and women. This caused some to call the school "Beirut on the Charles."

Another criticism was that the school pushed students towards high-paying law firms. It was said that students learned that working for these firms was their destiny. This was because it was easy to get these jobs due to the school's reputation. The school was also criticized for having very large first-year classes. At one point, there were 140 students in a classroom. People also said the school's leaders were distant and the teachers were hard to reach. This idea is a main part of the movie The Paper Chase and appears in Legally Blonde.

To address these criticisms, HLS changed its approach. It became more like Yale Law School. They made the admissions process very competitive. But once students were in, the law school experience became more about working together. A study in 1992 found that Harvard Law students learned to cooperate. They did not compete against their classmates. Students learned that success was possible for everyone who attended.

Harvard Law in the 2000s

Martha Minow was the dean of Harvard Law School from 2009 to 2017.

In the 2000s, under Dean Elena Kagan, Harvard Law made big changes to its academics. In 2006, teachers voted to approve a new first-year curriculum. This new plan focused more on solving problems, administrative law, and international law. It was put into place over several years. In 2008, the teachers decided to change the grading system. They moved to an Honors/Pass/Low Pass/Fail (H/P/LP/F) system. This is similar to what Yale and Stanford Law School use.

In 2009, Elena Kagan was appointed Solicitor General by President Barack Obama. She then left her role as dean. On June 11, 2009, Drew Gilpin Faust, Harvard University's president, named Martha Minow as the new dean. She started on July 1, 2009. Minow announced in 2017 that she would step down. In June 2017, John F. Manning became the new dean.

In September 2017, the school put up a plaque. It recognized the indirect role that slavery played in its history. The plaque reads:

In honor of the enslaved whose labor created wealth that made possible the founding of Harvard Law School

May we pursue the highest ideals of law and justice in their memory

Reputation and Rankings

Harvard Law School is known as one of the best law schools in the United States. U.S. News & World Report ranked it as the fifth best law school in 2023. QS World University Rankings also ranked HLS first in the world in 2023. The Academic Ranking of World Universities also ranked it first in the world in 2019.

HLS has educated the most U.S. Supreme Court justices. It has also educated the most U.S. attorneys general. Many members of the current United States Congress and law school teachers in the U.S. are from HLS.

In November 2022, Harvard Law School and Yale Law School decided to stop participating in the U.S. News & World Report rankings. They said the ranking system had "flawed methodology."

Job Opportunities for Graduates

After graduating from Harvard Law, most students find jobs quickly. According to the school's report for 2020 graduates, 86.8% found jobs that required a law degree. Another 5.3% found jobs where a law degree was helpful.

Cost of Attending

For the 2022–2023 school year, the tuition at Harvard Law was $72,430. There is also a mandatory health fee of $1,304. This brings the total direct costs to $73,734.

The total cost of attendance includes tuition, fees, and living expenses. For the 2021–2022 school year, this total was $104,200.

The Law School's Emblem

The old emblem of Harvard Law School, which was retired in 2016.

The governing body of Harvard University decided to stop using the law school's old emblem. This emblem included three bundles of wheat. These came from the family symbol of Isaac Royall Jr.. He was a university supporter who gave money to create the first professorship at the law school. Students at the law school felt that the emblem was a problem. This was because the Royall family had owned enslaved people.

The university president and the law school dean agreed with a committee's decision. They felt the emblem did not match the values of the university or the law school. So, on March 15, 2016, the old emblem was retired.

On August 23, 2021, a new emblem was approved. The new design features Harvard's traditional motto, Veritas ('truth' in Latin). Below it is the Latin phrase Lex et Iustitia, meaning 'law and justice'. The new emblem has lines that spread out or diverge. These lines are meant to show the wide reach of the school's work and mission. They also hint at the global impact of the Law School's community. The design is inspired by details found in buildings like Austin Hall. It aims to show energy, complexity, being welcoming, connection, and strength.

Famous People from Harvard Law

President Barack Obama

President Rutherford Hayes

Harvard Law School has many students, so it has graduated many famous people.

Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, went to HLS. Also, Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, graduated from HLS. He was even president of the Harvard Law Review, a student-run legal journal. His wife, Michelle Obama, also graduated from Harvard Law School. Other past presidential candidates who are HLS graduates include Michael Dukakis, Ralph Nader, and Mitt Romney. Eight current U.S. senators are HLS alumni. These include Romney, Ted Cruz, Mike Crapo, Tim Kaine, Jack Reed, Chuck Schumer, Tom Cotton, and Mark Warner.

Other important legal and political leaders who attended HLS include:

• Former president of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou
• Former vice president of Taiwan, Annette Lu
• The current Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Luc Frieden
• The current Chief Justice of India, Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud
• The current Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong, Andrew Cheung Kui-nung
• Former chief justice of the Republic of the Philippines, Renato Corona
• Chief Justice of Singapore Sundaresh Menon
• Former president of the World Bank Group, Robert Zoellick
• Former United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navanethem Pillay
• Former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson
• Lady Arden, a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom
• Solomon Areda Waktolla, a judge for the United Nations Dispute Tribunal.

Lobsang Sangay was the first elected leader of the Tibetan Government in Exile. He earned his S.J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 2004.

Sixteen of the school's graduates have served on the Supreme Court of the United States. This is more than any other law school. Four of the nine current members of the court graduated from HLS. These are the chief justice, John Roberts; and associate justices Neil Gorsuch, Ketanji Brown Jackson, and Elena Kagan. Elena Kagan also served as the dean of Harvard Law School. Other past Supreme Court justices from Harvard Law School include Antonin Scalia, David Souter, and Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.. Ruth Bader Ginsburg also attended Harvard Law School for two years.

Learned Hand

Henry Friendly

Richard Posner

Many other important judges and lawyers also graduated from HLS. These include Attorneys General Loretta Lynch, Alberto Gonzales, and Janet Reno. Famous federal judges like Richard Posner and Henry Friendly also attended the school.

Many HLS alumni are also leaders in the business world. These include:

• The current senior chairman of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein
• Former chief executive officer of Reddit, Ellen Pao
• Current chairman and owner of National Amusements, Sumner Redstone
• Current president and CEO of TIAA-CREF, Roger W. Ferguson Jr.
• Current CEO and chairman of Toys "R" Us, Gerald L. Storch
• Former CEO of Delta Air Lines, Gerald Grinstein

Legal scholars who graduated from Harvard Law include Ronald Dworkin, Laurence Tribe, and Cass Sunstein.

In sports, David Otunga is the only Harvard Law graduate to work for WWE. He has won the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship two times.

Faculty Members

Past Faculty Members

See also

In Spanish: Escuela de Derecho Harvard para niños

• Ames Moot Court Competition
• Harvard Association for Law & Business
• Harvard/MIT Cooperative Society
• List of Harvard University people
• List of Ivy League law schools