Wilmerhale Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School

Eloise Lawrence is Associate Director of the Faculty and Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at HLS. She is also faculty supervisor for the HLS student practice organization “Project No One Leaves”. In her role as a clinical instructor, she oversees student lawyers representing tenants and landlords who are in the eviction process. In her role as a lecturer, she teaches Housing Law and Policy every two years and is a member of HLAB`s teaching team for courses specifically designed for HLAB students/lawyers. Prior to her current role, she joined HLAB in 2011 as a staff attorney representing hundreds of families and individuals threatened with eviction due to a seizure of their homes, working with local organizers to advocate for policy change. Previously, she practiced law in the Consumer Rights Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services, where she sued mortgagees on behalf of mortgage borrowers against lenders, service providers and foreclosure companies. Prior to the foreclosure crisis, she was an attorney at the Conservation Law Foundation and began her legal career as a Skadden Fellow in Chicago, where she represented public housing residents in civil rights class actions. Before studying law, Eloise was a high school history teacher. Eloise received a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law in 2002 and a B.A. from Stanford University in 1995.

The Harvard Legal Aid Bureau (HLAB) is unique among HLS clinical legal education programs in that its legal services program is student-led. HLAB was founded in 1913 and has a long history of serving the legal needs of low-income people in the greater Boston area. The Legal Services Centre was established in 1979 with the aim of combining education and public service in law studies. Its main objectives were and are to train law students in the practice and professional service in a fully functioning law firm; mobilize the energies and efforts of these law students to meet the legal needs of a diverse urban clientele; testing approaches to improve access to legal services; and study and understand public policies and institutions that most directly affect low-income individuals and families. Since the office is a student-run legal services program, members and their elected student councils are responsible for managing the organization. The office consists of approximately 50 second- and third-year student members who are dedicated to the Office of Clinical Education and Community Legal Services program for two years. HLAB student membership includes two-year integrated academic and clinical training in skills and ethics of legal practice. HLAB members are expected to devote at least 20 hours per week to clinical practice and related activities. Stephanie Goldenhersh joined the office in August 2007 as a full-time clinical instructor, mentoring students in the office`s family relations practice and is now a senior clinical instructor. Since September 2016, she has been the Assistant Director of Family Practice. Prior to joining the firm, Stephanie practiced at Community Legal Aid-Worcester for six years, handling all types of family relationship litigation and abuse prevention litigation 209A. Stephanie also served as Project Manager for the U.S.

Department of Justice Unit Grant under the Violence Against Women Act, which worked with local domestic violence service providers to ensure continuity of legal services for survivors of domestic violence. Prior to entering the practice of law, Stephanie worked at the law firm of Foley Hoag, LLP, where she participated in environmental litigation and pro bono advocacy for survivors of domestic violence. Stephanie holds a bachelor`s degree in sociology, politics and women`s studies from Brandeis University and a juris doctorate from the University of Michigan School of Law. During law school, Stephanie was a project coordinator for the Family Law Project, a provider of student advocacy for survivors of domestic violence seeking protection orders. Stephanie has also served as editor-in-chief of the Michigan Journal of Gender & Law and taught the undergraduate course “Women in the Law.” “We are committed to the center and proud of the value it offers in providing quality legal services to the local community and educating law students through hands-on experience, training programs, and the expertise of experienced practitioners and mentors,” said William F.