On April 5, 2019, the WilmerHale Legal Services Center welcomed over 200 guests—including alumni, current students, elected officials, leaders in clinical education, and community partners—to its 40th anniversary event to mark four decades of training attorneys and law students and providing high quality, pro bono civil legal services to thousands of Greater Boston’s most vulnerable residents.
The 40th Anniversary was a day filled with learning, inspiring conversations, reconnecting with friends, and building energy for our continued work in pursuit of justice. The event featured compelling discussions about clinical legal education, economic justice, building partnerships to address community needs, and the collaborative student-client relationship—plus plenty sharing of memories and stories among the many people who have passed through LSC’s doors over the past 40 years. We ended the day with a riveting keynote address by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and presentation of awards to emerging leaders, partner organizations, and foundation supporters who have helped make LSC what it is today. Read more about the event and see additional photos here.
40th Anniversary Report
Roundtable Discussions & Keynote Speaker
Welcome Remarks
Jeanne Charn, LSC Co-founder
Daniel Nagin, Faculty Director of LSC and the Veterans Legal Clinic
#Connect: An LSC Student and Client Discuss Collaboration
Stephanie Davidson, Attorney and Clinical Instructor in LSC’s Family Law/Domestic Violence Clinic
Joanna, LSC Client
D Dangaran, 2L at Harvard Law
#Spark: The Influence of the Bellow-Charn Model on Legal Education
Sarah Boonin, Clinical Professor of Law and Associate Director of Clinical Programs at Suffolk University
Sameer Ashar, Vice Dean for Experiential Education and Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law;
Jeanne Charn, LSC Co-founder and Senior Lecturer on Law at HLS
Luz E. Herrera, Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Experiential Education at Texas A&M University School of Law
Jeff Selbin, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Policy Advocacy Clinic at Berkeley Law.
#Uplift: Using the Law to Create Economic Justice
Keith Fogg, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of LSC’s Federal Tax Clinic
Haben Girma ’13, Disability Rights Advocate
Congressman Joseph Kennedy III ’09, Massachusetts’ 4th District
Blake Strode ’14, Executive Director of ArchCity Defenders
Michelle Wu ’12, Boston City Councilor
#Flex: Responding to Community Needs Through Partnerships
Martha Minow, 300th Anniversary University Professor and former Dean of Harvard Law School
Brandon German, Community Organizer, Advocate, Entrepreneur
Robert Greenwald, Clinical Professor of Law and faculty director of Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation; LSC Alum
Toby Merrill, Clinical Instructor and Lecturer on Law and Founder and Director of the Project on Predatory Student Lending; LSC Alum
Nnena Odim, Senior Clinical Instructor in LSC’s Family and Domestic Violence Law Clinic; LSC Alum
John J. Regan, Senior Fellow in LSC’s Veterans Justice Project and retired partner at WilmerHale’s Boston office
With closing remarks from Julie McCormack, Senior Clinical Instructor and Director of LSC’s Safety Net Project.
Keynote Speaker and Awards
Keynote address by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, with welcome remarks by John F. Manning, JD ’85, Dean of Harvard Law School.
Bellow-Charn Champion of Justice Awards
Emerging Leader Award: Blake Strode, JD ’15
Community Partner Award: Passageway – Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Legacy Award: John F. Cogan, Jr., JD ‘52 and John D. Hamilton, Jr., JD ’60
LSC’s anniversary event also commemorated 25 years in our current building, which was funded through the generosity of WilmerHale. WilmerHale’s commitment to and support of the Legal Services Center has been integral to our justice work. We gratefully acknowledge their generous support for making this event possible.