Harvard Defenders Celebrates 50 Years of Free Legal Assistance

The Harvard Defenders, a Harvard Law School student organization that provides legal representation to low-income persons accused of crimes, will celebrate its 50th anniversary on Saturday, April 29.

The Harvard Defenders is a legal services organization that is dedicated to providing quality legal representation to people with low income in criminal show-cause hearings and welfare fraud investigations.

As part of the anniversary celebration, the Defenders will sponsor a symposium on the effects of media coverage of major trials on the practice and ethics of attorneys in the criminal justice system.

Panelists will include former members of the Defenders, including Samuel Dash, who served as chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee, and Scott Harshbarger, former Massachusetts attorney general and current Common Cause president. Also participating will be Nicole Seligman, who served as a member of President Bill Clinton’s impeachment defense team.

The symposium, moderated by Jesse Climenko Professor of Law Charles Ogletree, will run from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Ames Court Room, Austin Hall, 1515 Massachusetts Avenue.

The anniversary celebration will also feature a tribute to the original Harvard Defenders as well as an evening cocktail reception and reunion dinner.

For more information, contact defend50@law.harvard.edu or Naomi Cotter at (617) 495-4413.