Law & Government Program of Study

  • HLS has seven programs of study which host events and provide career and course guidance.  The Law & Government Program of Study’s website has some good resources for those interested in working for cities, and the Program often hosts events relating to local government.

OPIA’s job search toolkit

Courses and professors

  • Local Government Law is taught at least once each year. In the past, the class was taught by HLS’s long-time local government law scholar Gerald Frug. More recently, newly tenured Niko Bowie, has taught Local Government Law as both a full semester and winter session class.
  • Susan Crawford is the faculty sponsor for the HLS Urbanists and teaches City Use of Technology and the Responsive Communities Lab.
  • Molly Brady teaches Land Use Law and acts as the faculty chair for the joint JD/Masters of Urban Planning program with the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
  • Other courses that may be of specific interest to Urbanists are Housing Law and Policy and State Constitutional Law, taught every winter term by Judge Jeffrey Sutton.  Additionally, Judge David Barron, formerly a local government law scholar and professor at HLS, still teaches some courses at the Law School.
  • Of course, because almost all issues are, in some sense, urban issues, there are many other courses for those interested in cities, from Environmental Law to Criminal Procedure to Education Law and Policy.

Clinics and Student Practice Organizations