The Harvard Asia Law Society is a student organization at Harvard Law School, founded in 1993 to bring together students, faculty, and alumni with a common interest in law and legal practice in Asia. Its mission statement since has been to serve as a bridge between the Asian legal and business worlds and the Harvard Law School community, and to connect law students to academic and professional opportunities both in Asia and relating to Asian law.
When HALS was founded a quarter century ago, the Chinese legal market had only been open to international firms for one year, and the Japanese market for six. Only 17 of the AmLaw100 had offices in Asia. Today that number has risen to 65, and Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore have followed Japan and China’s lead.
As the oldest and largest student organization of its kind in the United States, HALS’ mission has never been more relevant than it is today. With the support of our sponsors and Harvard Law School faculty and alumni, we aim to continue to foster a new generation of globally-minded legal professionals.