Harvard Law School to Pause LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic Next Year After Instructor Departures

Harvard Law School will suspend its LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic for the 2026-27 academic year after both of its clinical instructors departed, leaving a temporary gap in LGBTQ+ focused clinical training and course work as the school conducts a national search for new leadership.

The Law School announced the pause in early April, before the clinic registration period closed and shortly after clinic director Alexander L. Chen said he would leave on April 1. Co-instructor Deborah Lolai had already announced earlier this winter that she would depart to launch a new clinic at Fordham University School of Law.

Administrators have indicated the clinic is unlikely to return before fall 2027, citing the timeline required for a nationwide hiring process.

The disruption will extend beyond clinical placement. A related seminar on the law’s intersection with gender identity and sexual orientation — the only course at the Law School dedicated entirely to the LGBTQ+ legal issues — will also not be offered next year.

Students said the timing of the announcement came as a surprise and left few immediate alternatives.

“Generally, we’re disappointed in the lack of planning, to see this clinic be taken away in this fashion,” said Eric H. Forehand, a campus advocacy chair for HLS Lambda, the Law School’s LGBTQ+ student organization. “I think it caught many people unaware.”

HLS spokesperson Scott W. Young declined to comment, pointing to the written statement on the clinic’s webpage confirming the departures and the clinic’s pause.

J Souvaliotis, another campus advocacy chair for Lambda, said administrators from the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs had initially considered continuing the clinic with a single instructor after Lolai’s departure, and may ultimately hire only one replacement.

The clinic has historically combined direct client representation — including work on criminal defense, prisoner rights, and post-conviction cases affecting LGBTQ+ individuals — with broader advocacy and policy work.

Ava S. Pacchiana, a second-year student who participated in the clinic, said that range requires multiple instructors with different expertise.

“Because of that broad scope, it is essential for the clinic to be staffed by at least two clinical instructors,” she said.

Lolai, however, said enrollment levels did not currently support that model.

“I don’t actually think, with the enrollment numbers that we had, that we need two instructors,” she said, adding that the program could expand staffing if demand grows.

She also said the Law School’s decision to take time in hiring reflects a focus on finding the right candidate rather than a lack of commitment to the clinic.

“I believe that their intention to take their time with hiring is not a reflection of them deprioritizing the clinic,” she said. “I think they want to make sure that they hire the right person, and because of the way the academic hiring cycles work, the best time to start a search for a new clinician is late summer, early fall.”

Associate Dean for Academic Programs Meredith Boake wrote in a statement that staffing decisions would depend on enrollment and that the school’s “initial plans are to hire a clinical director,” based on input from student groups and from leadership at the Legal Services Center, which houses the clinic.

“We have met with student leadership at both Lambda and QTPOC and discussed sharing these and other opportunities with interested students,” Boak wrote.

“Once we have a leadership profile from that input, we will launch a search aligned to that profile,” she added.

Boak also pointed students toward LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and the independent clinical program as alternatives during the pause.

Students said that the clinic’s impact extends beyond its caseload. Souvaliotis said instructors also played a key role in mentoring students and supporting organizations working with LGBTQ+ and transgender clinics.

“We’ve heard for students that interacting with the clinic, working with the clinicians, has been — even those who weren’t in the clinic — have found it just a really important space to learn about how the law intersects with LGBT issues, because it’s hard to do it,” they said.

Lambda is now working with administrators to identify alternative opportunities, including LGBTQ+-related work in other clinics such as health law and cyberlaw. Still, students said those options would not fully replace the dedicated clinic.

“There’s no LGBTQ-focused seminar happening next year, which means most students’ education on queer legal issues is going to be limited to the maybe two classes that are spent on it in con law,” she said.

For some students, the clinic has had lasting effects on their career plans. Jude D. Hoag, who participated in the clinic for two semesters, said it shaped his interest in public defense.

“I would not have gotten the experience with working with clients in post-conviction relief without the clinic,” he said. “I would not be interested in being a public defender without the clinic.”

Despite frustrations over the pause, students said they have had productive conversations with administrators about restoring the program.

“We are excited to move forward with OCP in helping to reinstate the clinic,” Forehand said. “This will be a continuing process, but one in which I think we have set a foundation of cooperation, and we’re excited to move forward.”

—Staff writer Uy B. Pham can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at ubp.88. Follow him on X @uybpham.