Editing Harvard Law School (section)

==History ==
===Founding===
Harvard Law School's founding is traced to the establishment of a 'law department' at Harvard in 1819.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=https://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/2016/03/Shield-Committee-Report.pdf |title=Recommendation to the President and Fellows of Harvard College on the Shield Approved for the Law School |access-date=June 24, 2016|publisher=Harvard University |archive-date=May 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160522120647/https://hls.harvard.edu/content/uploads/2016/03/Shield-Committee-Report.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Dating the founding to the year of the creation of the law department makes Harvard Law School the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. [[William & Mary Law School]] opened first in 1779, but it closed due to the [[American Civil War]], reopening in 1920.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wm.edu/law/about/quickfacts.shtml |title=Quick Facts: W&M Law School |publisher=Marshall-Wythe School of Law |access-date=August 24, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604133241/http://www.wm.edu/law/about/quickfacts.shtml |archive-date=June 4, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[University of Maryland School of Law]] was chartered in 1816 but did not begin classes until 1824, and it also closed during the Civil War.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.umaryland.edu/about/mission.html |title=The University of Maryland School of Law: Our History and Mission |publisher=The University of Maryland School of Law |access-date=June 21, 2008 |archive-date=July 2, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080702030533/http://www.law.umaryland.edu/about/mission.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:John Singleton Copley - Isaac Royall - 39.247 - Museum of Fine Arts.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Portrait of [[Isaac Royall Jr.]], painted in 1769 by [[John Singleton Copley|J.S. Copley]]]]
The founding of the law department came two years after the establishment of Harvard's first endowed professorship in law, funded by a bequest from the estate of wealthy slave-owner [[Isaac Royall Jr.]], in 1817.<ref name="auto1"/> Royall left roughly 1,000 acres of land in Massachusetts to Harvard when he died in exile in Nova Scotia, where he fled to as a [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalist]] during the [[American Revolution]], in 1781, "to be appropriated towards the endowing a Professor of Laws ... or a Professor of Physick and Anatomy, whichever the said overseers and Corporation [of the college] shall judge to be best."<ref name="auto1"/> The value of the land, when fully liquidated in 1809, was $2,938; the [[Harvard Corporation]] allocated $400 from the income generated by those funds to create the Royall Professorship of Law in 1815.<ref name="auto1"/> The Royalls were so involved in the slave trade, that "the labor of slaves underwrote the teaching of law in Cambridge."<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://www.harvardandslavery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Harvard-Slavery-Book-111110.pdf
|title= Harvard and Slavery: Seeking a Forgotten History
|author= Sven Beckert, Katherine Stevens and the students of the Harvard and Slavery Research Seminar
|date= 2011
|page= 11
|publisher= Harvard University
|access-date= December 12, 2018
|archive-date= July 28, 2018
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180728150449/http://www.harvardandslavery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Harvard-Slavery-Book-111110.pdf
|url-status= live
}}</ref> The dean of the law school traditionally held the Royall chair; deans [[Elena Kagan]] and [[Martha Minow]] declined the Royall chair due to its origins in the proceeds of slavery.

The Royall family's [[coat of arms]], which shows three stacked wheat sheaves on a blue background, was adopted as part of the law school's arms in 1936, topped with the university's motto (''Veritas'', [[Latin]] for 'truth').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/bulletin/2001/summer/gallery_main.html |title=Issues Archive |work= Harvard Law Today |publisher=Harvard University|access-date=March 10, 2015 |archive-date=October 24, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024205832/http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/bulletin/2001/summer/gallery_main.html |url-status=live }}</ref>  Until the school began investigating its connections with slavery in the 2010s, most alumni and faculty at the time were unaware of the origins of the arms.<ref name="crimson">{{cite news
|url= https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/4/24/hls-continues-no-seal/
|title= Two Years After Law School Removed Royall Crest, No New Seal in Sight
|author= Aidan F. Ryan
|date= April 24, 2018
|newspaper= The Harvard Crimson
|access-date= December 12, 2018
|archive-date= March 13, 2020
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200313171946/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/4/24/hls-continues-no-seal/
|url-status= live
}}</ref> In March 2016, following requests by students, the school decided to [[#Heraldic shield|remove the emblem]] because of its association with slavery.<ref>{{cite news|title=Harvard law school drops official shield over slavery links|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/05/harvard-law-school-drops-official-shield-over-slavery-links|access-date=March 5, 2016|work=The Guardian|date=March 4, 2016|archive-date=March 6, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306082836/http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/mar/05/harvard-law-school-drops-official-shield-over-slavery-links|url-status=live}}</ref> In November 2019, Harvard announced that a working group had been tasked to develop a new emblem.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/11/27/law-school-seal-committee/| title = Harvard Law School Announces Working Group to Develop New Seal |work= The Harvard Crimson| access-date = April 20, 2020| archive-date = March 24, 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210324063128/https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/11/27/law-school-seal-committee/| url-status = live}}</ref> In August 2021, the new Harvard Law School emblem was introduced.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://today.law.harvard.edu/harvard-law-school-unveils-new-shield/|title=Harvard Law School unveils new shield|newspaper=Harvard Law Today|access-date=1 September 2021|archive-date=August 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825002956/https://today.law.harvard.edu/harvard-law-school-unveils-new-shield/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Royall's Medford estate, the [[Isaac Royall House]], is now a museum which features the only remaining slave quarters in the northeast United States. In 2019, the government of [[Antigua and Barbuda]] requested reparations from Harvard Law School on the grounds that it benefitted from Royall's enslavement of people in the country.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/11/06/antigua-and-barbuda-want-reparations-from-harvard-because-law-school-slavery-ties/JA1j39FdEDBsPbTjPpTarN/story.html|work=The Boston Globe |title=Antigua and Barbuda want reparations from Harvard because of the law school's slavery ties |access-date=November 10, 2019 |archive-date=November 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191110021741/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/11/06/antigua-and-barbuda-want-reparations-from-harvard-because-law-school-slavery-ties/JA1j39FdEDBsPbTjPpTarN/story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Growth===
By 1827, the school, with one faculty member, was struggling. [[Nathan Dane]], a prominent alumnus of the college, then endowed the Dane Professorship of Law, insisting that it be given to then Supreme Court Justice [[Joseph Story]]. For a while, the school was called "Dane Law School."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1930/1/23/law-school-has-fine-portrait-collection/ |title=LAW SCHOOL HAS FINE PORTRAIT COLLECTION &#124; News &#124; The Harvard Crimson |publisher=Thecrimson.com |date=January 23, 1930 |access-date=March 10, 2015 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303182518/http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1930/1/23/law-school-has-fine-portrait-collection/ |url-status=live }}.  The school is called ''Dane Law School'' in an 1854 letter written by Rev. C.C. Jones to his son, Robert Manson Myers, ed., ''The Children of Pride: A True Story of Georgia and the Civil War'' (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1972), p. 42.</ref>  In 1829, John H. Ashmun, son of [[Eli Porter Ashmun]] and brother of [[George Ashmun]], accepted a professorship and closed his [[Northampton Law School]], with many of his students following him to Harvard.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/antiquitieshist00clargoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/antiquitieshist00clargoog/page/n285 277] |quote=john ashmun northampton harvard law school. |title=Antiquities, Historicals and Graduates of Northampton – Solomon Clark – Internet Archive |publisher=Steam Press of Gazette Print. Company |access-date=March 10, 2015|last1=Clark |first1=Solomon |year=1882 }}</ref> Story's belief in the need for an elite law school based on merit and dedicated to public service helped build the school's reputation at the time, although the contours of these beliefs have not been consistent throughout its history. Enrollment remained low through the 19th century as university legal education was considered to be of little added benefit to apprenticeships in legal practice. After first trying lowered admissions standards, in 1848 HLS eliminated admissions requirements.<ref name=120HarvLR1089>{{cite journal|title=Book Note: Exploring the Organization and Actions of Legal Professions: Honor Seeking and Echoes of Political Revolution|journal=[[Harvard Law Review]]|date=2007|volume=120|page=1089|url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/booknote.pdf|access-date=October 25, 2017|archive-date=October 25, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025185857/https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/booknote.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>  In 1869, HLS also eliminated examination requirements.<ref name=120HarvLR1089/>

In the 1870s, under [[Law school dean|Dean]] [[Christopher Columbus Langdell]], HLS introduced what has become the standard first-year [[curriculum]] for American law schools – including classes in [[contracts]], [[property]], [[torts]], [[criminal law]], and [[civil procedure]]. At Harvard, Langdell also developed the [[casebook method|case method]] of teaching law, now the dominant [[pedagogy|pedagogical]] model at U.S. law schools. Langdell's notion that law could be studied as a "science" gave university legal education a reason for being distinct from vocational preparation. Critics at first defended the old lecture method because it was faster and cheaper and made fewer demands on faculty and students. Advocates said the case method had a sounder theoretical basis in scientific research and the inductive method. Langdell's graduates became leading professors at other law schools where they introduced the case method. The method was facilitated by casebooks. From its founding in 1900, the [[Association of American Law Schools]] promoted the case method in law schools that sought [[accreditation]].<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor = 20462057|title = The Proliferation of Case Method Teaching in American Law Schools: Mr. Langdell's Emblematic "Abomination", 1890–1915|journal = History of Education Quarterly|volume = 46|issue = 2|pages = 192–247|last1 = Kimball|first1 = Bruce A.|year = 2006|doi = 10.1111/j.1748-5959.2006.tb00066.x|s2cid = 143692702}}</ref><ref>Bruce A. Kimball, '"Warn Students That I Entertain Heretical Opinions, Which They Are Not To Take as Law': The Inception of Case Method Teaching in the Classrooms of the Early C.C. Langdell, 1870–1883," ''Law and History Review'' 17 (Spring 1999): 57–140.</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:Harvard Law School Library in Langdell Hall at night.jpg|thumb|[[Langdell Hall]]]]
During the 20th century, Harvard Law School was known for its competitiveness. For example, [[Bob Berring]] called it "a samurai ring where you can test your swordsmanship against the swordsmanship of the strongest intellectual warriors from around the nation."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.top-law-schools.com/berring-interview.html |title=Interview with Former Dean Robert Berring of U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law |publisher=Top-law-schools.com |access-date=March 10, 2015 |archive-date=March 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150315185015/http://www.top-law-schools.com/berring-interview.html |url-status=live }}</ref> When Langdell developed the original law school curriculum, Harvard President [[Charles William Eliot|Charles Eliot]] told him to make it "hard and long."<ref name="autogenerated2">{{Cite web|url=http://paulcarrington.com/Harvard%20Law%20School%20Oral%20History.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218062635/http://paulcarrington.com/Harvard%20Law%20School%20Oral%20History.htm|title=Harvard Law School Oral History|archivedate=February 18, 2012}}</ref><ref name="autogenerated3">{{Cite web|url=http://paulcarrington.com/Learning%20Law%20in%20New%20Haven.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120218062629/http://paulcarrington.com/Learning%20Law%20in%20New%20Haven.htm|title=Learning Law in New Haven|archivedate=February 18, 2012}}</ref> An urban legend holds that incoming students are told to "Look to your left, look to your right, because one of you won't be here by the end of the year."<ref>{{Citation |first=Richard D. |last=Kahlenberg |title=Broken Contract: A Memoir of Harvard Law School |year=1992 |location=New York |publisher=Hill and Wang |isbn=978-0-8090-3165-8 |page=6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aQeEOnWFuqUC&pg=PA6}}</ref> [[Scott Turow]]'s memoir ''[[One L]]'' and [[John Jay Osborn, Jr.|John Jay Osborn]]'s novel ''[[The Paper Chase (Osborn novel)|The Paper Chase]]'' describe such an environment. Trailing many of its peers, Harvard Law did not admit women as students until 1950, for the class of 1953.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://asklib.law.harvard.edu/faq/115324 | title=When were women first admitted to Harvard Law School? - Ask a Librarian! }}</ref>

Eleanor Kerlow's book ''Poisoned Ivy: How Egos, Ideology, and Power Politics Almost Ruined Harvard Law School'' criticized the school for a 1980s political dispute between newer and older faculty members over accusations of insensitivity to minority and feminist issues. Divisiveness over such issues as [[political correctness]] lent the school the title "Beirut on the Charles."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legaled.com/revolution.htm|title=Legaled.com » Revolution|website=legaled.com|access-date=December 17, 2017|archive-date=December 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205003258/http://www.legaled.com/revolution.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In ''Broken Contract: A Memoir of Harvard Law School'', Richard Kahlenberg criticized the school for driving students away from public interest and toward work in high-paying law firms. Kahlenberg's criticisms are supported by Granfield and Koenig's study, which found that "students [are directed] toward service in the most prestigious law firms, both because they learn that such positions are their destiny and because the recruitment network that results from collective eminence makes these jobs extremely easy to obtain."<ref name="autogenerated1" /> The school has also been criticized for its large first year class sizes (at one point there were 140 students per classroom; in 2001 there were 80), a cold and aloof administration,<ref>{{cite news | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE4D71131F935A25757C0A9679C8B63 | work=The New York Times | title=Harvard Law Tries to Increase Appeal | first=Jonathan D. | last=Glater | date=April 16, 2001 | access-date=May 4, 2010 | archive-date=January 29, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129220459/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/16/us/harvard-law-tries-to-increase-appeal.html | url-status=live }}</ref> and an inaccessible faculty. The latter stereotype is a central plot element of ''[[The Paper Chase (film)|The Paper Chase]]'' and appears in ''[[Legally Blonde]]''.

In response to the above criticisms, HLS eventually implemented the once-criticized<ref name="autogenerated3" /> but now dominant approach pioneered by Dean [[Robert Maynard Hutchins|Robert Hutchins]] at [[Yale Law School]], of shifting the competitiveness to the admissions process while making law school itself a more cooperative experience. Robert Granfield and Thomas Koenig's 1992 study of Harvard Law students that appeared in ''The Sociological Quarterly'' found that students "learn to cooperate with rather than compete against classmates," and that contrary to "less eminent" law schools, students "learn that professional success is available for all who attend, and that therefore, only neurotic 'gunners' try to outdo peers."<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Citation |first1=Robert |last1=Granfield |first2=Thomas |last2=Koenig |year=2005 |title=Learning Collective Eminence: Harvard Law School and the Social Production of Elite Lawyers |journal=Sociological Quarterly |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=503–20 |doi=10.1111/j.1533-8525.1992.tb00140.x }}</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:1 martha minow commencement 2010 harvard.JPG|thumb|upright=0.75|right|[[Martha Minow]], dean, 2009–2017]]
Under Kagan, the second half of the 2000s saw significant academic changes since the implementation of the Langdell curriculum. In 2006, the faculty voted unanimously to approve a new first-year curriculum, placing greater emphasis on problem-solving, administrative law, and international law. The new curriculum was implemented in stages over the next several years,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/bulletin/2008/winter/feature_1.php |title=Issues Archive &#124; Harvard Law Today |publisher=Law.harvard.edu |access-date=March 10, 2015 |archive-date=December 28, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131228052931/http://www.law.harvard.edu/news/bulletin/2008/winter/feature_1.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/education/07harvard.html | work=The New York Times | title=Harvard Law Decides to Steep Students in 21st-Century Issues | first=Jonathan D. | last=Glater | date=October 7, 2006 | access-date=May 4, 2010 | archive-date=June 5, 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100605134057/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/07/education/07harvard.html | url-status=live }}</ref> with the last new course, a first-year practice-oriented problem-solving workshop, being instituted in January 2010. In late 2008, the faculty decided that the school should move to an Honors/Pass/Low Pass/Fail (H/P/LP/F) grading system, much like those in place at Yale and at [[Stanford Law School]]. The system applied to half the courses taken by students in the Class of 2010 and fully started with the Class of 2011.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mystal |first=Elie |url=http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/hls-grade-reform-splitting-the-baby-was-the-only-call/ |title=HLS Grade Reform: Splitting the Baby Was The Only Call |date=October 28, 2008 |publisher=Above the Law |access-date=March 10, 2015 |archive-date=July 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708113026/http://abovethelaw.com/2008/10/hls-grade-reform-splitting-the-baby-was-the-only-call/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2009, Kagan was appointed [[Solicitor General of the United States|solicitor general of the United States]] by President [[Barack Obama]] and resigned the deanship. On June 11, 2009, Harvard University president, [[Drew Gilpin Faust]] named [[Martha Minow]] as the new dean. She assumed the position on July 1, 2009. On January 3, 2017, Minow announced that she would conclude her tenure as dean at the end of the academic year.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/03/harvard-law-school-dean-step-down/jmpkWN2VR3XbzDpA1k2vPL/story.html|title=Harvard Law School dean to step down |newspaper=The Boston Globe|access-date=January 4, 2017|archive-date=January 4, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104143454/http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/01/03/harvard-law-school-dean-step-down/jmpkWN2VR3XbzDpA1k2vPL/story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In June 2017, [[John F. Manning]] was named as the new dean, effective as of July 1, 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/06/john-manning-named-dean-of-harvard-law-school/ |title=John Manning to lead Harvard Law School |publisher=Harvard Gazette |date=June 1, 2017 |access-date=July 20, 2017 |archive-date=November 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191102002312/https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/06/john-manning-named-dean-of-harvard-law-school/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2017, the school unveiled a plaque acknowledging the indirect role played by [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]] in its history:

{{blockquote|In honor of the enslaved whose labor created wealth that made possible the founding of {{nobr|Harvard Law School}}

''May we pursue the highest ideals of law and justice in {{nobr|their memory}}''<ref>{{cite news |last=Meyers |first=Alyssa |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/09/08/harvard-law-school-unveils-plaque-acknowledge-slave-labor/IHVNzT0fmEk9ezdZhnLqDI/story.html |title=Harvard Law unveils plaque to acknowledge slave labor |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |date=September 8, 2017 |access-date=October 6, 2017 |archive-date=October 7, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007070047/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/09/08/harvard-law-school-unveils-plaque-acknowledge-slave-labor/IHVNzT0fmEk9ezdZhnLqDI/story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

=== Coat of arms ===
[[File:Coat of arms (seal, emblem, shield) of Harvard Law School.png|150px|thumb|The coat of arms of Harvard Law School which was retired in 2016]]
The [[Harvard Corporation|governing body]] of the university voted to retire the law school's [[coat of arms]]. The school's shield incorporated the three garbs of wheat from the armorial bearings of [[Isaac Royall Jr.]], a university benefactor who had endowed the first professorship in the law school. The shield had become a source of contention among a group of law school students, who objected to the Royall family's history of slave ownership.<ref>[https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/14/harvard-law-school-ditch-controversial-shield-with-elements-from-slave-owning-family/UIYgbyviFdwwGKjexZgWqN/story.html Harvard Law School to ditch controversial shield] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420215034/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/03/14/harvard-law-school-ditch-controversial-shield-with-elements-from-slave-owning-family/UIYgbyviFdwwGKjexZgWqN/story.html |date=April 20, 2016 }} Steve Annear. Boston Globe. March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016</ref><ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/15/the-harvard-law-shield-tied-to-slavery-is-already-disappearing-after-corporation-vote/ The Harvard Law shield tied to slavery is already disappearing, after corporation vote] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421052835/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/15/the-harvard-law-shield-tied-to-slavery-is-already-disappearing-after-corporation-vote/ |date=April 21, 2016 }}. Susan Svrluga. Washington Post. March 15, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016</ref>

The president of the university and dean of the law school, acting upon the recommendation of a committee formed to study the issue, ultimately agreed with its majority decision,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/us/harvard-law-to-abandon-crest-linked-to-slavery.html?_r=0 Harvard Law to Abandon Crest Linked to Slavery] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130025225/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/05/us/harvard-law-to-abandon-crest-linked-to-slavery.html?_r=0 |date=November 30, 2016 }} Anemona Hartocollis. New York Times. March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016</ref> that the shield was inconsistent with the values of both the university and the law school. Their recommendation was ultimately adopted by the Harvard Corporation and on March 15, 2016, the shield was ordered retired.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/15/the-harvard-law-shield-tied-to-slavery-is-already-disappearing-after-corporation-vote/ The Harvard Law shield tied to slavery is already disappearing, after corporation vote] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421052835/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/03/15/the-harvard-law-shield-tied-to-slavery-is-already-disappearing-after-corporation-vote/ |date=April 21, 2016 }}. Susan Svrluga. Washington Post. March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Shammas|first1=Michael|title=After Months of Advocacy and Debate, Harvard Law Recommends Shield Change|url=http://hlrecord.org/2016/03/harvard-law-recommends-shield-change/|website=The Harvard Law Record|access-date=January 3, 2018|date=2016-03-04|archive-date=January 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102031921/http://hlrecord.org/2016/03/harvard-law-recommends-shield-change/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[http://today.law.harvard.edu/harvard-corporation-agrees-to-retire-hls-shield/ Harvard Corporation agrees to retire HLS shield] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419190054/http://today.law.harvard.edu/harvard-corporation-agrees-to-retire-hls-shield/ |date=April 19, 2016 }} Harvard Law Today. March 14, 2016. Retrieved April 26, 2016</ref>

On August 23, 2021, it was announced that a new emblem was approved by the Harvard Corporation. The new design features Harvard's traditional motto, {{lang|la|[[Veritas#Mottos|Veritas]]}} ([[Latin]] for 'truth'), resting above the Latin phrase ''Lex et Iustitia'', meaning 'law and justice'. According to the HLS Shield Working Group's final report, the expanding or diverging lines, some with no obvious beginning or end, are meant to convey a sense of broad scope or great distance — the limitlessness of the school's work and mission. The radial lines also allude to the latitudinal and longitudinal lines that define the arc of the earth, conveying the global reach of the Law School's community and impact. The multifaceted, radiating form — a form inspired by architectural details found in both Austin Hall and Hauser Hall — seeks to convey dynamism, complexity, inclusiveness, connectivity, and strength.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://today.law.harvard.edu/harvard-law-school-unveils-new-shield/|title=Harvard Law School unveils new shield|access-date=August 25, 2021|archive-date=August 25, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210825002956/https://today.law.harvard.edu/harvard-law-school-unveils-new-shield/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Rankings ===
HLS was ranked as the fifth best law school in the United States by ''U.S. News & World Report'' in its 2023 rankings.<ref>{{cite web |title=2023 Best Law Schools |url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320195829/https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/law-rankings |archive-date=March 20, 2017 |website=U.S. News & World Report}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 27, 2021 |title=Top (T14) Law Schools in the US (2021-2022) |url=https://magoosh.com/lsat/2019/top-law-schools/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200214025311/https://magoosh.com/lsat/2019/top-law-schools/ |archive-date=February 14, 2020 |access-date=February 14, 2020}}</ref> HLS was ranked first in the world by QS World University Rankings in 2023.<ref name="auto">{{cite web |title=Law |url=https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2019/law-legal-studies |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200120205417/https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/university-subject-rankings/2019/law-legal-studies |archive-date=January 20, 2020 |access-date=15 January 2020 |website=QS World University Rankings}}</ref> It is ranked first in the world by the 2019 Academic Ranking of World Universities.<ref name="auto2">{{cite web |title=ShanghaiRanking's Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2019 - Law |url=http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/law.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713045723/http://www.shanghairanking.com/Shanghairanking-Subject-Rankings/law.html |archive-date=July 13, 2019 |access-date=15 January 2020 |website=Academic Ranking of World Universities}}</ref>

In November 2022, the law school made a joint decision along with Yale Law School to withdraw from the ''U.S. News & World Report'' Best Law Schools rankings, citing the system's "flawed methodology."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Korn |first=Melissa |date=November 16, 2022 |title=WSJ News Exclusive {{!}} Yale and Harvard Law Schools Abandon U.S. News Rankings |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/yale-law-school-abandons-u-s-news-rankings-citing-flawed-methodology-11668607649 |access-date=2022-11-17 |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>