Below is a compilation of testimonials from various public-interest oriented students who did not participate in the Harvard Law School Early Interview Program (EIP). EIP is described by the HLS website as “Harvard’s signature law firm recruiting event, where more than 700 law firm offices from across the country (and some international) seek to hire HLS students. “EIP” includes EIP Preview and EIP Week.” It largely involves large-scale, lucrative firms which primarily represent corporate clients.
(March 29, 2024)Editor’s Note: A previous version of this piece made included a claim about the funding practices of OCS that was not properly verified. We apologize for the inconvenience/mischaracterization.
“Having a full summer to relax, do my wonderful PI internship in DC, and recover from 1L was absolutely priceless. Also, did you know BigLaw firms pay OCS based on how many interviews students do?“
-Samara Trilling, JD ‘25
“I came to law school to do public interest work and I am privileged enough so that I can pursue that without having to do EIP.”
-Owen Averbuch, JD ‘25
“I chose not to do EIP after speaking to attorneys in BigLaw to learn about their work. It sounded awful – I could not imagine spending day after day making motions to dismiss civil rights and tort claims, facilitating fossil fuel extraction, covering for corporate misconduct, and helping companies grow larger so they can impose higher prices while providing worse products. I feel so fortunate that I’ll be doing work that aligns with my values following graduation.”
-Swap Agrawal, JD ‘24
“Not doing EIP is a great choice! We should all feel empowered to choose jobs we love that will (even in small ways) make the world a more just and equal place. PSLF makes this a real option financially.”
-Joelle Boxer, JD ‘24
“Corporations that do terrible things hire Big Law firms to evade consequences. I want no part of that.“
-John Fry, JD ‘25
“I simply wouldn’t be in law school (and taking out hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans) if not for my hope to use a law degree to represent vulnerable people and affect positive change in the world. Doing EIP/pursuing a career in big law would run counter to that goal.”
-Sarah Berton, JD ‘25
“Eight years ago, I worked at a sweatshop where the supervisors would expect us to keep working with blood dripping off our hands. Virtually everyone there was an immigrant worker; most were making minimum wage even after working there for decades. As I organized a union with my coworkers, I had my first real experience fighting against injustice. Since I left that sweatshop, I told myself I’d never forget the horrors I experienced for only a brief period while working there—horrors that people around the world are subjected to day after day—and what it felt like to fight against them. I promised to the world that I would use whatever power and privilege I arrived at in this life to fight against the injustice that I experienced. Working in big law would mean perpetuating these injustices, consolidating even more power into the hands of corporations like the one that made me go home crying every day while I worked at its sweatshop eight years ago.“
-Tascha Shahriari-Parsa, JD ‘24
“EIP funnels students into an industry that defends and upholds corporate greed.“
-Anne DeLong, JD ‘24
“I believe that the work Big Law firms do is immoral.”
-Vinny Byju, JD ‘25
“I had to keep remembering my why for law school and not get caught up in the wave of what everyone was doing. I came to law school for criminal, racial, social, and poverty justice, not to make tons of money. Those were my guiding principles and eip didn’t fit into that.”
-Alexia Roberts, JD ‘25″
“I came to law school to try and do my part to advance justice. I don’t want to be shunted down the path of least resistance, I want to hold fast to that commitment and pursue a career in public interest.”
-Holden Hopkins, JD ‘25
“LIPP rocks! Student activism paved our way <3”
-Luisa Graden, JD ‘26
“To do meaningful work that I am passionate about!“
-Katrina Weinert, JD ‘26
“It may be cliche, but I am always reminded of a line from a Mary Oliver poem – “What will you do with your one wild and precious life?” I am unwilling to use my wild and precious life to entrench the economic and political systems that have so profoundly harmed my family, my communities, and the world I live in. In short, I am not willing to spend any amount of my finite time making rich people richer.“
-Luna Floyd, JD ‘24
“I came to law school knowing that I wanted to do public interest work. Despite pressure from some to participate in EIP, I knew that the best way for me to gain relevant experience and engage in my chosen career path was to spend as much time as I can working for public interest organizations, both during and after law school. It’s a decision I have never regretted.“
-Jacqueline Landry, JD ‘24
“I came to law school to directly advocate for people going through a difficult and traumatic time in their lives. While I’ll be earning less than my classmates, people still get by, start families, and have happy lives on an attorney’s salary, and with less than that too.”
-Alis Yoo, JD ‘25
“The professional ideal constantly told to us is that a lawyer is a crusader for justice, yet it often seems like the field pushes us all away from that. You are not alone in that sensation and pushing against it is worth it.“
-Oluwatobi Omotoso, JD ‘25
“Big Law and the clients that they profit off of are on the wrong side of history. Harvard makes it seem like it is the only option: it is not. I don’t know shit about the firm hiring process, and I never considered EIP or Big Law because I believe it is unethical. I’m employed, fulfilled, and will be making a very reasonable salary. You have options.“
-Lea Kayali, JD ‘24
“I knew I wanted to work against mass eviction and mass incarceration, not help achieve those grave injustices as a corporate attorney!“
-Matthew Rock, JD ‘24
“I’ve chosen to serve my country in the United States Coast Guard as an attorney in the Coast Guard’s JAG Corps.“
-Austin Fullmer, JD ‘24
“I’m excited for a career in public service and am grateful to have found a community of like-minded students at HLS.“
-Dee Um, JD ‘24
“I feel as if there was so much pressure and expectations placed on us as 1Ls to follow the same “path to success.” I remember having a disenchanting experience with OCS when I expressed my desire to work in a smaller market. I got really lucky and had a great experience with the firm I worked for 1L summer, and felt no compelling reason to go through the stress of EIP when I knew where I wanted to be.“
-Alleah Thornhill, JD ‘25
“My labor is my time. My time is priceless. Big law can’t afford me.”
-Anonymous
“I’d rather not contribute to the climate catastrophe, opioid epidemic, white collar crime. etc etc etc“
-Anonymous
“EIP does not help me in any way in my chosen career, and I reject the HLS narrative that a firm job is always a step on the legal pathway to success. I care too much about public interest work to spend my time at a big firm.”
- Anonymous
“I came to law school believing I could make a difference. Uncertainty and loans shouldn’t change that.”
-Anonymous
“I came to law school because I was passionate about workers rights and the ways law could be used to create a more just economy . By opting out of EIP, I am staying true to myself and my goal of advancing people’s interests rather than corporate profits.”
-Anonymous
“Even though I’ve had to make large financial contributions to support my family in the last few years (and expect to continue doing so after graduation), I’ve committed to finding other ways of meeting my family’s needs—ways that don’t involve perpetuating systems of harm and power.”
-Anonymous
“I wanted something different for myself”
-Anonymous
“I want to use my degree to advocate for my community and know I can best do that through public interest.”
-Anonymous
“Client work brings me so much joy!”
-Anonymous
“I came to law school to work for my community, not for corporations”
-Anonymous
“I didn’t know where I was going to be working for 2L summer until January. This summer internship won’t be giving me a job offer. I have no idea where I’ll be after graduation and that gives me space to keep exploring how I can best use my legal education in my community. Success, for me, is being able to look myself in the eye at the end of the day and know I didn’t make the world worse.”
-Anonymous
“Law school, to me, should be about pursuing justice. Spending all my waking hours helping rich companies hoard their wealth seems, to me, antithetical to that goal.”
-Anonymous