The Harvard Law Record is the oldest law school-affiliated newspaper in the United States. An independent and nonpartisan paper, it has been published since 1946, and its contributors have included President Barack Obama, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist, presidential candidate Ralph Nader, notable law professors such as Alan Dershowitz and Duncan Kennedy and writers who have gone on to win Pulitzer, O. Henry, and PEN Prizes. The newspaper has been the recipient of several American Bar Association journalism awards over the last decade. Its current editor-in-chief is Oluwatobi O. Omotoso ’25.

On a law school campus that already has an official news organization, Harvard Law Today, as well as ideological journals such as the Journal of Law & Public Policy and Unbound, The Record serves two crucial roles: First, The Record provides a space for law students and professors to write investigative news stories that are not sanctioned by the law school administration. Second, The Record supplies a space for students, professors, and alumni to respectfully debate opinions spanning the entire political spectrum, and thus to engage in a true Socratic dialogue (often missing from law school classes) that goes beyond abstract law.

In furtherance of our second role, The Record has a relatively open publishing policy and is committed to publishing a multitude of views. If you see an opinion piece you disagree with, we encourage you to submit a response for consideration — if it is well-written, respectful and interesting, it will likely be published.

For more information about the history and notable alumni of the Record, see its Wikipedia page. An archive of pre-2002 issues of The Record is available here.

All staff, officers, and directors are currently-enrolled students at Harvard Law School and volunteers who do not receive academic credit for their work. The Harvard Law Record (ISSN 0017-8101) is a publication of the Harvard Law School Record Corporation, a non-profit, independent, student-owned and run corporation of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

The Record is now accepting applications from anyone interested in participating in any aspect of the production of a print or online newspaper. This includes news writers, opinion columnists, investigative reporters, web designers, print designers, copy editors, and more. No experience is necessary.

Interested HLS students should contact the editor-in-chief at hlrecord1946@gmail.com.