Susan Farbstein
Director
Clinical Professor of Law
Susan Farbstein is the Director of the International Human Rights Clinic and a Clinical Professor at Harvard Law School, where she has taught since 2008. She supervises projects that seek accountability for abuses committed by individuals and corporations, promote socio-economic rights including water and education, and advance gender equity and women’s leadership.
She is an expert on South Africa, where she has engaged on a variety of human rights and transitional justice issues for more than twenty years. Her writing has been published in the Harvard Law Review and the Harvard International Law Journal, as well as popular media outlets including The New York Times. In 2015, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly named her one of the Commonwealth’s “Top Women of Law.” In 2018, the Harvard Women’s Law Association honored her as a “Woman Inspiring Change.”
She has a robust litigation practice, including Mamani v. Sanchez de Lozada, a landmark case holding the former Bolivian president and minister of defense liable for extrajudicial killings; Wiwa v. Shell, charging Shell with complicity in the extrajudicial killings of non-violent Nigerian activists, for which she was honored as a finalist for the 2010 Public Justice Trial Lawyer of the Year Award; and In re South African Apartheid Litigation, a suit against major multinationals for aiding and abetting abuses committed by the apartheid state. She has authored numerous amicus curiae briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court, and provides strategic and legal advice on human rights cases in other jurisdictions.
Before joining the Harvard Law School faculty, Farbstein worked at the Cape Town office of the International Center for Transitional Justice and clerked for the Honorable Morris E. Lasker of the Southern District of New York. She holds a B.A. from Princeton University, an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Recent News
Teaming up to promote access to water
Dana Walterrs | Dec 09, 2020
Susan Farbstein Publishes Article about Apartheid Litigation in Harvard International Law Journal
International Human Rights Clinic | Sep 28, 2020
International Human Rights Clinic | Nov 19, 2019
Cara Solomon | Apr 13, 2018
International Human Rights Clinic | Apr 03, 2018
Susan Farbstein Honored in Harvard Women's Law Association's International Women's Day Exhibit
International Human Rights Clinic | Mar 08, 2018
Clinic Publications
Reply Brief for Plaintiffs-Appellants
in Mamani v. Sanchez de Lozada and Sanchez Berzain | Aug 27, 2019
Brief for Defendants-Appellees
in Mamani, et al., v Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzain | Aug 27, 2019
in Mamani, et al., v Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzain | Nov 08, 2018
in Mamani, et al., v Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzain | Nov 08, 2018
Brief for Plaintiffs-Appellants
in Mamani, et al., v Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzain; Counsel: Judith Chomsky, Beth Stevens, James E. Tysse, Steven H. Schulman, Lide E. Paterno, and Paul Hoffman | Oct 19, 2018
Amici Curiae Brief on Behalf of Professors of Legal History
in Ramchandra Adhikari, et al. v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Incorporated, et al.; International Human Rights Clinic; Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein | Jul 24, 2017
Writ of Certiorari to U.S. Court of Appeals (Second Circuit)
in Joseph Jesner v. Arab Bank; Counsel: Sarah P. Alexander and Mary Inman, of Constantine Cannon LLP, and Tyler Giannini and Susan Farbstein of the International Human Rights Clinic | Jun 24, 2017
Plaintiffs' Reply Brief in Petition for Certiorari
in In Re South African Apartheid Litigation. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Jun 03, 2016
Petition for Writ of Certiorari
in In Re South African Apartheid Litigation. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Feb 08, 2016
Petition for Rehearing En Banc
in In re South African Apartheid Litigation; International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Aug 08, 2015
in In Re South African Apartheid Litigation. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Jun 04, 2015
in Mamani, et al. v. Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzaín. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Mar 08, 2015
in In Re South African Apartheid Litigation. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Feb 02, 2015
Legal Memorandum: War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Eastern Myanmar
The International Human Rights Clinic | Nov 11, 2014
International Human Rights Clinic | Apr 02, 2014
Amici Curiae Brief on Behalf of Professors of Legal History
International Human Rights Clinic | Nov 12, 2013
Appellees' Petition for Panel Rehearing or Rehearing En Banc
in In Re South African Apartheid Litigation. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Sep 23, 2013
in Mamani, et al. v. Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzaín. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Susan Farbstein, Tyler Giannini, et al. | Jul 23, 2013
Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Professors of Legal History
in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Susan Farbstein and Tyler Giannini | Jun 01, 2012
Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Legal History
in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Susan Farbstein and Tyler Giannini | Dec 08, 2011
Petition of Rehearing and Rehearing En Banc in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
in Mamani, et al. v. Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzaín. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Susan Farbstein, Tyler Giannini, et al. | Sep 01, 2011
Plaintiffs Opposition to Motion to Dismiss
in Mamani, et al. v. Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzaín. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Susan Farbstein, Tyler Giannini, et al. | Dec 08, 2010
Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of International Law Scholars
in Presbyterian Church of Sudan v. Talisman Energy, Inc. International Human Rights Clinic. Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Apr 08, 2010
Amicus Curiae Brief on Behalf of Torture Survivors
in Samantar v. Yousuf. International Human Rights Clinic Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Jan 08, 2010
Ntsebeza Amended and Consolidated Complaint
in In Re South African Apartheid Litigation. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Oct 08, 2008
Plaintiffs Surreply on Motion to Dismiss
in Mamani, et al. v. Sánchez de Lozada and Sánchez Berzaín. International Human Rights Clinic. Counsel: Tyler Giannini, Susan Farbstein, et al. | Aug 08, 2008