Dr. Dana Montalto

Assistant Professor

Build a Statement of Purpose

Generate a tailored SOP for Dr. Dana Montalto. Improve your application with a focused, well-structured draft.

Biography

Dana Montalto is a Lecturer on Law and the Associate Director of the Veterans Legal Clinic at the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School. She represents veterans and their families in various state and federal veterans benefits appeals and military discharge upgrade petitions. Dana founded the Veterans Justice Pro Bono Partnership, which connects veterans wrongfully receiving less-than-honorable discharges with pro bono attorneys who are eager to give back to those who have served. She is the primary author of 'Underserved: VA Wrongfully Excludes Veterans with Bad Paper' on behalf of Swords to Plowshares and the National Veterans Legal Services Program, and authored 'Turned Away: VA Unlawfully Denies Health Care to Veterans with Bad Paper Discharges' on behalf of OUTVETS. Additionally, she co-authored 'Malice: Revisiting the Historical & Legal Basis of Veterans “Veteran” Services', published in the 122 Penn. St. L. Rev. 69 (2017). Before joining the Legal Services Center in 2014 as an Arthur Liman Public Interest Fellow, Dana completed her clerkship with the Honorable F. Dennis Saylor IV in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Wellesley College (2009) and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School (2013).

Research Interests

Experience

Associate Director

— Present

Veterans Legal Clinic, Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School • Cambridge, MA

Represents veterans and their families in state and federal benefits appeals and military discharge upgrade petitions.

Courses

Advanced Legal Services Lawyering Skills, Spring 2026 Veterans Law Disability Benefits Clinic, Fall 2025 Veterans Law Disability Benefits Clinic, Spring 2026 Veterans Law Disability Benefits Clinical Seminar, Fall 2025 Veterans Law Disability Benefits Clinical Seminar, Spring 2026

Requirements for Harvard Law School

Master Program
Requirements
TOEFL
Listening
Required:25
Reading
Required:25
Writing
Required:25
Speaking
Required:25
Total
Required:100
Prerequisites
J.D. from an ABA-approved U.S. law school or a first law degree (LL.B. or equivalent) from a foreign law school
Application Checklist
  • Online application form
  • CV/Résumé
  • Personal statements (Parts A and B)
  • At least two recommendations
  • Official transcripts and diplomas
  • Official TOEFL report (if applicable)
  • Application fee ($85)
Specialization Notes

Applied for under 'Department of Law', 'Department of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law', 'Department of Constitutional Law', 'Department of Japanese Legal Studies', and 'Department of Human Rights'.