"He was able to forcefully argue against injustice--prosecuting people for their politics or poverty, rather than their crimes," said Climenko Professor of Law Charles J. Ogletree.

Bellow came to Harvard in 1971, where he incorporated his life's work into his teaching.

"He was my first true teacher of zealous advocacy. I continue to use his logic of public interest lawyering in my work teaching the next cadre of public interest lawyers," said Ogletree, who studied under Bellow in 1976.

At Harvard, Bellow was one of the first practitioners of clinical legal education, teaching students in the classroom and sending them into the field to practice what they learned.

"He basically spearheaded, maybe invented, clinical education," Michelman said.

With his wife, Harvard Law School Lecturer Jeanne Charn, Bellow founded the Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plains. The center enables law school students to practice real cases and provides legal services to the poor.

The center became "the envy of clinicians around the country," according to Dean of the Law School Robert C. Clark.

Bellow leaves his wife; sons Douglas of Cambridge, Mass., and David; daughter Courtenay Kettleson of Medford, Mass.; and sisters Helaine Gould of Manhasset, New York, and Bonnie Bellow of New York City.

Burial will be private. A memorial service will be held at Harvard University at a later date.