HLS News June 2005

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  Students contribute to prominent human rights reports

  Two new human rights reports from international groups Human Rights Watch and Front Line draw on research and writing from students in the Clinical Advocacy Project of Harvard Law School's Human Rights Program.
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  Kirkland & Ellis Gift Honored by Renaming Major Harvard Law School Teaching Space

  Harvard Law School's historic Langdell South classroom has been renamed Kirkland and Ellis Hall in recognition of a $3 million gift made by the Chicago-based international law firm. The gift will support preservation and upkeep of this important 162-seat teaching space and -- as part of the Harvard Law School endowment -- support the law school's general educational and research activities.

• Berkman Center launches partnership with the Oxford Internet Institute

  Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society -- the first research center for cyberlaw -- and the Oxford Internet Institute -- the world’s first multidisciplinary Internet research center -- today announced a new research and teaching collaboration.

• Global finance experts discuss U.S.-China relationship

  This weekend, leaders of the financial systems of the United States and China will gather in Armonk, New York to examine issues affecting the financial relationship between the two countries.
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  HLS students play a role in major court decision on asylum

  Last week the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a family is a protected and recognized social group for purposes of refugee protection and asylum eligibility—a ruling praised a group of Harvard Law School students. The students, working with the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic and the Harvard Human Rights Program, had filed an amicus brief in the case of Thomas v. Gonzales urging the court to reach the conclusion reflected in the ruling.

• Symposium celebrates half-century of South African rights declaration

  On Thursday, June 16, Harvard Law School will host a celebration in honor of the 50th anniversary of the South African Freedom Charter. The Charter, adopted in 1955 by the African National Congress and its allies, set out principles regarding equality and respect for human rights for South Africa.

• In talk to new grads and alumni, Spitzer cautions against 'hubris'

  New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told an HLS Class Day audience today that self-regulation by corporations and financial institutions has been an “abject failure” and he warned graduating 3Ls not to succumb to hubris or the delusion that they are “Masters of the Universe.”

• Martha Minow wins Sacks-Freund Teaching Award

  Professor Martha Minow is the winner of the prestigious Sacks-Freund Teaching Award, an honor bestowed each year on a member of the Harvard Law School faculty by the graduating class. Presented at Class Day--the day before commencement--the Sacks-Freund award recognizes teaching ability, attentiveness to student concerns, and general contributions to student life at the law school.