July 09

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  Bebchuk discusses “The Rules of the Game” in new monthly newspaper column

  Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’80 S.J.D. ’84 will be writing a monthly column for Project Syndicate, an international association of 425 newspapers in 150 countries, with a total circulation of about 56 million papers. Bebchuk’s series of monthly commentaries, titled “The Rules of the Game,” will focus on finance and corporate governance.

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  Henderson ’02 and Stofsky ’04 Win Echoing Green Fellowships

  In June, Bethany Rubin Henderson ’02 and Adam Stofsky ’04 were named Echoing Green Fellows for 2009.

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  Goldsmith in NYT: Defend America, one laptop at a time

  The following op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith, “Defend America, one laptop at a time,” appeared in the July 1, 2009, edition of the New York Times.

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  Law Lecturer Susan Cole on Supreme Court’s special education ruling

  Susan Cole, HLS Lecturer on Law and director of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative Clinic at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center at HLS, was interviewed in the Washington Post on the Supreme Court’s recent special education ruling in Forest Grove School District v. T.A.  The Q&A, “The Special Education Ruling,” with Cole and the Post’s Stacey Garfinkle appeared in the July 6, 2009 edition of Washington Post.

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  Cohen and Roin named co-directors of Petrie-Flom Center at HLS

  Assistant Professors of Law I. Glenn Cohen ’03 and Benjamin Roin ’05 are the new co-directors of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Professor Einer Elhauge ’86, who has served as faculty director since the Center’s founding in 2005, will remain associated with the research program as its Founding Director.

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  Roe in Financial Times: How to make a petrol tax politically viable

  In a follow up to their May 21, 2009, Financial Times’ op-ed, Harvard Law School Professor Mark Roe ’75 and New York University School of Law Professor Michael Levine discuss how to make a petrol tax politically viable. Their op-ed appeared in the July 7, 2009 edition of the Financial Times.

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  Mapping the Arabic Blogosphere: Berkman Center releases new study

  A major research project from Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society’s Internet and Democracy Project has lent enormous insight into the previously unexplored flow of online communication in the Middle East and North Africa. The study, “Mapping the Arabic Blogosphere: Politics, Culture and Dissent,” comes at a time of tremendous political unrest and electronic activism in the Middle East.

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  Coates proposes tax and regulatory reforms for mutual funds

  John C. Coates, the John F. Cogan, Jr. Professor of Law and Economics at HLS, issued a set of recommended reforms regarding the regulation of mutual funds, in June. The recommendations were made to the Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, an independent and nonpartisan organization whose research is aimed at improving financial regulations and practices.

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  Bebchuk in WSJ: The fall of the toxic assets plan

  The following op-ed by Harvard Law school Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’81 S.J.D. ’84, “The fall of the toxic assets plan,” appeared in the July 9, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal.

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  Guinier in NYT: Trial by firefighters

  The following op-ed, “Trial by Firefighters,” co-written by HLS Professor Lani Guinier and Columbia Law Professor Susan Sturm, was published in the July 11, 2009, edition of The New York Times. They are also the co-authors of “Who’s Qualified: A New Democracy Forum on the Future of Affirmative Action” (Beacon Press, 2001).

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  23 HLS faculty members sign letter supporting Sotomayor

  Twenty-three Harvard Law School professors sent a letter supporting the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Senate Judiciary Committee on July 8.

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  On NPR, Guinier and Ogletree discuss Sotomayor hearings

  HLS Professors Lani Guinier and Charles Ogletree ’78 discussed what to expect from this week’s confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor on a National Public Radio program that aired July 13.

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  Works by HLS faculty most downloaded on SSRN

  The academic work of the Harvard Law School faculty is downloaded from the online database of the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) more frequently than that of any other law school faculty, according to the popular law blog, Brian Leiter’s Law School Reports. Works by HLS faculty were downloaded 107,591 times during the period studied for the survey.

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  Ogletree: The strange jurisprudence of Justice Thomas

  The following op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree ’78, “The strange jurisprudence of Justice Thomas,” appeared in the July 2, 2009, edition of the Bay State Banner.

• Cohen fellowship in legal bibliography and history awarded

  The Harvard Law School Library announced that its inaugural Morris Cohen Fellowship in American Legal Bibliography and History will go to Sara Mayeux, who is pursuing a joint J.D. and Ph.D. in history from Stanford University.

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  Dershowitz, Fried, and Goldstein comment on Sotomayor confirmation hearing

  The following commentary is excerpted from the New York Times blog, Room for Debate:

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  Harvard’s Berkman Center to conduct independent review of broadband studies to assist FCC

  The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University will conduct an independent expert review of existing literature and studies about broadband deployment and usage throughout the world. This project will help inform the FCC’s efforts in developing the National Broadband Plan.

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  Ogletree in conversation with Breyer on public radio

  Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree ’78 recently conversed with U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer ’64 at the 2009 Aspen Ideas Festival. The discussion, which aired on Minnesota Public Radio on July 15, covered Breyer’s work on the Court. 

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  Warren in Business Week: Consumers need a credit watchdog

  The following op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren, “Consumers need a credit watchdog,” appeared in the July 15, 2009 edition of Business Week magazine.

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  Roe in Forbes: What happens when the government enters the ring?

  The following op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Mark Roe ’75, “What happens when the government enters the ring?” appeared in the July 21, 2009, edition of Forbes.

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  Tribe comments on the Sotomayor hearings in the Washington Post

  The following commentary by Professor Laurence Tribe ’66 appeared in the Washington Post on July 13 and July 14, 2009.

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  Zittrain on cloud computing in NYT and Newsweek

  The following commentary by HLS Professor Jonathan Zittrain ’95 on Google’s new operating system, Chrome, appeared in The New York Times on July 19 and in Newsweek on July 9. Zittrain is the author of “The Future of the Internet — And How to Stop It.”

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  Berrien nominated to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

  Jacqueline A. Berrien ’86 was nominated by President Obama to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She is currently a lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

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  Tribe and two other alumni help to choose White House Fellows

  HLS Professor Laurence Tribe ’66, an expert on constitutional law who has argued 35 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, served on the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, which selects participants for one of the country’s most prestigious programs for leadership and public service.

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  Bebchuk in WSJ: Paying for performance at Goldman

  The following op-ed by Harvard law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’81 S.J.D. ’84, “Paying for performance at Goldman,” appeared in the July 24, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal.

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  Mnookin in Boston Globe on what it would take for Gates, Crowley to shake hands

  The following Q&A featuring Harvard Law School Professor Robert Mnookin ’68 was featured in the July 24, 2009, edition of the Boston Globe.

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  Qatar Conference Draws Heavily from HLS

  Harvard Law School was well represented in the inaugural Qatar Law Forum in late May—an unprecedented gathering of legal luminaries from some 35 nations, including 12 chief justices, the presidents of the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and prominent legal officials, legal educators and practitioners. (Watch video from the forum.)
  
  

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  Scott in WSJ: The Fed can lead on financial supervision

  The following op-ed “The Fed Can Lead on Financial Supervision” co-written by HLS Professor Hal Scott appeared in the July 24, 2009 edition of the Wall Street Journal. Scott, the director of HLS’s Program on International Financial Systems, co-wrote the op-ed with R. Glenn Hubbard, dean and professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School, and John Thornton, chairman of the Brookings Institution.

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  Zittrain speaks about the social structures behind the Internet

  Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain ’95 discussed the social structures that keep the internet “safe from chaos” at this year’s TED Global Conference (Technology, Entertainment, Design). The conference, which took place at Oxford, brought together intellectual leaders from around the world to discuss its theme, “The Substance of Things Not Seen.”

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  Treaty fostered by HLS Project on Disability to be signed by the U.S.

  On Friday July 24, President Barack Obama ’91 announced that the United States will sign the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, joining more than 100 other nations. The Harvard Law School Project on Disability played a prominent role in the negotiations leading up to the convention, which is the first global human rights treaty of the 21st century.

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  Jackson appointed to the U.S. Sentencing Commission

  President Barack Obama ’91 nominated Ketanji Jackson ’96 to fill a spot on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. If confirmed by the Senate, Jackson would be one of seven voting members of the commission, which oversees the sentencing guidelines used by federal judges and advises Congress on criminal law.

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  In Senate testimony, Scott advised on reform of insurance industry regulation

  On July 28, HLS Professor Hal Scott testified before the Senate Banking Committee at hearings held by committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., addressing how the insurance sector could be better regulated.

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  Guinier in Chronicle of Higher Education: Race and Reality in a Front-Porch Encounter

  The following op-ed “Race and Reality in a Front-Porch Encounter” by HLS Professor Lani Guinier appeared in the July 30, 2009 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.

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  Coates testifies before Senate subcommittee on improving corporate governance

  On July 29, HLS Professor John C. Coates testified during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.  In the hearing titled “Protecting Shareholders and Enhancing Public Confidence by Improving Corporate Governance,” Coates offered his recommendations for corporate governance reform.

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  Bebchuk on executive compensation: Let the Good Times Roll Again?

  Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’80 S.J.D. ’84, director of HLS’s Program on Corporate Governance wrote “Let the Good Times Roll Again?” for his July column for Project Syndicate, an international association of 425 newspapers in 150 countries. His recent article draws on his testimony before the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, and his white papers “Equity Compensation for Long-Term Performance” and “Regulating Bankers’ Pay.”