June 2010

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  Mack on History News Network: Rethinking the Rand Paul controversy

  "Rethinking the Rand Paul controversy," an op-ed written by HLS Professor Kenneth Mack, appeared on the History News Network on May 31, 2010.

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  Goldsmith in Washington Post: The cybersecurity changes we need

  “The cybersecurity changes we need,” an op-ed, co-written by Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith and Melissa Hathaway of the Harvard Kennedy School,  appeared in the May 29, 2010, edition of the Washington Post.

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  Ogletree, Tribe bestowed with honorary degrees

  Professors Laurence H. Tribe ’66, and Charles J. Ogletree both received honorary degrees at law school commencement ceremonies this spring.

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  Suk Awarded Herbert Jacob Prize for outstanding book on law and society

  Jeannie Suk, an assistant professor of law at Harvard Law School, has been awarded the Herbert Jacob Prize for her book, “At Home in the Law,” by the Law and Society Association. The prize, awarded for the most outstanding book in law and society of the year, was presented to Suk at the Association’s annual meeting in Chicago on May 29.

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  Greenwald and Alsentzer recognized for their work helping people living with HIV/AIDS

  In April, Dorothée Alsentzer ‘05, senior clinical fellow at the Health Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School’s WilmerHale Legal Services Center, and Lecturer on law Robert Greenwald, founding director of the clinic, received the Positive Leadership Award from the National Association of People with AIDS, during AIDS Watch, a federal grassroots HIV/AIDS advocacy event held in Washington, D.C.

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  Committee on Capital Markets Regulation releases data showing that U.S. public equity markets deteriorated in Q1 2010

  The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, directed by Harvard Law School Professor Hal S. Scott, reported that Q1 2010 data demonstrates deterioration in the competitiveness of U.S. public equity markets. Scott said, “Q1 2010 reverses the trend of mild improvement from the last two years.”

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  Volume 2, Issue 1 of the Journal of Legal Analysis now available online

  The Journal of Legal Analysis—the broad-focused, faculty-edited journal launched by Harvard Law School Professors J. Mark Ramseyer ’82 and Steven Shavell, in February 2009—is now available online. The journal is designed to provide the best legal scholarship from all disciplinary perspectives and styles, covering the span of the legal academy.

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  Warren on NPR: new financial regulation could have "no real impact" (audio)

  As Congress considers legislation to reform Wall Street, Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren remains on the front lines of the fight as chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel. In a June 7 interview with NPR On Point host Tom Ashbrook, Warren said that lawmakers could end up with a bill that has “no real impact.”

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  Bebchuk in Project Syndicate: Rating the raters

  “Rating the Raters,” by HLS Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M ’80 S.J.D. ’84, appeared in Project Syndicate on May 24, 2010. It is the latest installment of his monthly column for the publication. Bebchuk is a professor of law, economics, and finance, and director of the Program on Corporate Governance at Harvard Law School.

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  S.J.D. candidate wins Trudeau Scholarship

  Lisa Kelly LL.M. ’08 was recently awarded a Trudeau Foundation Doctoral Scholarship. Annually, 15 doctoral candidates are awarded up to $180,000 each over a three-year period to support research “of compelling present-day concern” to the Trudeau Foundation, which was established in 2001 to honor the former prime minister of Canada.

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  CCMR offers views on six "critical points" in reconciling House and Senate financial reform bills

  The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation (CCMR), which is led by Harvard Law School Professor Hal S. Scott, sent Congressional leaders a letter on June 14 urging them to consider its positions on six “critical points” as they begin the final task of reconciling the two financial reform bills passed by the House and the Senate.

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  HLS Human Rights Clinic study shows need for legal reform in British Columbia

  The special rights guaranteed to First Nations receive inadequate attention in British Columbia when compared to mining interests, the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) at Harvard Law School said in a report released on June 7.

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  Mack receives honorary degree

  Harvard Law School Professor Kenneth Mack ’91 received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Harrisburg University of Science and Technology during a commencement ceremony on May 20 in Harrisburg, Pa. Mack also delivered the commencement address.

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  Sixty-nine law school deans, including HLS Dean Martha Minow, endorse Kagan's nomination to the Supreme Court

  Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow joined 68 other law school deans from around the country in a letter endorsing the nomination of Elena Kagan ’86 to a seat on the United States Supreme Court. The letter, which was addressed to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was distributed widely on Tuesday, June 15.

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  "It is easier to build strong children than fix broken men:" At HLS summit, Edelman says we must move from punishment to justice (video)

  For ten of thousands of young people, childhood can consist of a pipeline to prison. On Thursday, April 29, 2010, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School hosted a conference addressing the issue locally: “Coming Together to Dismantle the Cradle to Prison Pipeline in Massachusetts: A Half-Day Summit of Community, Faith and Policy Leaders.”

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  Five HLS alumni, including Susan Farbstein ’04, selected as finalists for 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year award

  Five Harvard Law School alumni, including Lecturer on Law and Clinical Instructor at the Human Rights Project Susan Farbstein ’04, have been selected as finalists for the 2010 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award, which is presented each year by the Public Justice foundation to an attorney or team of attorneys who have made the most outstanding contribution to the public interest through precedent-setting litigation.

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  Nine from HLS receive Dean’s Award for Excellence (video)

  HLS Dean Martha Minow presented nine staff members with the 2010 Dean’s Award for Excellence at an awards ceremony in Ames Courtroom, Austin Hall, on June 10.

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  Disability rights victory in Europe won by alum with help from HPOD

  On May 20, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that blanket disenfranchisement of people with disabilities is contrary to the European Convention of Human Rights.

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  Go Green: New bike shelters installed near Pound Hall

  On Earth Day, the Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing project gained a set of new bicycle shelters at the Lewis Lot, south of Pound Hall. There are 26 bicycle racks within the two enclosures. Additionally, four new bicycle racks have now been added under the Pound Hall overhang facing Lewis International Law Center, and three new bicycle racks now sit under the Holmes Hall west entrance. All the bicycle racks are ready for use.

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  Supreme Court Litigation Clinic wins hat trick

  Harvard Law School students participating in this year’s Supreme Court Litigation Clinic wound up winning a hat trick this year, with the Supreme Court ruling in their favor in all three cases in which the clinic’s students were involved.  

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  Bebchuk in New York Times: 'Don't gut proxy access'

  In an op-ed in The New York Times, entitled “Another view: Don’t gut proxy access,” Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’80, S.J.D. ’84, argues that Congress should reject attempts to impose severe limits on the ability of shareholders to place candidates on the corporate ballot.

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  Bruce E. MacDonald LL.M. '92 to oversee military commission process

  Retired Navy Vice Admiral Bruce E. MacDonald LL.M. ’92 was appointed to the position of convening authority for military commissions, created by Congress in the Military Commissions Act. The appointment was made by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.

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  Program on International Financial Systems co-sponsors China-U.S. Symposium

  The annual China-U.S. Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century took place in Nanjing, China from June 18-20.  Co-sponsored by the Harvard Law School  Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) and the China Development Research Foundation (CDRF), this gathering annually convenes approximately 120 senior financial and government leaders from the United States and China to address key issues relating to capital markets, financial regulation and the China-U.S. economic and financial relationship.

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  Over 900 legal scholars join colleagues nationwide to urge Senate to confirm Elena Kagan as Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

  A bipartisan group of over 900 law professors from 152 law schools across the country have joined together to urge the confirmation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court of the United States.

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  Jonathan Zittrain Named Professor of Computer Science in the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

  Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain ’95, a leading scholar on the legal and policy issues surrounding the Internet, adds to his law school post a joint appointment to the faculty of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) as Professor of Computer Science. Zittrain is a co-founder of the university’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society.

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  Martin D. Ginsburg '58 (1932 – 2010)

  The distinguished tax law expert Martin D. Ginsburg ’58, a tax law professor at Georgetown University and of counsel at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, died Sunday in Washington, D.C. He was the husband of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.