October 2010

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  Professors discuss study of international law at HLS

  In a recent panel discussion at Harvard Law School, professors William Alford, Grainne de Burca, and Gerald Neuman extolled the benefits of studying, interning, and working abroad in a legal context, and offered practical advice to internationally-minded students about how to get started.

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  Palfrey in NYT on cyberbullying: Solutions Beyond the Law

  In an opinion piece in the Room for Debate section of The New York Times, Harvard Law School Professor John Palfrey discusses whether the death of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers student, calls for tougher laws against malicious acts online.

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  Professor Gerald Frug Wins Award from The Canadian Centre for Architecture and the LSE, will give the Stirling Memorial Lectures

  The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), in collaboration with the Cities Programme of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), has announced the winner of the fourth international competition to give the James Stirling Memorial Lectures on the City. The jury selected Harvard Law School Professor Gerald Frug as the 2010-2011 Stirling Lecturer, for his project entitled "The Architecture of Governance."

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  In the echo of Gekko, a rebuttal: Scaramucci explains why 'greed is bad' (video)

  Anthony Scaramucci '89 — author of "Goodbye Gordon Gekko: How to Find Your Fortune Without Losing Your Soul" and adviser to the movie Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps —shared career advice with Harvard Law School students at an event cosponsored by the Traphagen Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series and the Office of Career Services on September 29.

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  Panelists Offer A Roundup on Arizona's New Immigration Law

  In a Harvard Law School discussion on immigration law, three expert panelists offered perspectives from the trenches on Arizona SB 1070, the controversial immigration law enacted earlier this year.

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  Feldman and Minow in the Harvard Gazette: The Supreme Court’s new dynamic

  In a recent interview with the Harvard Gazette, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow and Professor Noah Feldman surveyed the future of the Supreme Court in light of the succession of retired associate justice John Paul Stevens by former HLS Dean Elena Kagan ’86.

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  Cohen on The Takeaway: On the controversies that still lie behind in-vitro fertilization (audio)

  I. Glenn Cohen, co-director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health and Law Policy and assistant professor of Harvard Law School, was a guest on the radio program “The Takeaway,” a national morning news program produced in partnership with The New York Times, the BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston.

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  Alston Critiques the Rise of Drones and Targeted Killings in US National Security Policy

  The American government should display more transparency and give clearer legal guidelines for targeted killings and the use of drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Philip Alston, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, during a lecture last week.

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  Professors Heymann and Blum receive award for their book “Laws, Outlaws, and Terrorists”

  Professor Philip Heymann ’60 and Associate Professor Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03 received the 2010 Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize for their recently published book “Laws, Outlaws, and Terrorists” (MIT Press, 2010).

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  Goldsmith in the New York Times: The pitfalls of federal trials of Guantánamo Bay detainees

  In an Oct. 8 op-ed in the New York Times, Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith argues that the trial of suspected terrorists – whether in criminal, civilian, or military court – is the “wrong approach.” 

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  HLS Panel discusses an end to don’t ask, don’t tell (video)

  On Oct. 12, Judge Virginia A. Phillips of Federal District Court for the Central District of California issued an injunction barring enforcement of don’t ask, don’t tell, the law that prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the military.

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  Scanlon compares individual morality and the morality of institutions

  In a public lecture sponsored by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, Thomas Scanlon, Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Morality, and Civil Policy at Harvard, discussed individual morality and the morality of institutions.  

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  John Manning: The Separation of Powers as Ordinary Interpretation

  Professor John Manning delivered a chair lecture, “The Separation of Powers as Ordinary Interpretation,” in October to mark his appointment as the Bruce Bromley Professor of Law. Manning addressed a full Caspersen Room, with a broad representation of the Harvard Law School community in attendance.

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  Mark Johnson named University Vice President for Capital Planning and Project Management

  Harvard University announced today (Oct. 19) that Mark Johnson, the Director of Major Capital Projects and Physical Planning at Harvard Law School, has been named vice president for capital planning and project management.

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  Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics receives $12 million gift

  Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, directed by Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig, has received a gift of $12.3 million from Lily Safra, given in memory of her late husband, Edmond J. Safra, a prominent philanthropist who was the founder of the Republic National Bank of New York.

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  Project No One Leaves on PBS NewsHour (video)

  The efforts of students in the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and the WilmerHale Legal Services Center to keep Boston residents in their homes after foreclosure were featured in a major story last night on the PBS NewsHour.

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  Louis Henkin '40, a founder of modern human rights law [1917-2010]

  Louis Henkin ’40, who pioneered the field of human rights law and was a prolific scholar and teacher in the fields of constitutional and international law, died Oct. 14, 2010. He was 92.

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  International Human Rights Clinic files amicus brief in corporate Alien Tort Statute case

  Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Second Circuit in support of a petition for rehearing en banc in a major corporate Alien Tort Statute (“ATS”) case, Kiobel, et al. v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., et al.

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  Professor Ian Ker explores Newman’s "The Idea of a University" (video)

  Reverend Professor Ian Ker of Oxford University gave a lecture on John Henry Newman’s “The Idea of a University” at Harvard Law School in September, arguing that careful attention is needed to understand Newman’s perspective on the goals of a university in light of modern day assumptions about education.

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  Goldsmith in the Washington Post: Our nation's secrets, stuck in a broken system

  Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith wrote an op-ed for the Oct. 21, 2010 edition of the Washington Post titled “Our nation’s secrets, stuck in a broken system.” The piece addresses Bob Woodward’s book, “Obama Wars,” in which ostensibly classified information – presumably obtained from senior White House officials – is disclosed regardless of the “grave damage” that could result from its release.  

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  To Help Break Gridlock, Federal Officials Work With HLS Negotiation and Mediation Clinic

  Twenty senior federal officials – both Republicans and Democrats – met in Washington in July to hone their negotiation and consensus building skills with members of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) at Harvard Law School.

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  'Life of the Law, Life of the Mind': A Discussion with Feldman, Suk and Minow (video)

  In an HLS panel discussion titled “Life of the Law, Life of the Mind,” Dean Martha Minow and Professors of Law Jeannie Suk and Noah Feldman stressed the importance of recognizing and embracing the differences between legal training and academic experience.

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  Statement of President Barack Obama '91 on the life of Paul Miller '86

  The White House released a statement from the President on Thursday, October 21 on the life of Paul Miller '86, who advised Presidents Obama and Clinton on disability and equal opportunity matters. Miller, a lawyer who was born with achondroplasia "dwarfism" and became a leader in the disability rights movement, died Tuesday at his home on Mercer Island, Wash. He was 49.

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  Coates examines costs of corporate political activity to shareholders

  Professor John C. Coates published “Corporate Governance and Corporate Political Activity: What Effect Will Citizens United Have on Shareholder Wealth?” in September, as part of the HLS Working Paper series.  

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  Suk gains tenure as professor of law at Harvard

  Jeannie Suk ’02 has gained tenure as a professor of law at Harvard. The faculty voted to grant tenure on Oct. 14 and Harvard University approved it immediately thereafter.

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  Vermeule: Reviews of new and classic books on the ‘small-c’ Constitution

  Harvard Law School professor Adrian Vermeule ‘93, who is an expert on Constitutional Law, recently reviewed two books — one new and one "neglected classic" — which deal with the subject. The first, "Superstatutes," was featured in The New Republic; the other ("The small-c constitution circa 1925") was a contribution to the new Classics section of the online journal Jotwell.

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  Sitkoff elected Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

  Robert H. Sitkoff, the John L. Gray Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, was elected an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national professional organization of approximately 2,600 lawyers who specialize in trusts and estates.