November 2011

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  Annette Gordon-Reed joins, speaks at American Academy of Arts and Sciences (video)

  Harvard Law School Professor Annette Gordon-Reed ’84 was inducted as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and served as the academy’s Class IV speaker at the 2011 induction ceremony, held Oct. 1.

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  Cohen argues against the Mississippi Personhood Ballot Initiative

  Harvard Law School Assistant Professor of Law I. Glenn Cohen joined medical and legal experts live via Skype on Oct. 25 at Mississippi College School of Law to debate the implications of Mississippi’s Personhood initiative, which will appear on the state’s ballot Nov. 8. The initiative asks: “Should the term 'person' be defined to include every human being from the moment of fertilization, cloning, or the equivalent thereof?”

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  "From Dictatorship to Democracy:" Gene Sharp on the possibility of transition

  Gene Sharp, an emeritus professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and founder of the Albert Einstein Institution, is widely credited as one of the principal initiators of the Arab Spring. His 1993 book, “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” which promotes the principle of nonviolent struggle, is created with inspiring the revolution in Egypt, as well as in other countries all over the world.  

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  Garzon on universal jurisdiction in the international criminal arena (video)

  Universal Jurisdiction, the universal right to prosecute a perpetrator of heinous crimes anywhere in the world despite local amnesty laws, was the topic of discussion at Harvard Law School on September 26. In a talk hosted by the Human Rights Program, Spanish Judge Baltasar Garzon spoke about universal jurisdiction in today’s international criminal arena.

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  At HLS, editor of Above the Law weighs blog impact (audio)

  In a talk sponsored by the Harvard Federalist Society and moderated by HLS Professor Jeannie Suk, David Lat discussed the impact of blogging on the judiciary.

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  Tribe Named 2012 Boston Appellate Practice Lawyer of the Year

  "Best Lawyers," a peer review legal publication, has named HLS Professor Laurence H. Tribe ’66 “Lawyer of the Year” in the category of Boston Appellate Practitioners. Only one lawyer in each specialty in each community is honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

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  Berkman Center for Internet & Society partners with Lady Gaga to launch the Born This Way Foundation

  The Berkman Center for Internet & Society has partnered with Grammy awarding-winning artist Lady Gaga, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the California Endowment to launch the Born This Way Foundation (BTWF), a non-profit charitable organization that will support programs and initiatives aimed at empowering youth.

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  Addressing communications issues in legal cases

  What must lawyers know about litigation and public affairs communications in the global marketplace? Richard S. Levick, lawyer, president and CEO of Levick Strategic Communications, addressed this question in an event organized by the Institute for Global Law and Policy at Harvard Law School on Oct. 13.

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  Program on International Financial Systems hosts 2011 Japan Symposium

  On Nov. 4-6, Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) co-hosted the 14th annual “Symposium on Building the Financial System of the 21st Century: An Agenda for Japan and the United States,” with the International House of Japan. The event, held this year in Cambridge, Mass., brought together more than 100 hundred senior executives and government officials from the financial industry, policymaking, law and academic arenas.

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  Cayley discusses prosecutions of mass atrocities (video)

  In a lecture sponsored by the Human Rights Program and International Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, Andrew Cayley, co-prosecutor of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge Tribunal, discussed his role as counsel on both sides of the aisle in international law.

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  Lessig and Gergen on 'Republic, Lost' (video)

  At a recent event at Harvard Law School, HLS Professor Lawrence Lessig and Harvard Kennedy School Professor David Gergen discussed Lessig’s new book, “Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It.” The event was co-hosted by the Harvard Law School Library, Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership, and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

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  OPIA sponsors “Careers in the Military” panel with HLS alums (video)

  Law students interested in a law firm career can attend firm-sponsored meet-and-greets to speak with associates. Students interested in public interest careers can meet one-on-one with visiting alumni advisors. But HLS students interested in military careers have fewer chances to mingle with those who have pursued that path. To provide that opportunity, OPIA welcomed to HLS five alumni who have served in the armed forces, to provide guidance and answer student questions.

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  Post Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: Next steps?

  Harvard Law School Lambda, a student organization dedicated to serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, hosted a panel at the law school on Nov. 9 to discuss challenges posed to effectively ending discrimination against LGBT service-members in light of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. 

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  Palfrey appointed as the Head of School at Phillips Academy Andover

  John G. Palfrey ’01, Harvard Law School’s Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and vice-dean of Library and Information Resources, has been appointed the 15^th Head of School at the Phillips Academy Andover, the academy announced Nov. 14. He will leave HLS and officially begin at Phillips Academy in July 2012.

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  National implications of state-led immigration reform

  At an event about the national implications of state-led immigration reform, sponsored by Harvard Immigration Project, Advocates for Human Rights, and ACLU-HLS, Lucas Guttentag, senior counsel and former founding national director of the ACLU's Immigrants’ Rights Project, discussed Alabama's new immigration law, its significance for state efforts to regulate immigration, and where immigration advocates go from here.

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  Students testify before education committee to garner support for safe schools

  Eight Harvard Law School students in the HLS Education Law Clinic of the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI) recently spent a full day at the Massachusetts State House, testifying before the Joint Committee on Education and lobbying legislators to garner support for legislation proposed by the Clinic to create safe and supportive school environments.

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  Health care reform: HLS faculty and alumni weigh in (video)

  On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear challenges to the constitutionality of the Health Care Law. In an op-ed and a debate this past week, two HLS faculty members (Professors Einer Elhauge '86 and Laurence Tribe '66) and a prominent alumnus (former Solicitor General Paul Clement '92) shared their opinions on the mandate's constitutionality.

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  In Dubois Institute lecture series, Ogletree reflects on Obama's narrative

  Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree delivered the Nathan I. Huggins Lecture on November 15th, 16th, and 17th at the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard University. The lecture series, “Understanding Obama,” is divided into three parts: “From Barry to Barack,” “The Emergence of Race” and “The Conundrum of Race.” 

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  The Ames Moot Court Competition: A look back

  Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. Supreme Court presided over the oral argument in the final round of the 2011 Ames Moot Court Competition on Thursday, November 17th, 2011.The competition was held in the historic Ames Courtroom of Harvard Law School.

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  Yog gift to Harvard includes financial aid and fellowship fund at HLS

  Siddhartha Yog, M.B.A. ’04, founder and managing partner of The Xander Group Inc., an India-focused, emerging-markets investment firm, has given the University $11,000,001 to establish two new professorships, fellowships and financial aid, and an intellectual entrepreneurship fund.

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  Student testifies on health care reform provisions before the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

  On November 8, Emily Savner ‘13 of the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation testified at a regional listening session convened by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The session was convened to elicit comments from individuals and groups about the health services that should be included in the soon-to-be created Essential Health Benefits package mandated through health care reform. Once finalized and implemented by HHS, the Essential Health Benefits package will provide a federally mandated set of health services to millions of currently uninsured Americans through both Medicaid and newly-created subsidized private health insurance plans. 

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  Former White House Counsel Bauer Speaks to HLS Students (Video)

  Former White House Counsel Robert Bauer addressed students at Harvard Law School in October, sharing his insights on the lawyer’s role in law and politics. Bauer, who served as counsel to President Obama from November 2009 to June 2011, is currently a partner at Perkins Coie and is now representing the president’s re-election team and the Democratic National Committee.

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  At Center for Ethics event, cell phone radiation and institutional corruption addressed (video)

  On Nov. 3, Dr. Franz Adlkofer, former executive director of the VERUM Foundation for Behavior and Environment, spoke to a Harvard Law School audience as part of the lectures and events series hosted by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. 

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  In Ahram Online, Mallat argues that SCAF must fold in Egypt

  HLS Visiting Professor Chibli Mallat recently published an op-ed in the Egyptian newspaper Ahram Online entitled “Why and How SCAF must fold in Egypt.”

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  Eugene N. Hamilton (1933-2011)

  Eugene N. Hamilton, a Harvard Law School Lecturer on Law and former chief judge of the D.C. Superior Court, who was revered as a great trial advocacy teacher, mentor and advocate for children, died Saturday, Nov. 19. Hamilton lectured at Harvard Law School for nearly 30 years, most recently teaching in HLS’s Trial Advocacy Workshop.

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  Food is the great connector

  On Nov. 14, the Harvard Food Law Society, Environmental Law Society, and the Environmental Law Review hosted the Boston premiere of the PBS special “Heirloom Meals’ Thanksgiving.” The documentary, which aired on PBS stations around the country this week, celebrates how different cultures in America give the holidays their own special flavor.

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  Palfrey on intellectual property strategy (video)

  According to John Palfrey, businesspeople are often insufficiently attentive to the ways that intellectual property rights can be acquired and exercised. His new book, “Intellectual Property Strategy” (MIT Press), is thus written with businesspeople in mind. Palfrey, Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources and Faculty Co-Director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, argues for leaders of businesses and non-profit organizations to adopt IP policies that go beyond the traditional, highly restrictive “sword and shield” approach, and that instead focus on flexibility and creativity.

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  Hubschman Fellowship established for HLS/HKS students

  Friends of Henry Hubschman HLS ’72, M.P.P. ’73 have set up a fellowship in his memory at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Law School. Established shortly after Hubschman’s death in February 2011, the fellowship has received more than $550,000 in contributions and is now permanently endowed. It will provide financial assistance to students pursuing dual HLS/HKS degrees beginning in academic year 2012–13.

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  Zittrain in Technology Review: The personal computer is dead

  In a Nov. 30 op-ed in Technology Review, Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain discusses the consequences of the rise of mobile devices and the shift in power from the end user and software developers to operating system vendors.