December 2011

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  Fighting for human rights and press freedom in Bahrain: Possibilities and Limitations

  The recent recipient of the Committee to Protect Journalists 2011 International Press Freedom Award, Dr. Mansoor al-Jamri  visited Harvard Law School on Nov. 28 to discuss the fight for human rights and press freedom in Bahrain in light of the Arab Spring uprisings.

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  Minow’s Book “In Brown’s Wake” receives Education Law Association Award

  Dean Martha Minow’s most recent book, “In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Educational Landmark,” recently received The Steven S. Goldberg Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Education Law. The award is given annually by the Education Law Association “in recognition of an outstanding article, book, book chapter, or other form of scholarly legal writing in the field of education law.”

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  Law School appoints John Williams as its first Innovation Lab Expert in Residence

  Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow has appointed Boston entrepreneur John Williams ’79 as the Law School’s inaugural Expert in Residence (EIR).

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  Tomiko Brown-Nagin appointed Professor of Law

  Tomiko Brown-Nagin, a leading expert on legal history, education law, and civil rights, will join the Harvard Law School faculty as a tenured Professor of Law this summer. She will also serve as an affiliate of the History Department in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

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  Daniel Nagin appointed Clinical Professor of Law

  Daniel Nagin, a tireless advocate for low-income communities, will join the Harvard Law School faculty as a Clinical Professor of Law this summer. He will direct community-based lawyering at HLS’s WilmerHale Legal Services Center.

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  At HLS, Jack Abramoff talks about corruption in Washington (video)

  Appearing at Harvard Law School a year and a half after being released from federal prison, a contrite Jack Abramoff expressed a desire to thwart the political corruption he once infamously practiced. The event on Dec. 6 was sponsored by the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, whose director, HLS Professor Lawrence Lessig, interviewed Abramoff, a former lobbyist who pleaded guilty in 2006 to charges of fraud, tax evasion, and conspiracy to bribe public officials. “His experience,” said Lessig, “has an enormous amount to teach us.”

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  Students address critical access to care issues at conference on AIDS

  Students working in the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation launched a new training series at the United States Conference on AIDS in Chicago last month.

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  Six from Harvard Law School win Skadden Fellowships

  Six Harvard Law School students and recent graduates have been chosen to receive Skadden Fellowships to support their work in public service.

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  Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program sponsors talk on EU migration controls

  Bill Frelick, director of the refugee program at Human Rights Watch, spoke at Harvard Law School at the end of October on European Union migration controls and access to asylum, at an event sponsored by the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinical Program.

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  Metropolitan Area Planning Council's 'State of Equity' report to be released at HLS

  The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) has released a summary of “The State of Equity in Metro Boston,” a report studying the ways that inequity affects the residents of greater Boston. The full report was released on Tuesday, Dec. 13 at an event co-hosted by Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.

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  Coates testifies on investor risks in capital raising (video)

  On Wednesday, Dec. 14, Harvard Law School Professor John Coates testified before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment at an open-session hearing titled “Examining Investor Risks in Capital Raising.” 

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  Zittrain and Palfrey in Science Magazine: Better data for a better Internet

  In a recent paper published in the December issue of Science magazine, Harvard Law School Professors Jonathan Zittrain ‘95 and John Palfrey ’01 examine how better forms of measurement of the Internet and the Web can inform Internet policy and regulations.

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  Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall will join HLS faculty

  Margaret H. Marshall, who served over a decade as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, will join the faculty at Harvard Law School this spring as a senior research fellow and lecturer.

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  Lessig on ‘The Daily Show’ (video)

  HLS Professor Lawrence Lessig was a guest on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” on Dec. 13.

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  Wilkins in NYTimes’ ‘Room for Debate:’ Keep the method, not the focus

  In today’s NY Times ‘Room for Debate’ online forum, Harvard Law School Professor David Wilkins ’80 writes on the topic of whether or not the Socratic method should still have a role in American legal education today.

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  Sullivan appointed to Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services

  HLS Clinical Professor Ron Sullivan ’94, who serves as director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute, was recently appointed to the Massachusetts Committee for Public Counsel Services. Sullivan joins Professor Carol Steiker ’86, who is also a member of the committee.

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  HLS clinic assists in effort to prevent the weakening of cluster munitions ban

  On Nov. 25, the Fourth Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons concluded that it could find no consensus on proposed treaty language that would allow for some use of cluster munitions. The announcement was a major milestone for Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic, a supporter of the 2008 Convention on Cluster Munitions.

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  Voice of America: Feldman speaks on Sharia Law (audio)

  Harvard Law School Professor Noah Feldman was recently a guest on Voice of America’s “Press Conference” radio program, speaking with host Carol Casteil about the meaning of Sharia Law and the role that it could play in the burgeoning democracies of Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt and Libya.

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  Hat Trick: Cohen on Flynn v. Holder, Guatemalan reparations, and the ACA

  Harvard Law School Assistant Professor of Law I. Glenn Cohen, co-director of HLS’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics, is the author of three recently published articles on health law topics.

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  HLS faculty and alumni selected "exemplars of good legal writing" by The Green Bag

  The Green Bag, a quarterly journal devoted to readable, concise, and entertaining legal scholarship, has named a number of current and former Harvard Law School faculty members and alumni to its “Exemplary Legal Writing 2011” list. They will appear in the 2012 Almanac & Reader.

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  Elhauge in NEJM: 'Broccoli Argument' is irrelevant against insurance mandate

  HLS Professor Einer Elhauge ’86, the founding director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, wrote “The Irrelevance of the Broccoli Argument against the Insurance Mandate,” which was published online Dec. 21 by the New England Journal of Medicine.

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  Alford meets with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

  HLS Professor William Alford ’77, a member of the executive committee of the board of directors of Special Olympics International and chair of its research and policy committee, met with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in November to discuss disability issues. Alford was a participant in the meeting at the invitation of Timothy Shriver, chairman of Special Olympics, and Na Kyung-won, a member of the South Korean Congress who has been at the forefront of disability rights legislation.