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April 2012

Howard Gardner: The ethical letter of the law (video)

If the countless headlines in recent years are an indication, we live in an age dominated by a corporate playbook that considers success at the expense of others a standard part of doing business. But increasingly, observers fear that same philosophy is too often becoming the norm in other professions. Journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin explored the trend’s impact on the legal profession in his recent New York Times column “Conflicted, and Often Getting a Pass,” said Harvard’s Professor Howard Gardner during a Mar. 21 discussion at Harvard Law School.
Scott in WSJ: The Alternative to Shareholder Class Actions

"The Alternative to Shareholder Class Actions," an op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott and Leslie N. Silverman, appeared in the Apr. 1 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
Brig. Gen. Mark Martins: Legitimacy and limits of military commissions (video)

On April 3, Brigadier General Mark Martins ’90, chief prosecutor at the Office of U.S. Military Commissions in the Department of Defense, delivered a lecture at Harvard Law School on Legitimacy and the Limits of Command in Reformed Military Commissions. The lecture was sponsored by the National Security Journal and the National Security & Law Association.
Vermeule in TNR: Local wisdom

In a recent edition of The New Republic’s online review ‘The Book,’ Harvard Law School Professor Adrian Vermeule reviews David M. Dorsen’s “Henry Friendly, Greatest Judge of His Era” (Belknap Press 2012)—a “clarifying biography” in which the author thoroughly examines Friendly’s judgments, arguments, and extrajudicial writings “with an eye to pinning down Friendly’s legacy.”
Great Negotiator 2012: James A. Baker III

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III was at Harvard on March 29 to receive the Great Negotiator Award, the annual honor created by the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School to recognize individuals whose “lifetime achievements in the field of negotiation and dispute resolution have had a significant and lasting impact.”
Paul Volcker on preventing bank failures (video)

Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve under Presidents Carter and Reagan, and former chairman of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, was on campus in early April as a guest of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics series on institutional corruption. The Center’s director, Professor Lawrence Lessig, introduced him to an at-capacity crowd in Ames Courtroom before yielding the floor to Harvard Business School Professor Emeritus Malcolm Salter, who moderated a conversation with Volcker on the historical context of today’s financial crisis and current efforts to thwart future crises.
Sports Law Symposium examines aftermath of collective bargaining

Two years after considering the possibility of work stoppages in major league sports, the annual Harvard Law School Sports Law Symposium this year examined unresolved issues in the aftermath of collective bargaining agreements, as well as the ongoing problems of concussions and performance-enhancing drugs.
Goldberg on the NSA’s warrantless wireless wiretap

Steven Goldberg ’72 is part of the legal team challenging the National Security Agency’s warrantless wireless wiretap of an Islamic charity in southern Oregon. He visited Harvard Law School on March 31 to discuss the case in the context of how law students and lawyers working apart from large organizations can get involved in similar cases.
Donahue named fellow of Medieval Academy of America

Harvard Law School Professor Charles Donahue, Jr., Paul A. Freund Professor of Law, was recently recognized by the Medieval Academy of America (MAA) for his notable contributions to medieval scholarship. He was elected a fellow by MAA members and inducted on March 24 at the MAA’s annual meeting in St. Louis.
Prominent Cuban intellectual participates in 'Negotiating with Cuba' reading group

Three times last month, Harvard Law School Professor Robert Mnookin brought in prominent Cuban intellectual Rafael M. Hernández Rodríguez via videoconference to speak to his reading group on the topic of negotiating with Cuba. According to Mnookin, it’s the first time a Cuban scholar has participated in an American seminar from Cuba itself, an event for which took Mnookin weeks of back and forth with Cuba’s Ministry of Culture to obtain permission, giving a glimpse into the continued hold of the Communist bureaucracy in Havana.
Mack in The Root: The Burden of Clarence Thomas

"The Roots of Clarence Thomas' Black Burden," an op-ed by Harvard Law School Professor Kenneth Mack ’91, appeared in The Root on April 6. In it, Mack examines Thomas' role as an African American justice who, according to Mack, has "embraced the role of representative of his race"—50 years after William H. Hastie bore a similar "burden" as the first African American federal judge.
CIA general counsel Stephen W. Preston ’83 says CIA is committed to the rule of law

Despite its “essential” cloak of secrecy, the Central Intelligence Agency is committed to the rule of law, CIA general counsel Stephen W. Preston ’83 said in a speech at Harvard Law School on Tuesday, April 12, hosted by the HLS American Constitution Society.
HLS Shareholder Rights Clinic contributes to governance reforms in S&P 500 companies

A new HLS clinic, in its first year of operation, has already contributed to significant governance reforms in numerous S&P 500 companies. The Harvard Law School Shareholder Rights Project (SRP) is a clinical program at Harvard Law School through which faculty and students assist public pension funds and charitable organizations to improve corporate governance at publicly traded companies in which they are shareowners.
In chair lecture, Blum cuts through the "fog of victory" (video)

Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03 delivered the lecture “The Fog of Victory” on April 10 to mark her appointment as the Rita E. Hauser Professor of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Harvard Law School.
New HLS complex pulls offshoots together, promotes interaction

Last fall the Harvard Law School opened its newest building, 250,000 square feet aimed at bringing faculty and students closer. Its design, developed in close collaboration with HLS community residents and neighbors and realized by the architectural firm Robert A.M. Stern Architects, grew out of a strategic plan crafted in 2000, with the primary goal of improving the overall student experience.
Wilkins and Vermeule elected into Academy of Arts and Sciences

Harvard Law Professors David Wilkins ‘80 and Adrian Vermeule ’93 have been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Wilkins, the Lester Kissel Professor of Law, is director of the Program on the Legal Profession and vice dean for Global Initiatives on the Legal Profession. Vermeule is a leading scholar of administrative law and constitutional law and theory.
Bebchuk in The New York Times' DealBook: Giving shareholders a voice

In the April 19 edition of The New York Times’ DealBook, Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk defends the of work of his Shareholder Rights Project (SRP) at HLS in light of a recent memo criticizing the project. The SRP is a clinical program that assists public pension funds and charitable organizations in improving corporate governance at publicly traded companies.
Elhauge discusses the argument against individual healthcare mandate

In an April 16 article entitled “It’s Not About Broccoli: The False Case Against Health Care” published in The Atlantic, Professor Einer Elhauge ’86 tackles the primary case made against President Obama’s [’91] individual health care mandate.
Randy Barnett at HLS, on challenging the individual mandate (video)

A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on whether Congress has the power to mandate individuals to have private insurance coverage isn’t expected until the end of June. But Georgetown University Law Center professor and libertarian legal theorist Randy Barnett ’77 is already claiming victory of sorts for his argument that the mandate is unconstitutional.
Student produces documentary on citrus workers (video)

Last fall, the Harvard Law Documentary Studio offered Lauren Estévez ’13 and four other students the training, funding and equipment they needed to make a short documentary film. It was a challenge, fitting filmmaking into law school. But after months of research, shooting, and editing, Estévez’s 12-minute film about the lives of citrus workers in Florida screened this month at the Harvard Film Archive, part of the Studio’s first annual DOC Festival.
HLS alum and staff take part in Fenway Park’s Centennial Celebration

On April 14, 2012, lifelong Red Sox fan and Harvard Law School grad Bill Hogan, Jr. ’36 celebrated his 100th birthday by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch for the Red Sox-Rays game at Fenway Park. Hogan, born just six days before the Red Sox played their first game in Fenway, was part of the centennial celebration leading up to Fenway Park’s 100th anniversary on April 20.
Law School dedicates new building

Harvard Law School’s (HLS) alumni reunion this past weekend reconnected friends from near and far in the School’s newest addition, the 250,000-square-foot Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing Building on the campus’ northwest corner.
Russ Feingold '79: 'A Progressive Vision of National Security' (video)

On April 19, Harvard Law School's American Constitution Society sponsored “A Progressive Vision of National Security,” a lecture delivered by Former Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold ’79. The only member of the Senate to vote against the PATRIOT Act in 2001 and one of 23 to vote against the Iraq war in 2002, Feingold recently authored "While America Sleeps," a book that details his criticisms of American foreign policy since 9/11 and proposes a plan to correct the nation's course.
Women in the Arab Awakening

Women played an important role in the Arab Spring revolutions, and their involvement is crucial to the ongoing political change in the region. To that end, the Harvard Law School Women’s Law Association sponsored an event presenting the perspectives of several HLS and Harvard Kennedy School women students from Egypt, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. The Women in the Arab Awakening panelists discussed their experiences as both activists in and observers of these events, and the subsequent impact the revolutions have had on women.
HLS students take honors at Vis Moot Court in Vienna and Hong Kong

Nine Harvard Law School students recently participated in the 2012 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competitions in Vienna and Hong Kong. Nearly 400 law school teams from around the world participated in the Vis Competition, which aims to train future leaders in methods of alternative dispute resolution.