March 2013

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  A conference on the dimensions of property law

  More than 100 legal scholars gathered in Geneva, Switzerland for the Geneva-Harvard-Renmin-Sydney Law Faculty Conference, a three-day event that brought together faculty from Harvard Law School, the University of Geneva, Renmin Law School (China), and Sydney Law School (Australia) to explore property law in its many dimensions.

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  Tan nominated to Massachusetts Juvenile Court

  Gov. Deval Patrick ’82 has nominated Gloria Tan, a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute, to a seat on the Massachusetts Juvenile Court. Tan is a leading national authority in the field of juvenile justice.

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  Legal Hackathon

  During the weekend of Feb. 22, at the first-ever Legal Hackathon, a group of 25 Harvard Law School students worked around the clock to confront the question of content-use policies for HarvardX, and what they may mean for Harvard University and the future of education.

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  Cultural exchange: Graduate Program hosts annual international party

  At the annual international party hosted by the Harvard Law School LL.M class of 2013,  students, faculty, staff and family members filled the Harkness Commons in the Caspersen Student Center for a chance to immerse themselves in the cultures of their graduate student classmates, who hail from more than 70 countries. 

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  Women’s Law Association conference focused on increasing women’s political participation (video)

  During the 2012 election cycle, a record number of women won seats in Congress. Still, women make up just 19 percent of Congress and hold only five governorships. In an effort to build momentum following the 2012 races, the Women’s Law Association hosted its annual conference on February 8, entitled “19%: When Will Women Have the Floor?”

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  P/Review of Health Law at Petrie-Flom Center (video)

  The past year was a historic one for health law, with the Supreme Court issuing the final word on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act alongside a host of other critical developments. In February, the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics, in partnership with the New England Journal of Medicine, held its first annual Health Law Year in P/Review event.

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  Stein receives Viscardi Award for work on disability rights

  Harvard Law School Visiting Professor Michael Ashley Stein ’88 was awarded the 2013 Viscardi Award, which honors people living with disabilities for their work and influence in the global disability community.

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  Bernard and Sherley Koteen: Benefactors of HLS Office of Public Interest Advising

  Bernard Koteen '40, a telecommunications expert who endowed Harvard Law School’s Office of Public Interest Advising, died Feb. 22 in Washington D.C., suffering a fatal heart attack just three days after the death of his wife of 70 years, Sherley Koteen.

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  Cohen promoted to professor of law at Harvard

  Following a vote of the Harvard Law School faculty, I. Glenn Cohen, a leading expert on the intersection of health care, bioethics and the law, will be promoted from assistant professor to tenured professor of law, effective July 1. Cohen has served as an assistant professor since 2008, and as co-director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics since 2009.

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  Feldman examines corruption and political legitimacy in China

  At a Feb. 6 talk sponsored by the Harvard Law and International Development Society, Noah Feldman, Bemis Professor of International Law, focused on corruption in China and how it is likely to play out in the country’s political development.

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  Civics Education: Why it Matters to Democracy, Society and You

  On Monday, April 1, Harvard Law School and the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools present an all-day conference on Civics Education, including a noon-time conversation with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Justice David Souter, and other special guests. 

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  Harvard Law students featured in Business Insider

  Twenty-one students from Harvard Law School were profiled in the March 4 edition of Business Insider in an article that celebrates the extraordinary range of experiences and contributions of Harvard Law School students.

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  Haben Girma ’13 named a White House Champion of Change (video)

  Harvard Law School student Haben Girma ’13 was recently named a White House Champion of Change for her advocacy on behalf of deafblind individuals and her efforts in promoting educational excellence for African Americans.

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  At HLS award ceremony, Babbitt challenges ‘haphazard infrastructure decisions’ (video)

  On March 14, the Harvard Law School Environmental Law Society presented its annual Horizon award to Bruce Babbitt ’65, who previously served as secretary of the interior and governor of Arizona.The award is a means of recognizing great people who have accomplished great things in the field of environment and natural resources law, and to provide a forum in which to discuss those achievements. 

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  Library exhibit: HLS and the road to marriage equality

  The Caspersen Room in the Harvard Law School Library is currently displaying an exhibit documenting the involvement of Harvard Law School students, faculty and alumni in the long road to marriage equality. The exhibit includes a 1983 paper by Evan Wolfson ’83, “Samesex Marriage and Morality: The Human Rights Vision of the Constitution,” along with briefs and other exhibits from HLS Professors Elizabeth Bartholet ‘65, Lawrence Lessig, Frank Michelman ‘60, William Rubenstein ‘86, Carol Steiker ‘86 and Laurence Tribe, ‘66, and Lecturers on Law Kevin Russell and Benjamin Heineman Jr.

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  Backlash from Roe v. Wade continues to shape public discourse, says Klarman

  Forty years after the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision in Roe v. Wade, the backlash it generated continues to shape the public discourse, says Harvard Law School Professor Michael Klarman, an expert on constitutional law and constitutional history.

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  Clinic and Human Rights Watch: Obama should urge Jordan to stop sending asylum seekers back to Syria

  While Jordan has accommodated more than 350,000 refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in March 2011, it is routinely and unlawfully rejecting Palestinian refugees, single men, and undocumented people seeking asylum at its border with Syria, according to Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic and Human Rights Watch.

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  Cohen files amicus brief in gene patent case before the Supreme Court

  Harvard Law School Professor I. Glenn Cohen ’03 and Gideon A. Schor ’89 recently filed an amicus brief on behalf of Dr. Eric S. Lander in a pending Supreme Court case that will address whether human genes are patentable.  

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  Human Rights panel discusses cost of Iraq invasion, 10 years after (video)

  On March 26, representatives of a number of human rights organizations gathered at Harvard Law School to reflect on the lasting impact of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and to discuss their efforts to hold the U.S. government accountable for problems there during the occupation and ongoing to this day.