About | Recent News and Spotlights | HLS Calendar | Giving to HLS

HLS News 2013

In the news: HLS faculty weigh in on the ‘fiscal cliff’ negotiations

In recent weeks, a number of HLS faculty have weighed in on issues surrounding the fiscal cliff negotiations.
Six from Harvard Law School awarded Skadden Fellowships

Six from Harvard Law School recently were chosen by the Skadden Foundation to receive two-year fellowships to support their work in public service. This year’s recipients include current students Haben Girma ’13, Hunter Landerholm ’13, Adam Meyers ’13 and Mara Sacks ’13, and recent graduates Robert Hodgson ’12 and Daniel Saver ’12.
HLS program gathers leaders in Rio de Janeiro to explore financial issues affecting Brazil and the U.S.

Professor Hal Scott, director of the Harvard Law School Program on International Financial Systems, recently gathered public and private sector financial leaders from Brazil and the U.S. to examine issues affecting the financial relationship between the two countries.
Tribe, panel urge culture change to target gun violence (video)

At a Jan. 8 event, Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe participated in a panel discussion titled “Gun Violence: A Public Health Crisis.” The event, which was co-sponsored by the Reuters news agency and the Harvard School of Public Health, was part of The Forum at HSPH, a discussion series that aims to provide decision-makers with a global platform to address policy choices and scientific controversies.
Symposium at HLS marks launch of global network of interdisciplinary centers focused on the Internet and society

On Dec. 6-8, 2012, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, together with seven international co-organizers, hosted a symposium at Harvard Law School titled Internet-Driven Developments: Structural Changes and Tipping Points, convening representatives from Internet and society research centers spanning 5 continents and 22 countries.
SEC proposes corporate political spending rules urged by Bebchuk, committee

The Securities and Exchange Commission recently indicated in an entry in the Office of Management and Budget’s Unified Agenda that it plans to issue by April 2013 a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on requiring public companies to disclose their spending on politics. The adoption of such a rule was urged in a rulemaking petition submitted by a committee of ten law professors co-chaired by Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’80 S.J.D. ’84 and by a record number of supporting comments subsequently filed with the SEC.
‘Courage to Dissent’ wins numerous awards

“Courage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement” (Oxford University Press, 2011) by Harvard Law Professor Tomiko Brown-Nagin has received numerous awards and has been cited for offering an important new perspective on the civil rights movement. The book was released in paperback this past September by Oxford.
50 Years Ago at the HLS Forum, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

In October 1962, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at Harvard Law School on “The Future of Integration.” It was six months before he would be imprisoned in a Birmingham jail, 10 months before the March on Washington, almost two years before the signing of the Civil Rights Act and almost six years before his assassination.
Meltzer appointed next director of the American Law Institute

Daniel J. Meltzer ’75, the Story professor of law at Harvard Law School, has been appointed as the next Director of the American Law Institute (ALI). The ALI announced the appointment on January 18, 2013.
HLS Library tells 'A Tale of True Crime'

On Jan. 11, the Harvard Law School Library announced the opening of a new exhibit titled “Extra! Extra! Read All About It: A Tale of True Crime.” Featuring materials from the library’s Historical & Special Collections, the exhibit examines a short chapter in the United States’ history of true crime narratives, covering topics such as serialized true crime literature, crime photography in newspapers, and new angles on the media coverage of the Sacco and Vanzetti case.
HLS students help student startups, at Harvard and MIT

The Harvard Law Entrepreneurship Project is the newest of 11 Student Practice Organizations at Harvard Law School and is providing free legal research and analysis for student-founded startups at Harvard and MIT.
NFL Players Association partners with HMS; Petrie-Flom Center will be involved

The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) has granted Harvard Medical School a $100 million grant to create a transformative 10-year initiative⎯the Harvard Integrated Program to Protect and Improve the Health of NFLPA Members. The program will marshal the intellectual, scientific, and medical expertise throughout Harvard University to discover new approaches to diagnosing, treating, and preventing injuries and illnesses in both active and retired players. Members of the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School will help address ethical, legal and policy issues relevant to the health of current, future and retired players.
Social Media and Behavioral Economics Conference

On Wednesday, Feb. 6, scholars from across Harvard University joined social media experts from Facebook, Twitter, Socialflow and Microsoft Research for a conference on social media, theory and practice, and their potential effects on voting behavior, electricity consumption, pro-social behavior and privacy. The event, “Social Media and Behavioral Economics Conference,” sponsored by Harvard Law School’s new Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy, was held at Harvard Law School.
Petrie-Flom Center will participate with HMS and University partners in 10-year project with NFL Players Association

Members of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School will be key co-investigators with colleagues at Harvard Medical School and other parts of the University to help usher the National Football League (NFL) into a safer and more responsible future, said HLS Assistant Professor of Law I. Glenn Cohen, faculty co-director of the Center.
HLS debuts first online course

Harvard Law School’s first ever online course launched Monday, opening up “Copyright,” a class taught by Law School professor William W. Fisher, III, to hundreds of people worldwide. HLS1x: “Copyright,” which is offered through the Harvard branch of the online learning platform edX, is closely modeled after the Law School course taught by Fisher since 1994.
Tribe testifies in Second Amendment Hearing (video)

On Feb. 12, Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe ’66, a constitutional law scholar, participated in a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing titled “Proposals to Reduce Gun Violence: Protecting Our Communities While Respecting the Second Amendment.”
Peter Barton Hutt: Celebrating 20 years at Harvard Law (video)

A group of scholars gathered on Jan. 17 at Harvard Law School with Peter Barton Hutt ’59 to discuss and celebrate his career, including “20 years (thus far)” teaching an influential course at Harvard Law on food and drug law. Hutt, who has worked at the Washington, D.C. law firm Covington & Burling for more than five decades, has taught the course at HLS since 1993.
Grossman elected 127th president of the Harvard Law Review

The Harvard Law Review has elected Gillian Grossman ’14 as its 127th president. Grossman succeeds Conor Tochilin ’13.
Panel discussion on "Gun violence after the Newtown tragedy"

On Friday Feb. 15, Harvard Law School hosted "Gun violence after the Newtown tragedy: What can legal, public health and other efforts do?" The panel discussion, moderated by HLS Dean Martha Minow, featured David Hemenway, professor of health policy and management and director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center; Clinical Professor Ron Sullivan, director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute; and Alan A. Stone, Touroff-Glueck Professor of Law and Psychiatry.
Lessig on 'Aaron's Laws - Law and Justice in a Digital Age' (video)

On Tuesday, Feb. 19, Lawrence Lessig marked his appointment as Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School with a lecture titled "Aaron's Laws: Law and Justice in a Digital Age." The lecture honored the memory and work of Aaron Swartz, the programmer and activist who took his own life on Jan. 11, 2013 at the age of 26. Swartz spent the last two years fighting federal charges that he violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.
Sunstein appointed Harvard University Professor

Cass Sunstein ’78, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law and director of HLS’s new Program on Behavioral Economics and Public Policy, has been named a University Professor, Harvard University President Drew Faust announced today. Harvard’s highest honor for a faculty member, University Professorships were established in 1935 to recognize individuals whose work on the frontiers of knowledge crosses the traditional boundaries of academic disciplines.
Remembering Ronald Dworkin LL.B. '57

Ronald M. Dworkin LL.B. ’57, renowned legal scholar and philosopher, died on Feb. 13, 2013. In the days since, a number of Harvard Law School professors have written pieces about Dworkin, who was a towering figure in the legal world.
Guinier and Ogletree honored by the Maynard Institute

In commemoration of Black History Month, Harvard Law School Professors Lani Guinier and Charles Ogletree ’78 were recognized by the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education as two of 28 noteworthy African-Americans who have contributed to the “world of words.”
Harvard experts examine Gun violence and policy, post Newtown (video)

On Feb. 15, a panel of legal and public-health scholars, moderated by Dean Martha Minow and including Clinical Professor Ron Sullivan and Alan A. Stone, professor of Law and Psychiatry, gathered at Harvard Law School for a public forum on gun violence, gun policy and the prospects for meaningful reform in a post-Newtown landscape.
President Of Kosovo Constitutional Court speaks at HLS

On Feb. 4, more than 70 Harvard Law School students, faculty, and other members of the Harvard community gathered in Wasserstein Hall to hear Dr. Enver Hasani, president of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, speak on “European Self-Determination and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo.”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?”
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The Harvard Immigration Project: Fighting for the rights of immigrant detainees

Following its second victory, the Harvard Immigration Project’s (HIP) Bond Hearing Project continues its new campaign to provide free legal representation to detained immigrants seeking release from immigration custody.
HLS establishes new Veterans Legal Clinic

The Board of Veterans’ Appeals denies a soldier’s claim for disability benefits for an injury to his lower extremities. But the decision is handed down while the soldier is serving in Afghanistan, and he doesn’t realize he has the right to appeal until after he returns from his deployment—after the appeal deadline has passed. For students in Harvard Law School’s new Veterans Legal Clinic, the chance to argue that the appeal deadline should have been tolled and the case allowed to proceed on the merits is proving invaluable educationally and personally.
PIFS symposium gathers senior executives, government officials

Harvard Law School's Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) hosted its eleventh annual Symposium on Building the Financial System of the Twenty-first Century: An Agenda for Europe and the United States on March 21-23 at the SwissRe Centre for Global Dialogue in Rüschlikon Switzerland. Co-hosted by the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), the event gathered over a hundred senior executives and government officials from the financial industry, policymaking arenas, law, and academia.
From 2013 World Winter Games to Global Development Summit, Alford plays major role in Special Olympics International

As an enthusiastic supporter of the Special Olympics who has worked for more than two decades with Special Olympics International, Harvard Law School Professor William P. Alford welcomed the opportunity to help bring about the 2013 Special Olympics World Winter Games, held in PyeongChang, Korea earlier this year. “One of the major messages of the Special Olympics is that having a disability need not be seen as being as limiting or disqualifying as some people might assume,” says Alford, director of East Asian Legal Studies and chair of the Harvard Law School Project on Disability (HPOD).
Gertner, Kaufman appointed to Advisory panel on Mass. federal court nominations

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has announced the appointment of an Advisory Committee on Massachusetts judicial nominations to solicit, interview, and comment on applications for federal District Court vacancies in Springfield and Boston. The Committee is comprised of distinguished members of the Massachusetts legal community, including Harvard Law School Professor Andrew Kaufman, and will be chaired by former District Court Judge Nancy Gertner, who is now a Professor of Practice at HLS.
Harvard Law faculty and alumni among 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America

Several members of the Harvard Law School faculty and over a dozen alumni were named to The National Law Journal’s list of 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.
Tribe to receive honorary degree from Columbia

Professor Laurence Tribe ‘66, the Carl M. Loeb University Professor, will be recognized by Columbia University with an honorary Doctor of Letters at the school’s commencement exercises on May 22, 2013.
The role of media in the U.S. political system: A Panel at Harvard Law School

On April 3, a group of journalists gathered to discuss the changing relationship between political actors and journalists in a changing technological landscape at an event entitled “The Role of Media in the U.S. Political System.” The event was sponsored by the HLS American Constitution Society, and featured CNN’s John King, Melinda Henneberger, political reporter for the Washington Post, and Peter Hamby, national political reporter for CNN.
Blum, Feldman weigh in on aftermath of Boston Marathon bombings

In the wake of Monday’s Boston Marathon bombings, experts across Harvard University analyzed the puzzle and potential of the attack’s aftermath.
Ken Burns offers preview of 'Central Park Five' at HLS (video)

On March 12 at Harvard Law School, award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns joined Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree and two Central Park Five members for a film screening and panel discussion of his new documentary “The Central Park Five,” which tells the story of five Black and Latino teenagers who were wrongly convicted of raping and beating a white woman in New York City’s Central Park in 1989. The event was co-sponsored by Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice and the Prison Studies Project and the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.
Advanced Negotiation students advise Major League Baseball executives

This year, Clinical Professor Robert Bordone ‘97, director of the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP), developed a capstone consulting project with Major League Baseball (MLB) for his course “Advanced Negotiation: Multiparty Negotiation, Group Decision Making, and Teams,” co-taught with Lecturer on Law Rory Van Loo ’07. MLB tasked the class with providing strategic advice for an upcoming negotiation aimed at the implementation of an international amateur draft. Six teams of Harvard Law School students participated in the semester-long project, competing for the opportunity to present their findings to the MLB. In his essay, “Note from the Big Leagues”, Chris Davis '14, a member of the wining team, reflects on his experience.
Associate White House Counsel Kathleen Hartnett '00 reflects on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell

As the gay rights movement continues to gain momentum, it's easy to forget just how recently the tides of change were moving in the opposite direction, Associate White House Counsel Kathleen Hartnett '00 said at an April 11 talk at Harvard Law School, hosted by the Harvard chapter of the American Constitution Society.
Confronting evil, embracing life

The manhunt for a bombing suspect shut down the Boston area on Friday. With Harvard temporarily closed, a pair of two-day scholarly conferences had to be compressed into Saturday alone. But by chance, both provided perspective on the area’s brush with terror.
For second year in a row, Harvard Law School wins regional WTO moot court

For the second year in a row, a team of Harvard Law School students won the North American regional moot court competition on WTO law at the ELSA Moot Court Competition (EMC²). The second annual competition was held in San Jose, Costa Rica and was organized in cooperation with the Costa Rican Society of International Law.
Manning elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

John F. Manning ’85, the Bruce Bromley Professor of Law at Harvard, and an expert in administrative law, statutory interpretation, separation of powers law and the federal courts, has been elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Maryna Kavaleuskaya: Advocating for the rule of law in Belarus

Like others in Harvard Law School’s LL.M. class of 2013, Maryna Kavaleuskaya practiced law abroad before coming to America for additional legal training. And, like many of her 187 classmates—most of them from overseas—she had to overcome obstacles along the way. But unlike most others, Kavaleuskaya will be unable to return to a normal life back home after she receives her Harvard degree.
Clinic students secure asylum for indigenous survivors of persecution in Guatemala

Last month, as an historic trial continued in Guatemala against a former dictator charged with the genocide of indigenous Mayans, Lauren Herman ’13—a student in the Harvard Immigration and Refugee Clinic (HIRC) —stood in court in Boston as a judge announced he was granting asylum to her Mayan client, who, with his family, had suffered persecution for decades before he came to the U.S. in 2009.
Harvard Law study finds legal fractures in chemical disclosure laws

A registry intended to provide information to the public about the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing is not an acceptable regulatory measure, according to a recently released report by Harvard Law School’s Environmental Law Program Policy Initiative.
Gasser appointed professor of practice

Harvard Law School has announced the appointment of Urs Gasser LL.M. ’03, executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, as a Professor of Practice.
From a clinical to a judicial appointment: A Q&A with Gloria Tan

In March, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick ’82 nominated Harvard Law School’s Criminal Justice Institute clinical instructor Gloria Tan to a seat on the Massachusetts Juvenile Court. Tan came to CJI, which supervises third-year law students representing indigent criminal defendants in local district and juvenile courts, after serving as a public defender for the Committee for Public Counsel Services in Boston. When a spot opened up on CPCS's Youth Advocacy Project, Tan switched to working on juvenile cases and has spent her career doing so ever since. Tan was sworn in on May 3rd.
Tribe offers predictions on gay marriage rulings

Two cases regarding gay marriage, Hollingsworth v. Perry (challenging California’s Proposition 8) and United States v. Windsor (challenging the Defense of Marriage Act), were argued this term in front of the Supreme Court. The Justices are expected to reach a ruling by July 2013. In light of these arguments, The Harvard Law Bulletin asked Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe '66 to offer some predictions for how the two cases might be decided.
Suk receives intellectual diversity award

Harvard Law School Professor Jeannie Suk '02 received the Charles Fried Intellectual Diversity Award from the Harvard Federalist Society in April. The award is bestowed upon a faculty member who has furthered the cause of intellectual diversity and free and open debate at Harvard Law School, both inside and outside of the classroom, regardless of that professor's ideological leanings or favored theories of jurisprudence.
Harvard Law School celebrates 2013 Commencement

Harvard Law School graduation festivities began on Class Day, Wednesday, May 29, and continued through Commencement Day on Thursday, May 30.
Jackson and Tushnet discuss new book on constitutional law (video)

In April, Harvard Law School Professor Mark Tushnet, a specialist in constitutional law and theory, was interviewed by his colleague and former collaborator Vicki Jackson on the new book “Routledge Handbook of Constitutional Law” (Routledge 2012). Tushnet co-edited the book with Thomas Fleiner and Cheryl Saunders.
Fried in The New York Times: Stolen property, not free speech

In the May 21 edition of The New York Times’ ‘Room for Debate,’ Harvard Law School Professor Charles Fried considers the question of whether the Obama administration’s actions against journalists in leak inquiries has protected national security or violated the First Amendment.
Students commissioned as JAG officers aboard USS Constitution

On May 14, several members of the Harvard Law School community came together aboard the U.S.S. Constitution as three Harvard Law School students swore oaths to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States" as part of their commission as officers in the United States Navy Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps.
William T. Coleman Jr. '43 named 2013 Harvard Medalist

William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. ’43 will receive the 2013 Harvard Medal from the Harvard Alumni Association for his extraordinary service to the University. Coleman, who was recognized along with James V. Baker A.B. ’68, M.B.A. ’71 and Georgene Botyos Herschbach Ph.D. ’69, will receive the award on Commencement Day, May 30.
Author and legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin ’86 named this year’s Class Day speaker

Author, lawyer and Emmy Award-winning legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin ’86 will serve as Class Day speaker on May 29 at Harvard Law School.
Students mediate Harassment Prevention Orders

Graduating HLS students help build a new court mediation program to meet demand for protection from harassment.
Shavell to receive award from American Law and Economics Association

The American Law and Economics Association announced at its annual meeting on May 17 that Professor Steven Shavell will be the 2014 recipient of the Ronald H. Coase Medal. Shavell is the Samuel R. Rosenthal Professor of Law and Economics and director of the John M. Olin Center for Law, Economics and Business at Harvard Law School.
Morgan and Helen Chu commit $5 Million to Harvard Law School

Morgan Chu, one of the nation’s preeminent intellectual property lawyers, and his wife, Helen Chu, have given $5 million to Harvard Law School to establish in perpetuity the dean’s chair held by the Dean of the Faculty at Harvard Law School.
Lena Silver ’13 wins pro bono service award

Lena Silver ’13 is the winner of this year’s Andrew L. Kaufman Pro Bono Service Award, performing the highest number of pro bono service hours in the Class of 2013. During Silver’s time at Harvard Law School, she provided 2,270 hours of free legal services.
Students honored at Class Day ceremony

A number of Harvard Law students received special awards during the 2013 Class Day exercises on May 29. The honored students were recognized for their outstanding leadership, citizenship, compassion and dedication to their studies and the profession.
Sachs tells Class of 2013: ‘The really interesting stuff is going to begin when the precedent runs out’ (video)

Professor Benjamin I. Sachs is this year’s winner of the prestigious Albert M. Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence, an honor bestowed each spring by the Harvard Law School graduating class. The award recognizes teaching ability, attentiveness to student concerns and general contributions to student life at the law school.
Lima receives staff appreciation award

Isabel Lima, office manager at the HLS WilmerHale Legal Services Center in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, received the Suzanne L. Richardson Staff Appreciation Award during Class Day exercises on May 29. She was selected by the Class of 2013 for going above and beyond in assisting the many students who pass through the WilmerHale center, helping the organization to run effectively, as well as acting as a liaison to the many Spanish-speaking clients and neighbors in the community.
Cortlan Wickliff: Harvard Law student graduates at 22

When Harvard Law School graduate Cortlan Wickliff '13 donned his cap and gown, regalia his mother had to remind him to order, the Texas native was one of the youngest African-Americans ever to graduate from Harvard Law School.
Lillian Langford: Working to safeguard human rights abroad

Lillian Langford’s life could have turned out much differently. Instead of graduating now with two Harvard degrees, she could have been on a remote island in the South Pacific, or on a stage playing the harp with a classical orchestra. But a series of inspiring mentors, starting with her parents, helped guide her to her life’s passion: fighting injustice.
Harvard Law School confers inaugural Public Service Venture Fund grants

Sixteen public service visionaries and social entrepreneurs from Harvard Law School have been selected as the inaugural recipients of grants from the Public Service Venture Fund, a unique program which will award up to $1 million each year to help graduating Harvard Law students and recent graduates obtain their ideal jobs in public service—even if those jobs don’t yet exist. At the same time that it announced the recipients of the new Public Service Venture Fund, the Law School also announced the winners of three other fellowships for public service/public interest post-graduate work: the Skirnick Fellowships, the Kaufman fellowships, and the One Day's Work Fellowships.
Harvard Law School media roundup: From the NSA scandal to the regulatory battles of a new taxi cab app

Over the past week, a number of HLS faculty members shared their viewpoints on events in the news. Here are some excerpts.
Dukakis helps to teach session of HLS Negotiation Workshop

Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis ’60, who was the Democratic nominee for president in 1988 and is now a professor of political science at Northeastern University, visited a session of Harvard Law School’s Negotiation Workshop in late April to lead discussion of a case study and answer student questions.
Two receive the Gary Bellow Public Service Award

In recognition of their commitment to public interest and social justice work, Harvard Law School alums Stephanie Davidson ’13 and Laurel Firestone ’04 were named this year’s recipients of the Gary Bellow Public Service Award.
Extra Large Mushroom—with an Ownership Share

On May 30th, Shannon Liss-Riordan ’96 opened The Just Crust, a worker-owned pizza restaurant that came as a result of a class-action lawsuit against Boston chain, The Upper Crust Pizzeria. Liss-Riordan is hoping to turn the infamous case accusing the pizza chain of stealing workers’ wages into an example of how giving employees a voice can be both fulfilling and profitable.
Whiting to join faculty as a professor of practice

Alex Whiting, who currently serves as the prosecution coordinator in the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, will rejoin the Harvard Law School faculty this July as a professor of practice. Whiting previously taught at HLS as an assistant clinical professor.
Cohen in JAMA: The looming threat of liability for accountable care organizations

“The Looming Threat of Liability for Accountable Care Organizations and What to Do About It,” a new article by Harvard Law School Assistant Professor I. Glenn Cohen ’03 and Dr. H. Benjamin Harvey ’09, was published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Tribe to receive Henry M. Phillips Prize in Jurisprudence

Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe ’66 will be awarded the American Philosophical Society’s Henry M. Phillips Prize in Jurisprudence, which recognizes outstanding lifetime contributions to the field of jurisprudence. Tribe will be honored at the Society’s annual gathering on Nov. 15, in Philadelphia.
Zittrain delivers keynote at Harvard IT Summit

Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain '95 delivered the keynote speech at the recent Harvard IT Summit, devoting his lecture to the potential “end of .edu.” Zittrain is also a professor at Harvard Kennedy School, and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, as well as the co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University.
HLS faculty weigh in on Supreme Court rulings

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this week on several major cases including United States v. Windsor and Hollingsworth v. Perry in regard to same-sex marriage, Fisher v. University of Texas on Affirmative Action, and Shelby County v. Holder, which concerned the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A number of HLS faculty shared their opinions of the rulings on the radio, television, on the web and in print.
IHRC's Giannini, Farbstein represent families of 2003 Bolivian massacre victims

On June 24, 2013, family members of those killed in government-planned massacres in Bolivia in 2003 filed an amended complaint, with extensive new allegations that the defendants, former President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and former Defense Minister Carlos Sánchez Berzaín, had devised a plan to kill thousands of civilians months in advance of the violence. The family members are being represented by a team of lawyers, including Tyler Giannini and Susan Farbstein of Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic,
Avoiding the digital 'flock': Zuckerman sees need for connectivity in a Web world that courts the narrow (video)

In an age of fast-paced globalization, society does a great job moving people and products across borders, author Ethan Zuckerman said during a June 25 discussion sponsored by Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, “but we’re less good at moving bits across borders.”
Clinical Voices: Jonathan Nomamiukor '13 reflects on his experience

Read more about what compelled Jonathan Nomamiukor ’13 to take a break from law school, his work with Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic on the issue of fully autonomous weapons, and the mentorship he received from Clinical Instructor Bonnie Docherty.
Obamacare’s point guard: A parley with DeParle

Nancy-Ann DeParle ’83, whose nearly four years in the Obama White House included serving as deputy chief of staff for policy until this past January, is best known for her role in the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. This spring at Harvard Law School, DeParle co-taught the seminar Selected Problems in Regulatory Policy with Cass Sunstein '78.
Four HLS professors 'think big' at annual event (video)

“HLS Thinks Big,” an event inspired by the global TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) talks and modeled after the university's “Harvard Thinks Big” event, was held at Harvard Law School on May 28. Four professors—Daniel Nagin, Glenn Cohen '03, Jeannie Suk '02, and James Greiner—presented on some of their recent work and research.
Harvard's Legal Aid Bureau: Celebrating a century of learning and service

In the 100 years since its founding, Harvard's Legal Aid Bureau—the oldest student-run legal services program in the country—has helped thousands of clients. On Nov. 8 to 10, the Bureau will mark its centennial with a gala celebration at the law school which will feature keynote speakers and panel discussions on “Closing the gap: Evolving legal education and improving the clinical experience,” “Serving low-income communities across the three branches of government” and “Access to justice: Looking beyond legal services.”
Clinical Voices: Chas Hamilton '13 on 'two trials and a graduation'

During a two-week period that spanned from late May to early June, recent Harvard Law School Graduate Chas Hamilton '13 tried two cases before twelve-member juries in the Boston Housing Court. Here he reflects on the experience.
Berkman Center, Pew Research Center release findings on teens, social media and privacy

According to recent findings from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University and the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, teens are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than they have in the past, but they are also taking a variety of technical and non-technical steps to manage the privacy of that information.
HLS faculty assess Zimmerman case, Bulger trial and the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on-the-air offering analyses and opinions.
Mark Yohalem ’05: He's got game

If you really want to improve your legal writing, says Harvard Law School alum Mark Yohalem '05, try writing a video game. A prosecutor at the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles with a Supreme Court clerkship under his belt, Yohalem has written more than 20 short stories and seven computer games in his free time.
Bebchuk, Cohen, and Wang win academic award

In an award ceremony held in New York City last month, the Investor Responsibility Research Center Institute (IRRCi) announced the winners of its the 2013 prize competition. The academic award went to Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. '80 S.J.D. 84, HLS Senior Fellow and Tel-Aviv University Professor Alma Cohen, and Harvard Business School Professor Charles Wang. The trio received the award for their study, "Learning and the Disappearing Association between Governance and Returns," which was published last month by the Journal of Financial Economics.
HLS Faculty assess the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on-the-air offering analyses and opinions.
New EPA administrator speaks at HLS (video)

Less than two weeks after being confirmed by the Senate as Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, Gina McCarthy delivered an inaugural address at Harvard Law School on Tuesday, July 30.
Lounging with the Law Review

The Harvard Law School Library Blog, “Et Seq.,” frequently publishes historical documents and images from the law school’s archives. For a recent post, they showcased a historical image of the editorial board of Volume 51 of the Harvard Law Review celebrating a successful year outside of Austin Hall.
HLS Faculty on the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on-the-air offering analyses and opinions.
HLS Clinic Launches Mattapan Initiative to Avert Foreclosures

With a $415,000 grant from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office—and the help of a groundbreaking new law that offers homeowners strong pre-foreclosure protections—the HLS WilmerHale Legal Services Center (LSC) has launched a new program to help fight foreclosures in Mattapan, one of Boston’s most challenged neighborhoods.
Samantha Power '99 confirmed as U.N. Ambassador

Samantha Power ’99, who has served as an adviser to President Barack Obama ’91 on foreign policy and national security, won confirmation Thursday as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
HLS faculty weigh in on the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on-the-air offering analyses and opinions.
Clinical opportunities and a new class at the intersection of immigration and criminal law

Crimmigration—the intersection of criminal law and immigration—is a burgeoning legal area, and one that is of great interest to students, according to Harvard Law School Lecturer on Law and Clinical Instructor Phil Torrey. This fall, Torrey, who supervises the Harvard Immigration Project's Bond Hearing Representation project, will be offering a new clinical course on the topic.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal at HLS: bring more accountability to the FISA Court (video)

On Thursday, Aug. 8, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) delivered an address at Harvard Law School on proposed legislation to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, just hours after news outlets reported additional revelations concerning the scope of information gathered by the National Security Agency.
HLS faculty weigh in on the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on-the-air offering analyses and opinions.
Nanda appointed director of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad

Ashish Nanda, the Robert Braucher Professor of Practice, faculty director of executive education, and research director at the Program on the Legal Profession at Harvard Law School, has been appointed director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA), in India.
Scott Westfahl ’88 will lead Exec Ed at HLS

Dean Martha Minow announced this week that Scott Westfahl ’88 will be the new director of Executive Education at Harvard Law School.
Detlev Vagts (1929 – 2013): Scholar of international law and transnational law

Detlev Frederick Vagts '51, a renowned scholar of international law at Harvard Law School and one of the world's foremost experts on transnational business problems and the laws affecting international commerce, died Aug. 20. Vagts' career at Harvard Law School spanned more than 50 years.
HLS faculty weigh in on the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on-the-air offering analyses and opinions.
HLS Library digitizes student notebooks from transitional law school

The Harvard Law School Library's historical and special collections recently digitized its collection of 64 bound volumes of notebooks drafted by 17 students of the Litchfield Law School from 1803–1825. Litchfield is generally regarded as the first formal private law school in the United States.
Sitkoff contributes to Uniform Powers of Appointment Act

In early July, the Uniform Law Commission approved a new act, the Uniform Powers of Appointment Act, at its annual meeting held this year in Boston. Harvard Law School Professor Robert H. Sitkoff, who focuses his research on economic and empirical analysis of the law of trusts and estates, served on the drafting committee for the Act. The Act codifies the law of powers of appointment, a staple of modern estate-planning practice.
HLS faculty weigh in on the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on the air offering analyses and opinions.
Former FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski '91 will teach Fall Semester course at Harvard Law and Business Schools as Klinsky Professor of Practice for Leadership and Progress

Julius Genachowski '91, who served as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission from 2009 until May of this year, will teach a course to students from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School in the fall semester. The course, 'Running a Federal Agency: Lessons from Business, Technology and Game Theory,' will be offered jointly by the two schools.
Steven and Maureen Klinsky endow Professorship of Practice for Leadership and Progress at Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow has announced that Steven Klinsky J.D. '81 M.B.A. '79, and his wife, Maureen Klinsky, have endowed the Steven and Maureen Klinsky Professorship of Practice for Leadership and Progress at HLS. The new chair is the first endowed professorship of practice established at Harvard Law School, and is designed to bring visiting leaders from a wide range of fields beyond law to campus to teach and bring inspiration and broad perspective to the school and, more generally, to Harvard University.
Berkman Center’s Zittrain sees lessons in computer assaults on media

Computer network hackers calling themselves the Syrian Electronic Army earlier this week disrupted The New York Times’ website for nearly a day and electronic publishing on the Twitter social network for several hours. Also targeted were the Huffington Post and other media outlets. To better understand the attacks, Harvard Gazette staff writer Christina Pazzanese asked Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan L. Zittrain to comment by email on what happened and how institutions will have to react in order to protect themselves from future disruptions.
HLS faculty weigh in on the week's legal news

In a week of many developments in the world of law, Harvard Law School faculty were online, in print, and on the air offering analyses and opinions.
Lisa Rohrer appointed executive director of HLS Executive Education; will also oversee the Case Development Initiative

Lisa Rohrer has been appointed as the new executive director of Executive Education and the Case Development Initiative at Harvard Law School.
A Constitution Day talk with Professor Klarman (video)

To commemorate the signing of the U.S. Constitution, Harvard Law School Professor Michael Klarman, an expert on constitutional law and constitutional history, gave a lecture at Harvard Law School on Tuesday, Sept. 17. His talk, titled “Not Written in Stone,” focused on the reasons he believes the U.S. Constitution should not be given undue reverence.
Intisar A. Rabb, expert on Islamic Legal Studies, to join HLS Faculty

Intisar A. Rabb, a leading expert on Islamic Law and legal history, will join the faculty of Harvard Law School beginning Spring 2014, with an appointment as a tenured Professor of Law.
IHRC: Chile fails to protect rights of its indigenous people

In a new book released last week, Harvard Law School's International Human Rights Clinic has charged the Chilean government with failure to guarantee its indigenous people the right to free, prior, and informed consultation. Former IHRC student Daniel Saver '12, who began working on the project during his 2L year, is one of the principal authors of the book.
HLS Food Law and Policy Clinic co-authors groundbreaking report on food date labeling and food waste

According to a new report co-authored by Harvard Law School’s Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Natural Resources Defense Council, U.S. consumers and businesses throw out billions of pounds of food every year due to confusion caused by America’s food expiration date labeling practices.
Barron nominated to U.S. Appeals Court

Harvard Law School Professor David J. Barron '94, an expert in administrative law and the separation of powers, was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit by President Barack Obama '91 on Tuesday.
Harvard celebrates 60 years of women at the law school

Harvard Law School will host more than 600 alumnae this weekend as part of "Celebration 60," a reunion event to mark the 60th anniversary of the first women graduates of Harvard Law School. The three-day event, which will be held Sept. 27 to 29 on the law school campus, is part of a worldwide women's leadership summit of Harvard Law School alumnae, titled "Leaders for Change—Women Transforming our Communities and the World."
Immigration Specialist Margaret Stock '92 receives MacArthur Genius Award

Harvard Law School alum Margaret Stock '92 is one of 24 recipients of the 2013 MacArthur Fellowship, more commonly known as the MacArthur "Genius Award". Stock is an immigration attorney with a focus on improving the immigration system through direct representation, policy-based advocacy and an emphasis on the idea that immigration does not threaten national security.
IHRC: Nepali war victims need long-term, expanded assistance

According to a new report by Harvard Law School's International Human Right's Clinic, civilian victims are still struggling in the absence of effective help from the government seven years after the end of Nepal's armed conflict.