9.21.2011— Now accepting applications for the 2012 Asia Business Conference and other key HALS positions

Asia Business Conference - Due by 10/9

Language Table Host - Due at noon on 10/1

Events Committee - Due at noon on 10/1

Public Interest Committee - Due at noon on 10/1

LLM Liaison - Due at noon on 10/1

4.6.2011— The 2011-2012 HALS Board

HALS held elections for its 2011-2012 board of directors on Tuesday, and the organization would now like to welcome its new board:

Co-Presidents
Shannon Itoyama '12
Vincent Lee '12

Treasurer and Fundraising Chair
Julienne Eby '12

Asia Business Conference Speakers Chair
Vivian Tao '13

Asia Business Conference Marketing Chair
Weichen Zhu '13

Delegation Chair
Jonathan Stradling '12

Events Chair
Leila Perkins '13

Public Interest Chair
Amrit Dhir '13

We would like to thank the outgoing board for all of its hard work and dedication to HALS in the past year and congratulate the new board. We are looking forward to a great year in 2011-2012!

10.04.2010— Dim-Sum in Chinatown

Over forty HALS members turned out for our annual dim sum brunch in Boston’s Chinatown on Sunday, October 3rd. As usual, both the fine cuisine and fine company were worth the trip!

9.30.2010— Welcome to the new school year with HALS!

Welcome to the new school year, everyone!

Just yesterday, well over 100 J.D. and LL.M. students squeezed into Pound 102 for our kickoff event to enjoy Indian and Chinese cuisine and sushi, while learning about the Asia Business Conference, the spring break delegation to Taiwan, language tables, and our charitable fundraising efforts.

Earlier in the month, over 50 LL.M. students packed the East Asian Legal Studies Room in Pound Hall to hear about opportunities to get involved with HALS.

8.19.2010— Welcome Letter to 1Ls

Dear Class of 2013,

On behalf of the Harvard Asia Law Society (HALS), welcome to Harvard Law School! HALS is one of the largest student groups at Harvard Law School and is the only group at the law school that brings together students with a common interest in academic and cultural issues across Asia. We are an extremely diverse and international student group with members from North America, Asia, and beyond, who are united by our interest in Asia.

Social, Academic and Professional activities. Our organization is the primary student organization bringing together J.D., L.L.M., and visiting scholar students who share an interest in the practice of law in Asia and Asian culture.

• We have hosted many speakers, including Dr. Ma Ying-Jeow, ex-mayor of Taipei and now President of the Republic of China.
• We host weekly language tables for students to practice their language skills, including Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, and Taiwanese.
• We host many study breaks and gatherings at the Boston area’s finest dim sum, sushi, and karaoke establishments.
• We will continue to have a J.D./L.L.M. Family Program to help students build networks of  both personal and professional contacts.  
• We will be hosting a number of Asia career events to provide valuable career information to 1Ls interested in practicing in Asia.
• We host annual summer receptions in Asia for new and current students. In the summer of 2009, we hosted receptions in Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei and Tokyo.

Asia Business Conference at Harvard Business School. Since the intersection between law and business forms a key part of the professional and academic interests of our students, for the past twelve years, HALS has been involved in a cooperative effort with the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School to organize the annual Asia Business Conference, which draws the participation of over 800 students and professionals from around the world each year. Past conference keynote speakers have included a Director General of the World Trade Organization, a Vice Minister of Finance of the People’s Republic of China, a former Prime Minister of South Korea, and a Chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

1Ls play a significant role in organizing the Asia Business Conference, many working as panel managers and marketing directors.

Annual Spring Break Delegation to Asia.  One of the highlights of HALS is our annual spring delegation to Asia, which provides students with a unique opportunity for first-hand exposure to the legal and government systems in Asia. Last year’s delegation to Beijing, China consisted of 18 students, who spent a week meeting with leaders in law, government, and business, including officials at the US Embassy, Beijing, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Science & Technology; attorneys at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, and King & Wood; students and faculty from Xinghua University Law School and Renmin University Law School; and executives at New Oriental Education & Technology Group. We also visited the children and staff of the Bethel Training Center for the Blind, an orphanage for children suffering from blindness and other disabilities, for whom we raised money during the year. Previous delegations to Asia have traveled to China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This year’s delegation will travel to Taipei, Taiwan.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, and we look forward to seeing you on campus!  

Sincerely,

Jonathan Stradling                                       Linda Tieh
jstradling@jd11.law                                      ltieh@jd11.law    
Co-Presidents ('10-'11)

4.2.2010— The 2010-2011 HALS Board

HALS held elections for its 2010-2011 board of directors on Thursday, and the organization would now like to welcome its new board:

Co-Presidents
Jonathan Stradling '12
Linda Tieh '11

Treasurer and Fundraising Chair
Shannon Itoyama '12

Asia Business Conference Speakers Chair
Tian Tian '11

Asia Business Conference Marketing Chair
Vincent Lee '12

Trip Chair
Bruce Sun '11

Professional Activities Chair
Ryan Mitchell '12

Social & Public Interest Chair Chair
Yilin Xu '12

We would like to thank the outgoing board for all of its hard work and dedication to HALS in the past year and congratulate the new board. We are looking forward to a great year in 2010-2011!

11.3.2009— Charitable Bake Sale

HALS is running a fundraising campaign this year to support Bethel, a Beijing-based orphanage for blind children. Today marked the first charitable event---a bake sale! The sale was a good start thanks to the kindness of countless people passing by our table in the Hark. We raised $245 USD, that is $1674 RMB, or about 280 meals for children in the orphanage.

This is only the first of several fundraising events for Bethel. Members of the HALS spring break delegation to Beijing will be able to visit Bethel and see first-hand how the charitable donations are affecting the lives of the blind children there.

Special thanks to Marcus Eldrige ('11), who organized the bake sale, and others who volunteered at our table to make the sales happen.

10.26.2009— Salem Trip

HALS members took the commuter rail to Salem today for an early celebration of Halloween. Without the suffocating crowd during Halloween week, Salem is lots of fun (photo 1).

10.25.2009— Asia Networking Night

Harvard has dozens of JD and LLM students who have either worked in Asia before or are interested in doing that. Friday night, over 40 of them mingled in the East Asian Legal Studies Room in Pound Hall (photos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12) . They were joined by representatives from Lateral Link, the premier legal recruiting firm. Justin Flowers, Lateral Link's Asia Director, talked to students about his recent trip to Asia and his meetings with law firm partners there. It was interesting to learn that many lateral job opportunities in Asia are not publicly posted, but rather advertised through informal networks.

10.24.2009— Movie and Ice Cream Social

HALS members watched a very interesting movie called Petitioners (Shangfang):

Zhao Liang has filmed “petitioners” who come from all over China to make complaints in Beijing about abuses and injustices committed by local authorities. Gathered near the complaint offices— around the southern railway station of Beijing, living, in most cases, in makeshift shelters—the complainants wait for months or years to obtain justice. Peasants thrown off their land, workers from factories that have closed, small homeowners who have seen their houses demolished but received no compensation—all types of petitioners are represented. Faced with the most brutal intimidation from the local authorities, the complainants who stubbornly continue despite everything find that their hopes are often in vain. Zhao Liang has accompanied several of them, particularly a mother and her daughter, whose full story we follow over ten years. The film takes us right up to the start of the Olympic Games showing China’s persistent contradictions in the midst of powerful economic expansion. Official selection of the Cannes Film Festival.

10.8.2009— Weekly Language Tables

HALS language tables have started! If you have not signed up yet and would like to, please email the appropriate host or hostess for more information:

10.3.2009— Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration at Chez Jackson

About 50 HALS members celebrated the mid-autumn festival in the home of James Jackson ('11) to enjoy good moonmakes, good jungle juice, and good company. The Festival is one of the most important holidays for Chinese and Vietnamese people. Traditionally on this day, family members and friends gather together to admire the moon and eat mooncakes.

8.23.2009— Inaugural HALS Summer Receptions in Asia: HLS Students Dance, Dine and Discuss Life on the Two Sides of the Pacific

In the summer of 2009, HALS successfully hosted a series of receptions for current and prospective HLS students in major cities throughout Asia. Old friends were reunited; new friends were introduced. The receptions varied in format, including a night of dancing in Beijing (photo 1, 2), drinks overlooking the Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong (photo 1,2,3), and yummy food in Mumbai, Shanghai (photo 1, 2), Seoul, Taipei (photo) and Tokyo. The HALS Summer Receptions in Asia will become an annual opportunity for incoming students and HALS members and alumni to mingle on the other side of the Pacific.

Special thanks go to Alonzo Emery ('10), HALS Social Chair, for conceiving the idea of receptions in Asia, and laboring to make them happen. Thanks also go to other HALS executives that volunteered to host the inagural receptions.

4.21.2009— HALS Spring Break Delegation in the Harvard Law Record

An article covering the HALS spring break delegation to Korea recently appeared in the Harvard Law Record. Click here to view it!

4.1.2009— HALS Completes Another Successful Spring Break Delegation

HALS recently completed its annual spring break delegation. This year's delegation visited Korea and was a huge success, with thirty-two Harvard Law School students participating. As part of the trip, HALS members—

• Stayed at a traditional Korean inn before traveling to Seoul
• Visited important historical and religious sites
• Met with high school students at a boarding school in the Korean countryside
• Attended a reception and dinner at the Minister of Foreign Affairs' official residence and met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Finance
• Visited the Ministry of Justice and met with the Minister of Justice
• Met with the the Dean of Seoul National University Law School and toured the SNU campus
• Had dinner with SNU law students
• Met with popular music group Girls' Generation and popular comedian Kim Jaedong
• Attended a lecture and lunch with partners of Kim & Chang, Korea's most prestigious law firm
• Visited the main Samsung corporate campus and met with Samsung in-house counsel
• Attended a dinner with members of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association of Korea

The HALS Korea Delegation (standing) after a reception and dinner at the official residence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Harvard Asia Law Society thanks all its members for making this year's trip another great success! We also thank our generous trip sponsor, Samsung, and our HALS organizational sponsors (including gold sponsors Davis Polk & Wardwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett) without whose generous support our trip would not have been possible. Additionally, we thank our Trip Chair, SeonJoo Yoon, for her hard work in organizing so many enjoyable and educational activities.