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.

9.26.2009— Dim-Sum in Chinatown

Although the Chinese food in Boston is in general not as good as that in L.A., New York, or Toronto, Boston turned out to have very delicious dim sum. Just ask the HALS members that took the subway to Chinatown for lunch this Saturday.

9.9.2009— Hajime Mashite! Nihao! Annyong haseyo?

Welcome to the new school year, everyone!

Just a few days earlier, over 50 LLM students packed the East Asian Legal Studies Room in Pound Hall to hear about opportunities to get involved with HALS.

Then, almost 100 JD and LLM students attended today's information session in Pound 102, learning about the Asia Business Conference, the spring break delegation to Beijing, language tables, and the charitable fundraising events.

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.

7.31.2009— Welcome Letter to 1Ls

Dear Class of 2012,

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 trips to Boston’s Chinatown for dim sum and karaoke.
• This year, we will be debuting our J.D./L.L.M. Family Program to help students build networks of  both personal and professional contacts.  
• We will also be publishing an Asia Practice Guide in December to provide valuable careers information to 1Ls interested in practicing in Asia.
• We host annual summer receptions in Asia for new and current students. In the summer of 2010, 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 Seoul, Republic of Korea, consisted of 32 students, who spent a week meeting with leaders in law, government, and business, including meetings with the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Justice, and the law firm of Kim & Chang. Previous delegations to Asia have traveled to Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. This year’s delegation will travel to Beijing, China.

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

Sincerely,

Gail Su                                        Song Yue
tsu@jd10.law                           syue@jd10.law    
Co-Presidents ('09-'10)

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!

4.10.2009— The 2009-2010 HALS Board

HALS held elections for its 2009-2010 board of directors on Thursday, and the organization would now like to welcome its new board:

Co-Presidents
Gail Su '10
Song Yue '10

Treasurer
Shirley Li '11

Asia Business Conference Speakers Chair
Linda Tieh '11

Asia Business Conference Marketing Chair
James Jackson '11

Trip Chair
Doreen Xia '10

Professional Activities Chair
Jonathan Stradling '11

Social & Logistics Chair
Alonzo Emery '10

This year's election was uncharacteristically competitive, with many qualified candidates competing for limited spots. It is extremely unfortunate (and rare) that all participants who were seeking positions on the HALS board were not able to find an available spot. We are very grateful that so many talented students with such a diverse range of experience were hoping to take leadership positions in HALS, and we sincerely hope that students who did not receive board positions will continue to be part of the organization. All candidates had done a considerable amount of work for HALS in the past year, and we greatly appreciate that they have dedicated their time and energy to this organization.

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.