Foreword
Dear Classmates,
Once again it is my honor to write a few words as Foreword to our reunion class directory. It is hard to believe that it has been 45 years since we walked up the steps of Langdell on June 4, 1981 to receive our diplomas. Much water has passed under our respective bridges.
Given our “advanced” age of 71 years (plus or minus), the subject of past, present or future retirement is likely a subject of contemplation and conversation in your household — at least it in in mine. To that end, I commend to you a book called, Your Turn: How to Create a Midlife You Love, by NPR health and science correspondent Allison Aubrey. The book’s thesis is that the traditional concept of “learn, earn, and retire” is evolving into a more fulfilling “learn, earn, and return” where one can actively re-define what purpose, character, and vitality can look like in the third act of life.
I am pleased to report that, this year, the Red Book is returning to a physical volume printed on actual paper, and that the law school has abandoned its experiment of limiting its quinquennial collection of classmate submissions to an online presence. I personally enjoy looking at the stack of seven class directories on my bookshelf, and am glad that I will now have an eighth to add to my collection.
It is also heartening that unlike five years ago when our “Covid Reunion” was limited to an online gathering (too many Zoom calls in our lives), we will once again have the opportunity to gather in person for a long Cambridge weekend to reminisce, catch up with old friends, and make new ones.
Be well and, if you ever find yourself in the Los Angeles area with a little time to spare, please give me a holler.
Best regards.
Larry Steinberg
Class Secretary, HLS Class of 1981
In Memoriam
We pay tribute and hold dear the memories of our classmates who have passed away. Although they are no longer with us, their enduring presence will forever hold a cherished place in our hearts and within the Harvard Law School community.
Records of the Class
Click the button below to view your password-protected class records – a collection of your classmates’ contact information and their stories – about life, career, family, hobbies, and more.
Please note: Passwords are case-sensitive. Also, this PDF is designed for reading only and cannot be printed.
Class Remembrances
Jürgen Basedow
Patrick Van Beirs remembers:
Our class lost an outstanding man and prominent scholar in 2022. A major specialist of Private International Law, Jürgen Basedow taught at several universities in Germany and was director of the prestigious Max Planck Institute of Comparative Law and Private International Law in Hamburg.
He published important contributions to the legal thinking of our age, for example :
- The Law of Open Societies – Private Ordering and Public Regulation in the Conflict of Laws (2015, and the slightly different version published as his Hague Academy General Course in 2013 as well as the 2017 Spanish translation)
- EU Private Law: Anatomy of a Growing Legal Order (2021)
- Uniform Law – Legal Responses to Globalisation (2024, posthumous)
And many more monographs and contributions to jointly authored works, on diverse subjects of international law, from the liability of parcel services to global competition law and intellectual property in the global arena.
Here is the testimony from his friend our classmate Gerhard Wegen.
“Juergen came to HLS as an already acclaimed academic in private international law. I was still working on my doctoral thesis in public international law comparative procedure. We took similar core courses, such as Tribe “Constitutional Law” and Areeda “Antitrust”. We shared also Detlev Vagts’ course on “Transnational Legal Problems” . We were both fascinated by Vagts’ blending private and public international law, a combination then unheard of in Continental European law. We said we should write such a treatise or casebook when we were back in Germany. Juergen became an eminent scholar and professor in private international law in the universities of Augsburg, Berlin and then Hamburg, where he was for many years a director of the Max Planck Institute for Private International and Comparative Law. I became an international M+A lawyer in a major German law firm, however, also teaching international business transactions in the University of Tübingen. I did a few seminars together with Juergen. Each of us published several legal works, but we never wrote the continental version of Vagts’ “Transnational Legal Problems”.”
Marie B. Coudert
Pinky Anand remembers:
She was a reserved person but very affirmative and positive. A person to be missed with fond memories.
Richard Charles Harper
Pinky Anand remembers:
An outstanding, bright colleague. Sad to lose him.
Jeanne Mantell
Jonathan Medow remembers:
Jeanne was a wonderful person. We fell out of touch a few years after graduating, and I was shocked to learn only recently that she had passed away in early 2020. May she Rest in Peace.
John C. Palenberg
Kimberlee Wood Colby remembers:
John Palenberg was delightful with a quick wit and an even quicker smile. His impish demeanor belied the razor-sharp intellect that was immediately demonstrated the moment you spoke with him. He was a truly decent human being.
I particularly recall John’s phone call to my roommate and me the night before our Civil Procedure final (Section I with Professor David Shapiro). He laughingly asked, “Are you ready for the ‘nuclear meltdown’ tomorrow?” (He was definitely more ready than I.)
But my favorite recollection is his creation of a bulletin board in the tunnel for the “North Dakota Law Student Association.” Where else could one take a study break and learn fascinating facts about North Dakota, including that it was the fifth largest nuclear power in the world? If memory serves, John was the only member, but he gleefully promoted his beloved home state.
Natalie Rumer
Pinky Anand remembers:
She was a great human being and will be missed.
Ramiro Solis
William “Bill” Kaplan prepared this remembrance with contributions from other members of the Class of 1981:
The LL.M. class of 1981 lost a bright star. Ramiro Solis passed away recently at a much too tender age. Ramiro was a gentle, generous, fun, loving soul who was a great and loyal friend to all the international LL.M.s of 1981. He was optimistic and positive and carried a smile that would light up the room. Many of us remember a trip to Mexico that he hosted over Christmas of our LL.M. year. We all went to Mexico City and Acapulco and Ramiro was the consummate host. We had every amenity anyone could ever dream of and on voicing our appreciation, he simply blushed and in his humble manner said “Bueno”. Ramiro will be sorely missed by his loving family and all the 1981 LL.M. class so admired and respected him. It was our blessing to have known him. May he rest in peace.
After graduating from Harvard, Ramiro worked at Creel Abogados in Mexico City where he represented Fortune 500 companies in business, financing, IPOs, and other legal matters. In 1986, he opened his own practice, Solís y Castellanos, before becoming the Legal Director of a major national bank in Mexico. From 1996 and for the remainder of his career, he was General Counsel of a hospitality group operating resorts throughout Mexico.