Latest from HLS News Staff

New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told an HLS Class Day audience today that self-regulation by corporations and financial institutions has been an “abject failure” and he warned graduating 3Ls not to succumb to hubris or the delusion that they are “Masters of the Universe.”

Professor Martha Minow is the winner of the prestigious Sacks-Freund Teaching Award, an honor bestowed each year on a member of the Harvard Law School faculty by the graduating class. Presented at Class Day--the day before commencement--the Sacks-Freund award recognizes teaching ability, attentiveness to student concerns, and general contributions to student life at the law school.

The American Law and Economics Association recently named Professor Steven Shavell as co-editor of the association's official journal, the American Law and Economics Review. Shavell will assume the co-editorship position from Judge Richard Posner.

On Thursday, June 9, the Harvard Law School Class of 2005 will graduate in ceremonies at HLS and at the University. Details about the occasion, and Class Day on Wednesday, June 8, are now available on the Commencement 2005 website.

This year's list of 10 Best Corporate and Securities articles includes four selections from Harvard Law faculty: Professors Lucian Bebchuk, Mark Roe and Guhan Subramanian, who authored of two articles on the list. The list was chosen by corporate and securities law faculty from 430 selections and will be announced in an upcoming issue of the legal journal, "Corporate Practice Commentator."

The following remarks are excerpted from a lecture delivered by Professor Richard Fallon at Harvard Law School in February marking his appointment to the Ralph S. Tyler Jr. Professorship of Constitutional Law. He argues that a recent U.S. Supreme Court case reveals a willingness by the Court to allow a "permissible disparity" between what the Constitution says and the way it is enforced. (From the April 2005 issue of Harvard Law Today.)

At 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 25, Assistant Professor Jonathan Zittrain hosts a special version of his class, Cyberlaw, which will be avaible to the public via a webcast. Jimmy Wales, founder of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, will be the guest speaker, and the webcast of Zittrain's class will offer viewers the chance to participate and contribute questions.

This weekend, leaders of the financial systems from the U.S. and Europe convened in Eltville, Germany to discuss the function and stability of the global financial system. The three-day symposium was organized by Harvard Law School’s Program on International Financial Systems and the Centre for European Policy Studies.

Professor Howell Jackson ’82 isn’t afraid to touch what’s long been considered the third rail of American politics: Social Security reform. Jackson, the James S. Reid Jr. Professor of Law, has long taught about regulating financial institutions and pensions, and he’s made Social Security one of his top research interests. He recently spoke with Harvard Law Today about the problems facing the Social Security system and the prospects for fixing them.

On April 21 and 22, Harvard's Journal of Law and Technology will host its annual symposium with a focus this year on "Law, Technology and Privacy." The event will examine modern law enforcement techniques, biotechnology and identification tracking as well as the implications of these technologies on privacy rights.

International legal expert Rita E. Hauser will deliver an address titled "Is United Nations Reform Really Possible?" on Wednesday April 20 at 5 p.m. in Pound Hall 102. A former US Representative to the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, Hauser is currently chair of the International Peace Academy and a member of the President's Intelligence Oversight Board.

Professor W. Kip Viscusi has been appointed to serve as a member of the EPA's Science Advisory Board's Homeland Security Advisory Committee. As a member of the committee, Viscusi will provide expert advice critical to the pursuit of the EPA's mission to protect public human health and the environment.

Yesterday, representatives of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Law School presented a report on Internet censorship in China to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in Washington, D.C. The report -- released by the OpenNet Initiative, a research partnership -- documents blocking of websites, blogs, email and online discussion forums by the Chinese government.

This Friday, April 15, Harvard Law School will host a symposium titled, "Law and Ethics in A Brave New World: What Should Government Do About Cloning and Stem Cell Research?" Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) will deliver the keynote address at the event sponsored by the HLS Society for Law Life and Religion.

The following story is from the April 2005 issue of Harvard Law Today: A typical 10 minutes inside the Office of Public Interest Advising in Pound Hall was like a train station full of students with questions about how to make their connections how to strategize, fund and secure summer public interest jobs.

Noah Feldman, author of "After Jihad," spoke at Harvard Law School about establishing post-war justice in Afghanistan and Iraq. While recent news coverage has focused on political changes in both nations, Feldman focused on the longer-term challenge of building a legal system that will be socially, culturally and politically viable.