Latest from HLS News Staff

Five months into her new job, Dean Martha Minow shares some insights - and even a little advice.

“The Road to Abolition?: The Future of Capital Punishment in the United States” (New York University Press, 2009), edited by Professor Charles Ogletree Jr. ’78 and Austin Sarat, takes on an interdisciplinary exploration of the debate surrounding the death penalty at the turn of the 21st century.

In both the public and private sectors, Harvard Law students are facing a tougher job market than in recent memory.

In the wake of the current economic crisis and growing globalization, the job market for lawyers is tougher than at any time in recent history. We asked Professor David Wilkins ’80, head of HLS’s Program on the Legal Profession, how these factors will shape legal practice and education.

Since U.S. forces started taking alleged terrorists to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the task of crafting American detention policy has migrated decisively from the executive branch to federal judges. These judges, not experts in terrorism or national security and not politically accountable to the electorate, inherited this responsibility because of the Supreme Court's intervention in detention policy. Over time they maintained it because legislative and executive officials of both political parties refused to craft a comprehensive legislative approach to this novel set of problems that cries out for decisive lawmaking.

HLS Professor Elizabeth Warren was named the “Bostonian of the Year” for 2009 by the Boston Globe. The annual award, which recognizes people who have made the greatest impact on the region, was awarded to Warren for her role as chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

The Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling in Caperton v. A.T. Massey was the main focus of the Harvard Law Review’s Supreme Court forum this year. Held annually, the Supreme Court Forum focuses on the Law Review’s Supreme Court issue, which is published in November.

2009 was a noteworthy year for Harvard Law School. A new dean took the helm—Martha Minow was appointed dean of Harvard Law School in June—and a number of faculty and alums were appointed to positions in the Obama administration. New scholars joined the faculty while the scholarship of current faculty members and HLS research programs made headlines.

Professor Mark Roe's op-ed entitled “End bankruptcy priority for derivatives, repos and swaps,” appeared in the Dec. 16, 2009, edition of the Financial Times.

In their book,“No Place to Hide: Gang, State, and Clandestine Violence in El Salvador” (Harvard University Press, 2009), Clinical Professor James Cavallaro and Spring…

Harvard Law School Professor Hal Scott's op-ed, “Do we really need a systemic regulator?” appeared in the December 11, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal.

HLS Leo Gottlieb Professor of Law Elizabeth Warren discussed the future of the foreclosure crisis in the United States and what should be done to improve the current situation on a National Public Radio program that aired December 9.

Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain's op-ed, “Work the new digital sweatshops,” appeared in the December 8, 2009, edition of Newsweek Magazine.

The op-ed, “Bankers had cashed in before the music stopped,” was co-written by Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’80 S.J.D. ’84, Visiting Professor Alma Cohen, and Lecturer on Law Holger Spamann S.J.D. ’09. It appeared in the December 7, 2009, edition of the Financial Times.

HLS Professor Elizabeth Warren's op-ed entitled “America without a Middle Class,”  appeared in the Dec. 2, 2009 edition of The Huffington Post. Warren is chair of the Congressional Oversight Panel on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).

President Obama has nominated Paul L. Oostburg Sanz ’99 to be general counsel of the Navy, and Solomon B. Watson IV ’71 as general counsel of the Army.

This op-ed by Harvard Law School Professors Lucian Bebchuk LL.M. ’80 S.J.D ’84. and Jesse Fried, entitled “Taming the Stock Option Game,” appeared in the November 2009 edition of Project Syndicate. This article builds on their study “Equity Compensation for Long-term Performance.” Bebchuk and Fried are co-authors of “Pay without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise of Executive Compensation.”