Latest from Lewis Rice

With a mixture of storytelling about his groundbreaking role in amateur basketball and critiques of the NCAA and NBA, former sports marketing executive Sonny Vaccaro gave the keynote address at the third annual HLS Sports Law Symposium on March 25.

Debating what Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow called “one of the most important public policy issues and one of the most important constitutional issues,” three law professors offered different perspectives on whether the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) violates the commerce clause of the Constitution and infringes on personal liberties.

HLS Professors John Goldberg and Henry Smith are working to reinvigorate the study of contracts, torts, and property with the new Private Law Workshop, which they co-teach as part of the Project on the Foundations of Private Law at Harvard Law School. The workshop, said Goldberg, is “an opportunity to introduce students to some of the emerging literature that’s aiming to rethink the significance of private law in modern legal systems.”

African-American children, who account for just 15 percent of all children in the U.S., represent more than a third of children placed in foster care. The question is: Why? That controversial issue and others surrounding society’s efforts to protect children were the focus of the conference “Race & Child Welfare: Disproportionality, Disparity, Discrimination: Re-Assessing the Facts, Re-Thinking the Policy Options,” held January 28-29 at Harvard Law School.

Standing on principles shaped at HLS, Steven Goldberg ’72 wins a landmark ruling in a case involving one of the most controversial initiatives surrounding the War on Terror. For Goldberg the case exemplifies overreach at the highest level of government.

Former prosecutor Paul Butler ’86 now argues for jury nullification in cases of nonviolent offenders—even if they are guilty.

LL.M. students recall their work in Afghanistan and share their hopes for the nation’s future.

As the three most popular sports leagues in the United States all confront the end of their collective bargaining agreements in 2011, industry representatives previewed the key issues affecting negotiation, during the second annual Sports and the Law Symposium held on March 26.

In the most recent U.S. presidential election, the candidates debated the wisdom of negotiating with enemies. But such a debate is not confined to political leaders. Whether it’s a dispute between countries, businesses or family members, the parties involved face a crucial decision. And Robert Mnookin ’68 offers a guide to making the right one in his new book, “Bargaining With the Devil: When to Negotiate, When to Fight” (Simon & Schuster).

Coercive interrogations inflict discomfort or pain with the goal of eliciting information. Yet all too often, says Deborah Popowski ’08, those involved in such interrogations are supposed to be helping people, not hurting them.

On Jan. 22, 2009, President Barack Obama ’91 signed an executive order mandating that individuals detained in armed conflict will “be treated humanely and shall not be subjected to violence to life and person.” Harvard Law School Professor Philip Heymann ’60 had an answer. And his proposal may soon become the standard for the how the United States handles interrogations to prevent future terrorist attacks.

Ken Mehlman '91 was a Republican before law school. But HLS helped make him the Republican he is today. His predominantly liberal fellow students in fact made him "more Republican, more conservative," spurred by his view that rampant elitism drove their ideology, he said.

A restaurant employee is fired. He didn't violate company policy. In fact, he's a good employee, according to his manager. But he is fired because, as the regional manager put it, he is one of "those people."

In their new book, Professor Elizabeth Warren and her daughter reveal the diminishing fortunes of middle-class families and show a way out of the "Two-Income Trap."

Thanks to Josh Gottheimer '04, the greatest American civil rights speeches are together for the first time, demonstrating the injustices and progress of a growing nation and ultimately, he says, hope for its future.

Depending on your perspective, Kourosh Kenneth Hamidi may be either a crank or a prophet. But William McSwain '00 wants to keep the Internet free for both.

Stepping down after 14 years as dean, Robert Clark ' 72 has changed the institution with the money he raised, the faculty he nurtured and the programs he shaped. Underlying it all is an unflagging devotion to Harvard Law School.

The urinal is the political. So are the toilet and the condom dispenser and the diaper changing station and everything else commonly found in men's and women's rooms (and even the fact that there are men's and women's rooms).

Rest assured, Dean Blackwood '95 is not demanding a 45-foot trailer filled with cardamom incense sticks and candy bowls with all the green M&M's removed.

Daniel Victor ' 79 and Valerie Mitchell '93 are in the entertainment industry. They work around actors, rock musicians, larger-than-life characters, grouches, monsters and even one guy who speaks incessantly in the third person.

Of course, working for a toy company doesn't mean that you play "Heart and Soul" on a huge floor piano at FAO Schwarz, like Tom Hanks did in the movie "Big."