Elena Kagan

When Elizabeth B. Prelogar ’08 was confirmed by the United States Senate as the 48th solicitor general of the United States, she joined a long line of Harvard Law School community members to hold that position.

Elena Kagan was 'petrified' when a Law School professor called on her on her first day of class. She blew her first exams, which situated her in 'the bottom third of the class.' And then, in her second semester at Harvard Law School, things started to change.

Although arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court are not video-recorded, you can watch many of its justices questioning oralists and presiding over cases—within the State of Ames. Visit Harvard Law School’s archive of video recordings of the final rounds of the Ames Moot Court Competition.

A former election lawyer and the general counsel for Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, Katie Biber ’04 now works in Silicon Valley. After a stint as senior counsel at Airbnb, she’s the general counsel and corporate secretary at Thumbtack.

Yuko Miyazaki LL.M. ’84 sets a historic precedent as a female justice on Japan’s Supreme Court

At Harvard Law School on Aug. 27, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan ’86 sat down for a conversation with John Manning ’85, dean and Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

For more than two centuries, thousands of students have been shaped by -- and have shaped -- a great tradition of rigorous legal reasoning and analysis at Harvard Law School. The Class of 2021 joined that long tradition last week as they gathered in Cambridge with their fellow classmates for J.D. Orientation.

With the Supreme Court divided ideologically along partisan lines for the first time in history, the Solicitor General—no matter the administration—has become more political. How did this post, long regarded as the keel keeping the government balanced, come to contribute to forceful tacks one way or the other, to the Court’s seeming indifference?

Mentorships between Harvard Law School professors and the students who followed them into academia have taken many forms over the course of two centuries.

The opening event of Harvard Law School’s Bicentennial summit was one for the history books. Six Supreme Court justices joined Dean John F. Manning ’85 to share memories and a few priceless anecdotes.

Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan ’86 joined the newest dean of Harvard Law School John Manning ’85 for a discussion and a Q&A with HLS students on Aug. 31.

Last week, HLS welcomed a new class of J.D., LL.M. and S.J.D. students to campus. Orientation included an ice cream social, section photos and a visit from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan ’86.

On March 6, John Manning ’85, Harvard Law School deputy dean and Bruce Bromley Professor of Law, delivered a talk, "Without the Pretense of Legislative Intent," as part of the Scalia lecture series at HLS.

A look back at 2016, highlights of the people who visited, events that took place and everyday life at Harvard Law School.

In November, the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program celebrated its 10th anniversary, marking its evolution into a robust program of global clinical work in dispute systems design, innovative pedagogy around teamwork, and expanded course offerings in multiparty negotiation, group decision-making, teams and facilitation.

As the new Harvard Law School Association president, Peter C. Krause ’74 has set a goal to engage international alumni across the globe.

Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court and former Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan ’86 returned to campus on Sept. 8 to trace the trajectory of her career and offer advice to newly minted students in a talk with HLS Dean Martha Minow.

On Nov. 17, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Elena Kagan ’86, former dean of Harvard Law School, discussed statutory interpretation in a conversation with Professor John Manning ’85 as part of the Scalia lecture series at Harvard Law School.

On September 8 at Harvard Law School's Wasserstein Hall, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice and former HLS Dean Elena Kagan ’86 shared lessons learned from her career and offered a glimpse into the Court’s private world in a talk with HLS Dean Martha Minow.

In celebration of Constitution Day—the annual commemoration of the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787—several Harvard Law School professors spoke about the document upon which the American legal and political systems have been built.

Daniel J. Meltzer '75, a renowned legal scholar and expert on federal courts and criminal procedure, and a valued legal advisor to President Barack Obama ’91, died on May 24, after a courageous battle with cancer. Meltzer was the Story Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he served on the faculty since 1982.

Located on the first and second floors of Wasserstein Hall—the heart of social and academic activity on the HLS campus—Harvard Law School's historic collection of faculty portraits provide a backdrop for the daily routines and informal interactions of students and faculty members.

A former NBA All Star turned humanitarian. Supreme Court justices. Student protests. Take a look at some highlights of the people who visited and events that took place this semester at Harvard Law School.

A fellowship for lawyers who want to teach and study law helps to cultivate the next generation of law professors.

In an entertaining talk in HLS’s Wasserstein Hall with Dean Martha Minow on Wednesday, Associate Justice Elena Kagan '86 displayed her trademark wit and wisdom, honed during her years as a Harvard Law School student, professor, and dean, her work with the Clinton administration, and her stint as solicitor general.

A number of Harvard Law School faculty and alumni were included on Green Bag’s 2013 list of “Exemplary Legal Writing.” The list was compiled from nominees based on the votes of the journal’s Board of Advisers, which includes members of the state and federal judiciaries, private law firms, the news media and academia.

However much presidents want to influence the future through their judicial appointments, the problem, Professor Mark Tushnet writes in his new book, “In the Balance: Law and Politics on the Roberts Court” (Norton, 2013), “is that things change.”

An article written by Harvard Law School Professor Charles Fried was named an exemplar of good legal writing by The Green Bag, a quarterly journal devoted to readable, concise, and entertaining legal scholarship. A number of Harvard Law School alumni were also included on Green Bag’s 2012 list of “Exemplary Legal Writing.” Their work will appear in the “2013 Almanac & Reader.”

On Sept. 5, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan ’86 joined Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow for a conversation on life as a Supreme Court Justice. The former and current deans spoke before an overflow audience in the Wasserstein Hall, Caspersen Student Center, Clinical Wing building.

As Harvard Law School’s first female dean and the first woman ever to serve as U.S. solicitor general, Elena Kagan ’86 has made a habit of making history. On Oct. 1, Kagan sat on the far right-hand side of the Supreme Court’s courtroom in a chair first used by Chief Justice John Marshall, poised to make history once again at her formal investiture ceremony.

Before an overflow crowd of students and faculty in the Ames Courtroom, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan ’86 and HLS Dean Martha Minow engaged in a wide-ranging conversation about the current high court, Kagan’s storied career, and other issues during the Honorable S. William Green Lecture in Public Law, established by Patricia Freiberg Green in honor of her husband Congressman Bill Green ‘53.

In an Aug. 2 interview at the Aspen Institute, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan ‘86 spoke about life as a Supreme Court justice, cameras in the courtroom, and interpreting the law. She was interviewed by Elliot Gerson, a former law clerk to former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart.

Harvard Law School Spring Reunions this year brought back a record number of alumni, nearly 800. Among them were U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices Anthony M. Kennedy ’61 and Elena Kagan ’86, the law school’s former dean.

In a relaxed and often-humorous conversation before a packed room of more than 750 of their fellow Harvard Law School alumni, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justices Anthony M. Kennedy ’61 and Elena Kagan ’86 on Saturday shared personal stories and offered a rare glimpse into the Court’s very private world, in a special reunion event moderated by HLS Dean Martha Minow.

Of the 39 law school graduates who are serving as clerks to the U.S. Supreme Court justices and retired justices in the 2010-2011 term, 11 hail from Harvard Law School—the highest number from a single law school this year.

As a legal fellow funded by the HLS Office of Public Interest Advising and a Heyman Fellowship, Tom Ferriss '11 became an expert on the work of then Supreme Court Nominee Elena Kagan, flagging issues that might draw political attention during her Senate Confirmation hearings.

President Barack Obama '91 hosted a White House reception in honor of Elena Kagan '86, who was confirmed to be the next Justice on the United States Supreme Court on August 5, 2010. The Senate confirmed the former Harvard Law School Dean and Solicitor General by a vote of 63-37. With her confirmation, Kagan becomes the 20th Harvard Law School alumnus to serve on the Court. 

Several HLS Professors testified on behalf of former Dean Elena Kagan ’86 on July 1 during confirmation hearings for her nomination to become an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.

As Elena Kagan becomes the 112th Supreme Court justice, she adds to an impressive list of 22 justices who have one thing in common: Not only have they shaped the law in influential and historical ways — they all hail from Harvard.

A bipartisan group of over 900 law professors from 152 law schools across the country have joined together to urge the confirmation of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow joined 68 other law school deans from around the country in a letter endorsing the nomination of Elena Kagan ’86 to a seat on the United States Supreme Court. The letter, which was addressed to the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was distributed widely on Tuesday, June 15.

Today, President Barack Obama ’91 nominated former Harvard Law School Dean and current Solicitor General Elena Kagan ’86 to the seat vacated by retiring Justice John Paul Stevens on the United States Supreme Court.

In the following op-eds, HLS professors Charles Fried, Randall L. Kennedy, Lawrence Lessig, Charles Ogletree, Ronald S. Sullivan, Visiting Lecturer Tom Goldstein, and former HLS Dean Robert C. Clark write in support of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, former HLS Dean and current Solicitor General.

In The New Republic,  HLS Professor Charles Fried wrote "Everyone's Dean: Why Elena Kagan has earned the respect of conservatives, like me," an article which appeared in the April 19 edition of the magazine.  Fried teaches constitutional law and contracts at HLS, and he was solicitor general of the United States during the second Reagan administration.

Just two days after making her debut before the Supreme Court, Solicitor General and former Dean Elena Kagan ’86 returned to the Harvard Law School campus to give students an insider’s account of her new role.

On Wednesday, September 9, former HLS Dean Elena Kagan ’86 argued her first case as the solicitor general of the United States, in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. The case involves the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, a campaign finance reform statute passed by Congress in 2002 that was intended to limit election-related communications, especially so-called “attack ads.”