Alumni Focus

President Donald Trump taps alumni for White House and agency hires

Klemen Jaklič LL.M. ’00 S.J.D. ’11 has been elected judge of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia by the Slovenian parliament after being nominated by the president of Slovenia earlier this spring. His nine-year term officially started on March 27.

Neil M. Gorsuch, a 1991 graduate of Harvard Law School, was sworn in today as the 113th justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

William T. Coleman Jr. ’46, the former secretary of transportation and one of the lead strategists and co-authors of the legal brief for the appellants in Brown v. Board of Education, died March 31.

In a wide-ranging discussion with Dean Martha Minow, the Hon. Reena Raggi, a federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit since 2002, shared her memories of late ’70s HLS, discussed notable cases she decided, and shared her thoughts on what it takes to be a successful prosecutor.

Former U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus ’75 returned to the Harvard Law School campus on Feb. 8 for a question-and-answer session moderated by HLS Professor William Alford ’77, vice dean for the Graduate Program and International Legal Studies.

Over the last decade, Sarah Hurwitz ’04 has managed to produce some of the most memorable and important work as a speechwriter for one of the nation’s most gifted orators, Barack Obama, and two of the world’s most commanding and admired women, Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton.

In 1994, Felicia Henderson ‘97 had just finished presenting a case in her Property class when Professor Terry Fisher asked that she analyze specific details…

Steve Eisman ’88, an investor famed for predicting the 2008 financial crisis, spoke to HLS students in early March about why the economy crashed and whether the administration of President Donald Trump will undo the financial regulations enacted afterward.

Congressman Adam Schiff ’85 (D-Calif.) is in the middle of one of the year’s biggest news stories – the investigation of Russia’s role in the last U.S. Presidential election. He brought some perspective on that story to Harvard on Tuesday, when he spoke at this week’s Journal on Legislation symposium.

Tom Perez ’87, who most recently served as Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration, has been elected chair of the Democratic National Committee, the first Latino to hold that post.

Khizr Khan LL.M. '86, the Gold Star father who gained fame for his speech at the Democratic National Convention, joined HLS Professor Intisar A. Rabb, director of the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School, to discuss civil liberties and political action.

Alexander Acosta, a 1994 graduate of Harvard Law School, is President Donald Trump’s pick as the next Secretary of Labor.

In a recent appearance at HLS, Ayelet Waldman ’91 -- a former criminal defense lawyer and federal public defender -- discussed her book “A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life,” using it as a backdrop to delve into the social and racial dimensions of the war on drugs.

Describing him, among other things, as "a man of enormous achievements," HLS scholars say Supreme Court nominee Neil M. Gorsuch '91 -- selected by President Donald Trump to replace the late Antonin Scalia -- would alter the tone, if not the balance, of the Court, if appointed.

Last December in suburban Paris, 195 countries reached a landmark agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. For Todd Stern ’77 the Paris accord capped two decades of work to curb climate change.

In October, Kristin Fleschner ’14 returned to the Harvard Law campus to share with current students her work in disability rights and her experiences as a blind lawyer. Her talk was followed by a showing of “Blind Ambition,” a documentary that she produced as a 2L with the support of the Dean of Students Office.

Tim Kaine ’83 will continue serving in the U.S. Senate after losing his bid to become the first Harvard Law School graduate elected vice president and he’ll be joined by several other alumni on Capitol Hill.

Janet Reno ’63, the longest serving U.S. attorney general of the 20th century and the first woman to have ever held the post, died on Monday at age 78. Reno was nominated to the post of U.S. Attorney General by President Clinton in 1993 and she served for eight years, before stepping down in 2001.

During Harvard Law School's Fall Reunion weekend, David R. Gergen '67, professor of public service and co-director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and senior political analyst for CNN, delivered a keynote address on the 2016 presidential election, sharing his thoughts about Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and the state of the presidential election.

Sarah Hurwitz has quietly helped craft some of first lady Michelle Obama's most memorable speeches--first working with her on her speech to the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver, and eventually going on to work with the first lady almost exclusively for nearly six years.