Alumni Focus

Harvard Law School has produced plenty of senators, Supreme Court justices and two presidents, but no graduate has ever served as vice president. This election has presented the first opportunity in decades to end that drought with both Democrat Tim Kaine ’83 and Libertarian William Weld ’70 on the ballot as vice presidential candidates.

Harvard Law School is pleased to announce that a $1 million gift from Ada Tse ’91 and James Yang through their family’s YangTse Foundation will expand and enhance the Law School’s signature Negotiation Workshop, an intensive course that combines theory and practice to improve students’ understanding of negotiation and their effectiveness as negotiators.

Even when he was 5, Joel Motley '78 knew his late mother was doing important work; now, he has co-produced "The Trials of Constance Baker Motley," a short film about the woman who became the first black female Manhattan borough president, New York state senator, and federal judge.

Throughout his career, James O. Bass Sr. '34 has engendered confidence in leadership circles as the ultimate counselor.

On the stage of the Democratic National Convention, one Gold Star father invoked the words of the Founding Fathers, and just like that, a Pakistani-born Muslim American lawyer inspired more Americans to buy pocket U.S. Constitutions from Amazon than ever before. His life has not been the same since.

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

Carol Wang ’13 spent two years before law school crisscrossing Afghanistan helping nascent small businesses. Now, she and three military veterans who served there are building their own small business designed to boost the nation’s long-troubled economy.

Terry Franklin ’89, a trusts and estates litigator, knows the importance of wills to those left behind. Recently he has focused on a will executed 170 years ago with enormous bearing on his ancestors’ survival and his own existence.

HLS hosted the fourth Celebration of Black Alumni in September, featuring the theme “Turning Vision into Action.” The actions of alumni who attended have resonated in courtrooms and classrooms, in elected office and the corner office, in communities and in the culture. The Bulletin spoke with five CBA participants about where their vision has led them and where they hope to yet go.

Don Krohn's long career has taken him around the world, but in his new new collection of photographs Krohn '87 turns his focus to his home on the coast of Massachusetts.

A father’s fight for justice, a modern-day Beowulf, an American heiress

When Kelly Shapiro ’05 started her own entertainment law practice last year after stepping down as VP of a real estate investment trust, she had no intention of working on a TV show.

Not everyone at the Harvard Law School in the mid to late 1960s understood that a student named James Alan McPherson—a young African-American man who would later go on to be the first in our class to receive a McArthur “genius” grant—was in fact a genius.

As a child, Raymond Atuguba was regularly confronted by the harsh realities of poverty in Ghana. His father, a civil servant posted to rural areas, owned the only car for miles around. “Every emergency was brought to our door. If the car was not functioning, people died—on a daily basis—because they could not get to the hospital,” recalls Atuguba. “When I grew up, I said, ‘No, this has to change.’”

Over 800 alumni returned to Harvard Law School for the fourth Celebration of Black Alumni (CBA), Turning Vision into Action. The event brought together generations of black alumni to reconnect with old friends, network with new ones and take part in compelling discussions about the challenges and opportunities in local, national and global communities.

Robert L. Wilkins '89, a U.S. circuit court judge, discussed his recent book, “Long Road to Hard Truth,” which focused on his efforts to build the National Museum of African American History & Culture on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. He discussed his book during a talk at Harvard Law School on Sept. 19.

Professor Jau-Yuan Hwang LL.M. ’91 S.J.D. ’95 was named to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Professor Gonçalo de Almeida Ribeiro LL.M. ’07 S.J.D. ’12 was appointed to the Constitutional Court of Portugal.

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.

In a speech lasting six minutes and one second, Khizr Khan, LL.M. ’86, whose son Capt. Humayun Khan was killed in Iraq, stepped out from behind the curtain of private pain and into the public spotlight, attracting worldwide attention.

Addressing the incoming class at Harvard Law School, U.S. Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland ’77 recalled how, as a federal prosecutor, he helped convict the Oklahoma City bombers and the Unabomber, and also shared some not-so-famous details about his life: his addiction to his iPad, his passion for volunteerism, and his adoration of J.K. Rowling.

"Advancing human rights and social justice has been a primary concern of mine for decades," said Lynn Savarese. "The three years spent at HLS focusing on fairness in myriad complex contexts helped fuel and shape this endeavor."