Alumni Focus

Inspired by legendary lawyers, a brother and sister set out to change the world.

Without prosecutions, the risk of another financial crisis is greater,says a prominent federal judge.

There is no one in Hollywood—indeed, throughout the entire entertainment industry—who doesn’t know the name Bert Fields.

In an April 16th ceremony, Harvard Law School student Jessica Frisina ’14 and alumnus David Singleton ’91 were honored with the Gary Bellow Public Service Award.

In a tribute to his colleague and HLS classmate, Dave Prouty '86, general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association, described Michael Weiner ‘86 as the “most beloved man in baseball.”

Harvard Law School has announced that Bertram Fields, one of the nation’s most renowned entertainment lawyers, has made a gift of $5 million to Harvard Law School to endow the Bertram Fields Professorship of Law. Fields, a native of Los Angeles, California, received his law degree from Harvard Law School, magna cum laude, in 1952.

Professional wrestler David Otunga '06 was the keynote speaker at the Harvard Law School Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law’s 2014 symposium, which also include panel discussions with practicing lawyers, a presentation of student awards, and a recognition of Paul C. Weiler, LL.M. ’65, the Henry J. Friendly Professor of Law, Emeritus.

Sumner M. Redstone, one of the nation’s pre-eminent media entrepreneurs and philanthropists, has announced a gift of $10 million to Harvard Law School to endow the Sumner M. Redstone Fellowships in Public Service. The gift from the Sumner M. Redstone Charitable Foundation -- the largest ever made to Harvard Law School in support of public service -- will provide funding for HLS students who wish to work in the public interest after graduation.

Tama Matsuoka Wong ’83 was a securities lawyer in Hong Kong when her toddler began to suffer from such severe allergies that she was hospitalized. When it became clear that the problem was related to processed foods, Wong and her family returned to the U.S., where they could have better control over what they ate.

This fall, more than 600 alumnae from around the country and the world came back to Harvard Law School for “Celebration 60: Leaders for Change—Women Transforming our Communities and the World.” We interview four participants on their experiences effecting change.

Shortly after graduating from HLS, David Satterthwaite Wertime ’07 and Rachel Lu ’07 launched Tea Leaf Nation, an e-magazine focusing on Chinese social media. The site had become a go-to destination for Western journalists, academics and decision-makers seeking insights into what average Chinese people are thinking.

just 24 years old, Maeve O’Rourke LL.M. ’10 went to the United Nations with a bold and unprecedented case against the Irish government. Appearing in Geneva before the Committee Against Torture in 2011, O’Rourke argued that Ireland had allowed the enslavement and forced labor of thousands of women throughout most of the 20th century. What she wanted, she told the committee, was for the government to acknowledge its complicity, to apologize and to pay reparations to the victims.

Offering humorous quips and reflecting on his always challenging role as chair and CEO of Goldman Sachs, Lloyd Blankfein ’78 discussed his company, regulation and the state of the economy, as part of a question-and-answer session with Dean Martha Minow during Reunions Weekend in October.

Arnold Mytelka ’61 can no longer remember just how he met Amanuel Andemicael LL.M. ’60. But, as Mytelka recalls now, something always stood out about the man who would become his lifelong friend.

First Lady Michelle Obama ’88 on cultivating a healthier future for children.

In November, Norman Dorsen ’53 delivered the Harvard Law School Association of New Jersey’s 57th Vanderbilt Lecture. The topic was “Seeking Civil Liberties,” and that’s something the former president of the American Civil Liberties Union has done throughout his career.

The legacy of an unconventional thinker Joy Covey ’89, former CFO of Amazon.com, died in September in a bicycling accident. A lover of the outdoors…

An unwavering believer in international law Detlev Frederick Vagts ’51, a renowned international law scholar and an expert on transnational business problems and the laws…

Brown uses her own example—after leaving a law partnership upon the birth of her daughter, she is now a professor of business law—and those of many others, from a jewelry designer to a nurse to a rabbi, to show the possibilities for those who are unhappy with the practice of law. Such a change is not easy, but a lawyer’s skills can be reframed and refreshed, she says, adding that she has never met a former lawyer who regrets having left the profession.

In early November, David Shribman, the executive editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, sat down with his attorney, Fritz Byers ’81, before an audience at Harvard…