Alumni Focus

An emergency petition campaign spearheaded by Harvard Law School graduate Rebecca Sharpless ’94 and five human rights organizations has prompted the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to urge the U.S. government to halt deportations to Haiti of Haitian citizens who are seriously ill or who have family ties in the U.S.

Joseph H. Flom ’48, the last living named partner at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and a leader in the field of mergers and acquisitions, died February 23, 2011 in New York City. He was 87. Flom helped transform a small New York firm into one of the most powerful legal institutions in the world, and he was also a dedicated philanthropist and supporter of Harvard Law School.

In a Jan. 27 talk titled “Line of Fire: On Being a 'Fortune 10' General Counsel," sponsored by the HLS Program on the Legal Profession, Stephen F. Gates ’72 (M.B.A. ’72) addressed the role and responsibilities of in-house counsel in today’s changing world of legal practice, and he spoke candidly about some of the specific situations he has faced in the “line of fire.”

HLS Visiting Professor Timothy Wu ’92 spoke at Harvard Law School on Jan. 11 about his new book, “The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires.” Wu is a professor at Columbia Law School.

Genachowski’s path to the chairmanship of the FCC in some ways mirrored that of his predecessor, Kevin Martin ’93, though they arrived via different sides of the political aisle.

Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow was named in the Green Bag’s “Exemplary Legal Writing 2010” list for her book “In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America's Educational Landmark” (Oxford University Press 2010). The Green Bag is a quarterly journal devoted to readable, concise and entertaining legal scholarship. Along with Minow, a number of HLS alums were also recognized for their legal writing.

In the spring of 2007, HLS Professor David Wilkins ’80 asked the members of his seminar to envision their futures. One student foresaw a federal judicial appointment. Another wanted to make partner at a prominent law firm. Also in the class was Daron Roberts ’07, who had a different sort of answer. He wanted to be head coach at a national football powerhouse.

Rachel Anderson ’03 enlists religious organizations to fight predatory lending.

On June 7, the U.S. Senate approved the nomination of the first Korean-American in U.S. history to serve as a federal district court judge.

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.

The reaction from Harvard Law School was decidedly cool 54 years ago when President Eisenhower appointed its alumnus William J. Brennan Jr. ’31 to serve on the Supreme Court.

Genachowski’s path to the chairmanship of the FCC in some ways mirrored that of his predecessor, Kevin Martin ’93, though they arrived via different sides of the political aisle.

Since early 2010, Rita Hauser ’58 and Roel Campos ’79 have been serving on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, appointed by President Barack Obama ’91.

Paul S. Miller ’86, a leader in the disability rights movement, died Oct. 19, at age 49. Miller was on the faculty of the University of Washington and was also an adviser to President Barack Obama ’91.

The focus of the Harvard Law School Association over the next two years will be building awareness and engagement among alumni on a global basis. My mantra is “One World, One HLSA.”

William T. Coleman Jr. ’43 ('46), the venerable civil rights lawyer who served on the Brown v. Board of Education case, as counsel to the Warren Commission and as secretary of transportation in the Gerald Ford Administration, was a guest speaker at Harvard Law School on Dec. 1.

Joe Fernandez '91, a former Providence city solicitor, died Dec. 18, 2010, after a short illness. He was 46.

Anna Leah Fidelis T. Castañeda LL.M. ’96 S.J.D. ’09 was awarded the William Nelson Cromwell Dissertation Prize for her Harvard Law School S.J.D. dissertation: “Creating Exceptional Empire: American Liberal Constitutionalism and the Construction of the Constitutional Order of the Philippine Islands, 1898-1935.”  

As part of the Views from Washington series, Julius Genachowski,’91, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, came to Harvard Law School in November for a conversation with students and with Dean Martha Minow.