Alumni Focus

Bill Clendaniel ’75 likes what he does for the living. And the dead.

Randy Komisar’s trajectory from corporate counsel to executive to “virtual CEO” to author to venture capitalist was not at all planned. “My career makes sense only in a rearview mirror,” says Komisar ’81.

Yash Pal Ghai LL.M. ’63 has spent his professional life quietly advising countries ravaged by war and colonialism on how to use the law to build democratic societies. Recently, though, his work has received extensive coverage, particularly in Asia, for his sharp criticisms of Cambodia’s current human rights record—and the even sharper response of that country’s prime minister, Hun Sen.

When Paul Tobias ’58 was not yet 30, he wrote to Herbert Hoover, Carl Jung and several hundred others, seeking advice on turning 70.

As a young girl growing up in the 1930s on a small island in the Philippines, Erlinda Arce Ignacio Espiritu LL.M. ’51 found inspiration to become a lawyer in the legends of the Knights of the Round Table.

When Jim Clark, chairman of online photo sharing giant Shutterfly, resigned from his company’s board of directors in January, he became the first CEO to blame the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for his departure, saying the law had taken reform too far and had crimped his ability to lead.

Kenneth Chenault, the CEO of American Express and a 1976 Harvard Law graduate, returned to Cambridge this weekend to speak at the school's fall reunion exercises. Well-known for his record of reorganizing American Express in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Chenault spoke about the value of legal education in preparing people for the uncertainties of life.

Hill Harper ’92 heard the same questions again and again. A graduate of Harvard Law School and the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and an actor currently starring on the hit TV show “CSI: NY,” Harper frequently visited schools to talk to black youths, many of whom told him how difficult and often hopeless it seemed to stay in school or pursue a career.

Susan Lytle Lipton LL.M. '71 practiced securities law and was the first woman to become a partner at Greenberg, Traurig, Hoffman, Lipoff & Quentel in Florida.

As the managing partner of Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York City, John R. Ettinger ’78 spends a lot of time thinking about the future—specifically, how to position his firm most advantageously for the long term.

The news from Baghdad this month tends to make me share Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.’s famous preference for “not so much where we are, but in what direction we are moving.”

Women are still second-class citizens in the legal profession. What can be done about it?

In the 1970s, many went into law to make a difference. Some of them are finally making it now. Today’s young lawyers don’t want to wait that long.

Jay Hebert ’ 86 is president of the Harvard Law School Association. He chairs the communications practice group of the law firm of Vinson & Elkins, and he’s a partner in the firm’s business and international group.

In May 2003, Matias Garcia, a farm laborer from Oaxaca, Mexico, set out to cross the U.S. border to find work. For Garcia, like hundreds of others each year, the attempt proved fatal—he perished on a 32-mile trek across the blistering Arizona desert.

If you thought the first year of law school tested your mettle, try running for Congress. It’s not always easy being a Harvard lawyer on the campaign trail.

Annette Lu LL.M. ’78 was wary of Ma Ying-jeou S.J.D. ’81 when they were students at HLS. Today she is vice president of Taiwan, and he is a leader of the opposition. Their intertwined stories may foretell Taiwan’s future.

Once known for producing more engineers than lawyers, Japan is embarking on a journey of legal expansion.

Diana Daniels ’74 was a Cravath, Swaine & Moore associate doing project finance in 1978 when she heard The Washington Post needed a lawyer.

Sabin Willett leads a double life as a lawyer. Most days, he works on bankruptcy litigation in the Boston office of Bingham McCutchen. He likes the work. Really, he says, sitting in a conference room with a sweeping view of Boston harbor.