Faculty Scholarship

Harvard Law School visiting professor Katherine Porter ’01 testified before the Congressional Oversight Panel on October 27. At a hearing on the TARP Foreclosure Mitigation Program, Porter—who specializes in consumer credit, consumer protection regulation, and mortgage servicing—spoke about how the allegations of legal errors in the foreclosure process may impact the housing markets, the soundness of banks, and the financial markets overall.

Tyler Giannini has been appointed as a clinical professor of law at Harvard Law School. He was formerly a lecturer on law at HLS.

Robert H. Sitkoff, the John L. Gray Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, was elected an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national professional organization of approximately 2,600 lawyers who specialize in trusts and estates.

Jeannie Suk ’02 has gained tenure as a professor of law at Harvard. The faculty voted to grant tenure on Oct. 14 and Harvard University approved it immediately thereafter.

In 2009, the nation was captivated by the now-infamous Cambridge arrest of Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates. Harvard Law School Professor Charles Ogletree, who served as Gates’ attorney in the immediate aftermath of the arrest, wrote his latest book, “The Presumption of Guilt: The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America” in response to the event. In addition to several appearances on national media outlets, Ogletree recently hosted a panel discussion at HLS featuring Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum and member of the Cambridge Review Committee that was established to review the incident.

Harvard Law School professor Adrian Vermeule ‘93, who is an expert on Constitutional Law, recently reviewed two books — one new and one "neglected classic" — which deal with the subject. The first, "Superstatutes," was featured in The New Republic; the other ("The small-c constitution circa 1925") was a contribution to the new Classics section of the online journal Jotwell.

Professor John C. Coates published “Corporate Governance and Corporate Political Activity: What Effect Will Citizens United Have on Shareholder Wealth?” in September, as part of the HLS Working Paper series.  

Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith wrote an op-ed for the Oct. 21, 2010 edition of the Washington Post titled “Our nation’s secrets, stuck in a broken system.” The piece addresses Bob Woodward’s book, “Obama Wars,” in which ostensibly classified information – presumably obtained from senior White House officials – is disclosed regardless of the “grave damage” that could result from its release.  

Professor John Manning delivered a chair lecture, “The Separation of Powers as Ordinary Interpretation,” in October to mark his appointment as the Bruce Bromley Professor of Law. Manning addressed a full Caspersen Room, with a broad representation of the Harvard Law School community in attendance.

The continuing debate over Brown v. Board of Education's effects was forcefully illustrated on Tuesday, Sept. 28, by a panel discussion of Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow’s new book, “In Brown’s Wake: Legacies of America’s Educational Landmark,” the first in a series of events on faculty-authored books sponsored by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice and HLS.

Harvard University announced today (Oct. 19) that Mark Johnson, the Director of Major Capital Projects and Physical Planning at Harvard Law School, has been named vice president for capital planning and project management.

In an Oct. 8 op-ed in the New York Times, Harvard Law School Professor Jack Goldsmith argues that the trial of suspected terrorists – whether in criminal, civilian, or military court – is the “wrong approach.” 

Professor Philip Heymann ’60 and Associate Professor Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03 received the 2010 Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize for their recently published book “Laws, Outlaws, and Terrorists” (MIT Press, 2010).

Professor Philip Heymann ’60 and Associate Professor Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03 received the 2010 Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize for their recently published book “Laws, Outlaws, and Terrorists” (MIT Press, 2010).

The American government should display more transparency and give clearer legal guidelines for targeted killings and the use of drones in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said Philip Alston, a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, during a lecture last week.

In a recent interview with the Harvard Gazette, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow and Professor Noah Feldman surveyed the future of the Supreme Court in light of the succession of retired associate justice John Paul Stevens by former HLS Dean Elena Kagan ’86.

I. Glenn Cohen, co-director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health and Law Policy and assistant professor of Harvard Law School, was a guest on the radio program “The Takeaway,” a national morning news program produced in partnership with The New York Times, the BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International and WGBH Boston.

The Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA), in collaboration with the Cities Programme of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), has announced the winner of the fourth international competition to give the James Stirling Memorial Lectures on the City. The jury selected Harvard Law School Professor Gerald Frug as the 2010-2011 Stirling Lecturer, for his project entitled "The Architecture of Governance."

In an opinion piece in the Room for Debate section of The New York Times, Harvard Law School Professor John Palfrey discusses whether the death of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers student, calls for tougher laws against malicious acts online.

The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation, an independent and nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving the regulation and enhancing the competitiveness of U.S. capital markets, released data confirming that the competitiveness of U.S. public equity markets in global markets has resumed its deterioration throughout this year’s first half.  

In an op-ed for Project Syndicate, Harvard Law School Professor Lucian Bebchuk raises questions about the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which grants corporations greater leeway in political spending.