Today Posts

This week, HLS Professors John G. Palfrey, Jonathan Zittrain, and HLS Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law Andrew K. Woods each weighed in on the Egyptian government's recent decision to block Internet access to prevent the use of social media outlets in light of escalating protests in the country. 

In a Jan. 26 review in The New Republic, HLS Professor Adrian Vermeule ’93 examines the book “Honeybee Democracy” by Thomas D. Seeley, which explores group decision-making behavior in apian colonies, and he presents his assessment of its relationship to collective wisdom and decision-making in human societies.

This week, HLS Professors John G. Palfrey, Jonathan Zittrain, and HLS Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law Andrew K. Woods each weighed in on the Egyptian government's recent decision to block Internet access to prevent the use of social media outlets in light of escalating protests in the country.

In a Jan. 31 article in the Opinion section of the New York Daily News online, HLS Professor John G. Palfrey addresses the issue of corporate responsibility in the wake of the Egyptian government’s recent Internet access lockdown to prevent protesters from organizing against President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.

On Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2011, HLS Professor Hal Scott testified before the US House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services in a hearing entitled “Promoting Economic Recovery and Job Creation: The Road Forward.”

Philip Alston, Harvard Law School’s Sidley Austin Visiting Professor of Law, received an honorary doctorate from Maastricht University in the Netherlands on Jan. 20 as part of the university’s 35th anniversary celebration.

An op-ed by HLS Professor Alan Dershowitz “The U.N. gangs up on Israel – again,” appeared in the January 26, 2011 edition of the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of numerous books, including “The Trials of Zion,” “The Case for Moral Clarity: Israel, Hamas and Gaza,” and “Finding, Framing, and Hanging Jefferson: A Lost Letter, a Remarkable Discovery, and Freedom of Speech in an Age of Terrorism.”

On January 7, in a ruling that will likely affect the entire banking industry, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court found that Wells Fargo and US Bancorp had wrongly foreclosed on two homes because the banks could not prove that they owned the mortgages at the time of the foreclosure sales in July 2007. Max Weinstein, a Clinical Instructor at the Wilmer Hale Legal Services Center, represented one of the mortgagers, Antonio Ibanez.

Harvard Law Professor Jeanne Suk ’02 was named a “Top Woman of the Law” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and honored at a reception on Dec. 3.  The award recognizes women who have made inspiring contributions and who are pioneers, educators, trailblazers and role models.

Three faculty who served in the Obama administration, and recently returned to HLS, talk to writer Elaine McArdle about gridlock, being part of history, living life at warp speed and the day the Easter Bunny blacked out the White House.

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.

The Conflict Prevention and Resolution Institute (CPR) selected the Harvard Negotiation and Mediation Clinical Program (HNMCP) to be the recipient of its 2010 Problem Solving in the Law School Curriculum Award at its annual awards banquet on January 11, 2011.

Since signing with the Boston Celtics in August 2010, Shaquille O’Neal has posed as a statue in Harvard Square, sang the “Cheers” theme song at the Cheers bar in Boston, and conducted the Boston Pops at Symphony Hall. He can now add “helped teach a class at Harvard Law School” to that list.

In a Jan. 18 op-ed in The New York Times, “China’s Currency Isn’t Our Problem,” HLS Assistant Professor Mark Wu assesses the impact of the value of China’s currency, the renminbi, on the the American economy.

A bi-partisan ABA Administrative Law Section task force, co-chaired by HLS Professor Charles Fried, issued a report recommending significant changes to federal lobbying laws. The proposed changes would broaden disclosure required by those involved in lobbying campaigns, address fundraising participation by lobbyists and strengthen enforcement of current law.

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.

Former clerks of the International Court of Justice shared their experiences with Harvard Law School students in December at “Behind the Scenes at the World Court: International Court of Justice Clerk Panel,” a panel discussion sponsored by the Harvard International Affairs Council the Harvard International Law Journal, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Debevoise & Plimpton.

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.

Leo E. Strine, Jr., the Austin Wakeman Scott Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School, was confirmed to a second 12-year term on the Delaware Chancery Court by the Delaware Senate.

Harvard Law School Professor William Alford ’77 received an honorary degree from the University of Geneva in December 2010, recognizing him as “an eminent person of contemporary international law … whose reputation extends far beyond the borders of the United States.” Other recipients in 2010 included the Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, José Manuel Barroso, head of the European Commission, and several distinguished European intellectuals. (See the complete list.)