Today Posts

Who Will Bail Out American Families? Professor Elizabeth Warren
Chicago Tribune, Sept. 22, 2008 “Lost in the headlines are the families who signed their names…

Christina Greenberg’s client was labeled disruptive and was sent home from elementary school every single day last spring. The 8-year-old—who is mentally disabled, has hydrocephalus, seizures and is in a wheelchair—then lost summer services because his school district failed to submit the necessary paperwork. His mother—struggling to care for her son and his disabled twin on $1,000 a month—was desperate when she reached Greenberg, a summer intern with Massachusetts Advocates for Children.

Having Harry “Terry” Martin at the helm of the Harvard Law Library was a comfort and an inspiration not only for me, when I was director of the Boston College Law Library, but also for the other law library directors in New England and in the profession generally.

Beginning as a student over a half century ago—and with the notable exception of successive clerkships for Justice Roger Traynor of the Supreme Court of California and Justice Felix Frankfurter—Professor Mansfield’s journey in law has taken place entirely at the Harvard Law School, as he is fond of calling it. Impressive as such longevity is, he has left a mark on Harvard—and on my life as well—that is even deeper than it is wide.

Finn M.W. Caspersen ’66 is chairman of the board and CEO of Knickerbocker Management, a private management firm that oversees the assets of various trusts, foundations and individuals.

As I write, two campaigns have just ended. The first, of course, is the historic and successful bid for the presidency by a graduate of…

The following article, “The Empiricist Strikes Back,” by Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein ’78, was published in the September 10, 2008 issue of The New Republic.

Harvard Law School welcomed 629 new students to Cambridge this week. They hail from Alaska to Zimbabwe, and from Fenway Park to Wimbledon.

In his most recent book, The Future of the Internet – And How to Stop It, Harvard Law School Professor Jonathan Zittrain ’95 paints a disheartening picture of the future of the Internet’s innovation and participatory opportunities. If we continue on our current trajectory, he warns, we will lose sight of the most positive characteristics the Internet has brought to society.

Daryl Levinson, the Fessenden Professor of Law, joined the Harvard Law School faculty in 2005. He teaches and writes primarily about constitutional law and theory. He has been tasked by Dean Elena Kagan ’86 with helping students and alumni who want to become law professors. In the latest issue of Harvard Law Today, he answered some questions about how students -- and alumni -- can become legal academics.

Jim Greiner, an HLS assistant professor of law, created a unique course as a joint endeavor between HLS and the Harvard statistics department, where Greiner, who holds a Ph.D. in statistics, is an affiliate. The 13 law students will be taking and defending two depositions each, one involving a political redistricting hypothetical and the other involving an employment discrimination case.

Professor Jody Freeman LL.M. ’91 S.J.D. ’95 joined the faculty in 2005. She recently told the Harvard Law Bulletin why climbing Mount Kilimanjaro didn’t turn her into an environmentalist—and what did.

The graffiti started appearing in mid-February: “Aba Lavichè!” Lavi chè was Creole for la vie chère—the high cost of living. I should have realized. Rising prices for gas, basic foodstuffs and school fees had been the talk since I’d arrived last August to work for a small NGO that does human-rights law.

The following op-ed, The Supreme Court is Wrong on the Death Penalty, written by Harvard Law School Professor Laurence Tribe '66, was published in the Wall Street Journal on July 31, 2008.

As presidential candidates Barack Obama '91 and John McCain prepare for their parties' nominating conventions, rumors are swirling around two Harvard Law graduates as likely vice presidential candidates.

Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Bartholet '65 testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee today about mandatory pre-dispute arbitration, a practice often used in workplaces and by credit card companies to ensure that employees and consumers agree to resolve all conflicts through arbitration instead of through the court system.

Navanethem Pillay LL.M. ’82 S.J.D. ’88 is expected to become the next United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon will announce Pillay’s nomination, which requires the approval of the General Assembly, early this week.

Iraq war veteran Erik Swabb ’09 recently returned to Iraq and was embedded with a U.S. combat unit, hoping to gain an informed assessment of…

The following article, "Disclosure Is the Best Kind of Credit Regulation," co-written by Harvard Law School Professor Cass Sunstein '78 and University of Chicago Professor Richard Thaler, was published in the Wall Street Journal on August 13, 2008.