Today Posts

The U.S. Constitution is 219 years old now, and the revolutionary system of government it created has survived and spread across the globe. No wonder many Americans consider it an almost sacred document, the final say on governmental powers and individual rights.

Professor Michael Klarman, a constitutional law and history scholar, joined the faculty earlier this year after a distinguished tenure at the University of Virginia since 1987. In a recent Q&A, he discusses the current state of race relations in America.

Yale Law Professor Henry E. Smith, an expert in property, intellectual property, natural resources, and taxation, will join the Harvard Law School faculty in January 2009, Dean Elena Kagan '86 announced today.

At Harvard Law School, some new answers to the question, What do future lawyers need to know?

On executive power, war and anti-terrorism, scholars have a lot to say--and lawmakers are listening.

There are now 28 in-house clinics at HLS, enabling students to do fieldwork at home and abroad. Here are some examples, taking students inside inner cities and inner sanctums.

Professor Carol Steiker '86 is an expert in criminal law and capital punishment. She recently argued a death penalty case before the Supreme Court, winning her argument and overturning a Texas death sentence. Here, she responds to a question about a recent Supreme Court ruling.

In a recent interview with Toby Stock, Dean of Admissions, Harvard Law School Assistant Professor Jeannie Suk discusses her article, "Criminal Law Comes Home," which examines how misdemeanor law regulates domestic violence.

Four HLS students found themselves sitting across a table from Carlos Menem, president of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. It was their opportunity, said Ariella Shkolnik ’09, “to ask poignant, difficult questions” about his controversial administration, widely accused of corruption and indifference to human rights abuses.

Since its inception, Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society has helped foster innovation on the Web, especially as the Internet has evolved into a more interactive medium. Executive Director John G. Palfrey Jr. ’01 talked to HLT about the center’s role in developing “Web 2.0.”

The following article, “Working-class hero,” co-written by Harvard Law School Assistant Professor Adriaan Lanni and Wesley Kelman, was published on September 2, 2008, in Slate.

Experts on terrorism were on hand for a panel discussion titled “Dealing with Terrorism: What Congress and the President Should Do.” The panelists discussed what changes they think should be adopted to better deal with the legal issues that have become controversial in dealing with the war on terror, including interrogation techniques, detention facilities, surveillance, and torture.

Louisa May Alcott once described a philosopher as “a man up in a balloon” tethered to the earth by his family. In his Pulitzer Prize-winning biography, “Eden’s Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father” (Norton, 2007), John Matteson ’86 chronicles the tension and affection in that vertical relationship.

From new alumni to retirees, broad-based giving is the lifeblood of HLS.

The visionaries who supported these programs can already see results Established by HLS Professor Charles J. Ogletree Jr. ’78 in 2005, the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute…

For some benefactors, financial aid is the priority.

Financial aid is helping those who will help others.

A great building begins as a gleam in the eye of an architect. Getting it built may require the vision of a lawyer.

When Dennis Langer ’83 heard about Harvard Law School’s new Public Service Initiative this year, he knew it was something he wanted to support.

Bernard Koteen ’40 grew up during the Great Depression and went to law school during the New Deal. “There was great emphasis by the Roosevelt administration on serving the public, so it was natural for many of my classmates and me to have that concern and begin our legal careers in public service,” said Koteen in a 2003 Bulletin interview.