Today Posts

On March 15, the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology will host a symposium analyzing the future of the digital world and its effect on copyright and fair use. The symposium, which is open to the public, is entitled, "Copyright and Fair Use: Present & Future Prospects." The forum will consist of a series of panels, speeches and discussions featuring key players in the worlds of law, business, technology and journalism.

On Wednesday, March 12, former National Security Advisor Samuel (Sandy) Berger will visit Harvard Law School to give a serious policy address on Iraq, terrorism and North Korea. Berger's speech will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the Langdell South classroom.

Harvard Law School has awarded its 2003 Ames Prize to Judge Richard Posner. Posner, the 25th recipient of in the 101-year history of the award, was given the award in honor of his book "Economic Analysis of Law." The award was presented at a ceremony this afternoon.

On Tues., March 11, seven leading scholars will gather to consider the legal, political, and social implications of increasing privatization of formerly public goods and services. The symposium, sponsored by the Harvard Law Review, will begin at 2:30 p.m. in the Ames Courtroom. It is free and open to the public. Among the topics to be considered are school vouchers, faith-based initiatives, and contracting out of major federal programs, such as welfare.

On March 6, a panel of academic experts, practitioners and activists from across the nation with gather for the Harvard Law School Journal on Legislation's spring symposium, "Perspectives on Hate Speech and Hate Crimes." The event will focus on the political, social and moral merits of hate speech codes and hate crimes legislation in light of the current legal challenges to hate speech in the landmark Supreme Court cross burning case Virginia v. Black.

On Wed., Feb. 26, Bosnian writer and director Danis Tanovic will speak at the Harvard Film Archive about his award-winning movie "No Man's Land" depicting the reality of the Bosnian war. The event is part of the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation's conflict resolution film series. After a screening of the film, Tanovic and Harvard Law School Professor Robert Mnookin will lead a discussion about the film and international conflict resolution as it relates to the Balkans. This event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m.

The Black Law Students Association of Harvard Law School released the following announcement this morning: Yesterday, the Black Law Students Association of Harvard Law School, jointly with the Black Law Students Associations of Stanford Law School and Yale Law School (collectively, "BLSAs"), filed an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court in support of the University of Michigan Law School's affirmative action program at issue in Grutter v. Bollinger.

On Fri. and Sat., Feb. 21 and 22, the Harvard chapter of the American Constitution Society will present its first annual spring conference, entitled "What is Liberalism?: A Multiplicity of Voices." The conference will feature a keynote address from U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Guido Calabresi and a keynote conversation on rights and liberalism between Jack Balkin of Yale Law School and Frank Michelman of Harvard Law School.

The Harvard Law Review has announced that second-year student Daniel B. Kirschner has been chosen as its 117th President. Kirschner was elected from a slate of eight candidates after eleven hours of debate.

On Thurs., Feb. 13, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Margaret Marshall will give a talk titled, "Reflections of South Africa: Now and Then." Marshall, a native of South Africa, graduated from Witwaterstrand University in Johannesburg and served as president of the national union of South African students from 1966 to 1968.

Professor Cass Sunstein of the University of Chicago has been named the 2003 Harvard Law School Oliver Wendell Holmes Lecturer. Sunstein will deliver his two-part remarks, entitled "The Naked Emperor: Why Societies Need Dissent," beginning on Monday, Feb. 10. Sunstein will also be awarded the law school's Henderson Prize at the conclusion of the second part of his remarks on Feb. 11.

Beginning this Thursday, Feb. 6, Harvard Law School Professors Janet Halley and Duncan Kennedy will hold a series of workshops to reexamine notable--and often controversial--books. Entitled "Book Trouble 2003," these discussions will explore the role specific books play in the development of people's professional roles, historical crises, social alliances and social movements. The first book to be discussed will feature Professor Charles Fried on John Stuart Mill's "On Liberty". The discussion will begin at 4 p.m. in Pound 102.

Harvard Law School has announced the establishment of The Oneida Indian Nation Professorship of Law. This chair--the first endowed chair in American Indian studies at Harvard University and the only professorship of its kind east of the Mississippi River--will allow Harvard Law School to continue its leadership role in the development of emerging legal fields.

Staggered boards, which a majority of public companies now have, hurt shareholders by enabling managers to fend off value-increasing offers from hostile bidders, according to new empirical research by three Harvard Law professors. Staggered boards hurt shareholders of hostile bid targets even when a majority of the board is made of independent directors, and they do not appear to benefit shareholders of targets that are acquired in a negotiated acquisition. The new study--conducted by Harvard Law School professors Lucian Bebchuk, John Coates, and Guhan Subramanian--will appear in an upcoming Stanford Law Review symposium focusing on the researchers' work.

A study by two Harvard Law School researchers provides evidence that the vigorous competition among states over corporate charters--the engine that many believe pushes toward rules that benefit shareholders--is largely a myth. This evidence leads the researchers to call for federal law to provide a federal incorporation option, as well as to enable shareholders to initiate and vote to approve corporate reincorporation to a different jurisdiction. The study, "Vigorous Race or Leisurely Walk: Reconsidering the Competition over Corporate Charters," by Professor Lucian Bebchuk and Olin Fellow Assaf Hamdani, will soon appear in the Yale Law Journal.

Harvard Law School is currently hosting an exhibit on the relationship between the African-American community and the Massachusetts courts from the colonial period to the present day. Long Road to Justice, assembled by the Justice George Lewis Ruffin Society, combines historical artifacts, court records, text and images to depict the compelling cases and courageous individuals who led the struggle to achieve racial justice in the Massachusetts courts.

A new study by Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society reveals the extensiveness of China's web filtering policies. Beginning in May 2002 and concluding in Nov. 2002, Berkman Center researchers attempted to access approximately 200,000 web sites through telephone dial-up links and proxy servers in China. The authors of the study tracked 19,032 web sites that were inaccesssible from China on multiple occasions while remaining available in the United States. These sites contained information about news, politics, health, commerce and entertainment.