Fall 2016 - Harvard Law School | Harvard Law School

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Trade Pluses and Pitfalls Of all the issues engendering voter passion in the 2016 U.S. presidential race—immigration, terrorism, Supreme Court appointments—perhaps none has been more surprising than global trade, especially the highly controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership.

A Time for Action

HLS hosted the fourth Celebration of Black Alumni in September, featuring the theme “Turning Vision into Action.” The actions of alumni who attended have resonated in courtrooms and classrooms, in elected office and the corner office, in communities and in the culture. The Bulletin spoke with five CBA participants about where their vision has led them and where they hope to yet go.

Architect of the Breakthrough

Last December in suburban Paris, 195 countries reached a landmark agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions. For Todd Stern ’77 the Paris accord capped two decades of work to curb climate change.

Trade Surplus

International trade traditionally has been a Harvard Law School strength, but since Mark Wu’s arrival at HLS in 2011, educational opportunities in the field have exploded.

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New Technology on the Block

By now, many people are familiar with bitcoin. What’s less well known is the currency’s technological underpinning, the blockchain, an emergent technology that could reshape financial and property markets, and the legal frameworks that support them.

The Wordsmith

Sarah Hurwitz has quietly helped craft some of first lady Michelle Obama's most memorable speeches--first working with her on her speech to the 2008 Democratic convention in Denver, and eventually going on to work with the first lady almost exclusively for nearly six years.

A Work in Progress

Harvard Law Professor Samuel Moyn ’01 discusses the potential and the limitations of the human rights movement when it comes to creating just societies.

Invisible Wounds of War

Military sexual trauma—rape or sexual harassment during military service—is a fast-emerging issue in the nation’s care for veterans and one focus of an HLS clinic.

Teaching & Learning

Taking on a New Cause

HLS Professor Charles Ogletree ’78 announced this summer that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and said he will work to raise awareness of the disease and its disproportionate effect on African-Americans. In sharing his story and putting a spotlight on this disease, he is continuing his lifelong efforts to help others.

A Citizen’s Constitution

On the stage of the Democratic National Convention, one Gold Star father invoked the words of the Founding Fathers, and just like that, a Pakistani-born Muslim American lawyer inspired more Americans to buy pocket U.S. Constitutions from Amazon than ever before. His life has not been the same since.

Harvesting Progress

Carol Wang ’13 spent two years before law school crisscrossing Afghanistan helping nascent small businesses. Now, she and three military veterans who served there are building their own small business designed to boost the nation’s long-troubled economy.

Gaining Ground in Ghana

As a child, Raymond Atuguba was regularly confronted by the harsh realities of poverty in Ghana. His father, a civil servant posted to rural areas, owned the only car for miles around. “Every emergency was brought to our door. If the car was not functioning, people died—on a daily basis—because they could not get to the hospital,” recalls Atuguba. “When I grew up, I said, ‘No, this has to change.’”

Making History

Harvard Law School has produced plenty of senators, Supreme Court justices and two presidents, but no graduate has ever served as vice president. This election has presented the first opportunity in decades to end that drought with both Democrat Tim Kaine ’83 and Libertarian William Weld ’70 on the ballot as vice presidential candidates.
Faculty Books In Brief—Fall 2016

“Diversity in Practice: Race, Gender, and Class in Legal and Professional Careers,” edited by Professor David B. Wilkins ’80, Spencer Headworth, Robert L. Nelson and Ronit Dinovitzer (Cambridge) Wilkins, director of the school’s Center on the Legal Profession, serves as co-editor and also co-writes an essay in this volume, which contrasts the rhetoric that widely embraces the goal of diversity in the legal and other professions with the reality of continued barriers to full inclusion.
HLS Authors – Selected Alumni Books Fall 2016

A father’s fight for justice, a modern-day Beowulf, an American heiress

Letter from the Dean

Faculty Books

Letters

Lives Lost