Harvard Law School was transformed into a United Nations of lawyers, leaders, and legal scholars as hundreds of alumni returned to campus in September to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Harvard’s LL.M. program.
The reunion event included plenary sessions featuring high court jurists, presidents, prime ministers, lawyers, and scholars. Participants also attended a range of panels on nearly every aspect of law, including corporate, criminal, human rights, intellectual property, and international trade, with discussions on the emergence of AI, the persistence of armed conflict around the world, and the importance of mentorship within the profession. The event concluded with a gala, where the weekend’s celebratory spirit was on full display.
‘The Formula One of graduate programs’
“The LL.M. program is extraordinary,” Professor Gabriella Blum LL.M. ’01 S.J.D. ’03, vice dean for Harvard Law’s Graduate Program and International Legal Studies, told participants in her opening remarks. “It can be said without blushing that it is the Formula One of graduate programs. It is fast paced, packed, incredibly challenging, and, if you do it even half right, extraordinary, rewarding, indeed transformative.”
Master(s) class
Lady Arden DBE of Heswall LL.M. ’70, a former justice on the U.K. Supreme Court, was among leading alumni jurists who participated in a plenary session, sharing their perspectives on international law and the ongoing challenges to administering justice. They also recalled how they handled some of their thorniest landmark cases.
Harvard ‘taught me how to govern’
At a session featuring Luc Frieden LL.M. ’88, the current leader of Luxembourg, and Roberto Dañino LL.M. ’75 and Ma Ying-jeou S.J.D. ’81, former leaders of Peru and of Taiwan, respectively, Harvard Law’s LL.M. program was praised for its global perspective and for emphasizing “how to be kind even when you have the strongest disagreements,” as Dañino remarked. Frieden also noted that it taught him “how to govern.”
Credit: Allegro Photography
A world class gala
