Post date: October 18, 2002 — 9:30 a.m.
Three Harvard Law School professors were recently honored for exceptional work in their respective academic fields. Professor Elena Kagan was selected as the American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice’s 2001 Scholarship Award winner, Professor Elizabeth Warren received the Commercial Law League of America’s Lawrence King Excellence in Bankruptcy Award, and Professor Arthur von Mehren was presented with Canada Prize of the International Academy of Comparative Law.
Kagan will be presented the Scholarship Award at a reception in Washington today. She was honored for her article “Presidential Administration” which was published in the Harvard Law Review and examines presidential attempts to control executive branch regulatory functions. In announcing the award, the ABA noted that Kagan’s work demonstrated “ambition, depth, and imaginativeness.” The ABA went on to note that the article will likely “influence the field for years.”
“I’m honored to receive the annual scholarship award of the ABA’s Section of Administrative Law,” said Kagan. “Both scholars and practitioners in the field have enormous respect for this section, so I’m gratified that it has recognized my work.”
Kagan brings first-hand experience to her research of administrative law. Prior to joining the faculty at Harvard Law School, she served in the White House as deputy assistant to the president for domestic policy, and deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council. She also held the position of associate counsel to the president for two years.
The Lawrence King Excellence in Bankruptcy Award, presented to Warren, honors lawyers, judges, teachers, or legislators who exemplify the best in scholarship, advocacy, judicial, or legislative activities in the field of bankruptcy. Warren’s most recent studies have examined the causes of consumer bankruptcy and the problems of middle-class debt in America. Members of Congress have frequently cited her work during bankruptcy reform debates of the last several years.
“The CLL is the premier creditor organization in the United States, and Lawrence King was a giant in the field of bankruptcy and commercial law,” said Warren. “I am deeply honored to be associated both the group and the man.”
Among the prior honors Warren has received are the Excellence in Education Award given by the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, the Champion of Consumer Rights Award presented by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Sacks-Freund Teaching Award given each year by HLS students.
Von Mehren, a professor at the law school since 1946, was honored at the 16th International Congress of Comparative Law conference in Brisbane, Australia. The Canada Prize is awarded every four years for an original legal work in which the common law and the civil law systems are the subject of a critical comparative study in a field of private or public law.” The $10,000 (Canadian) award is sponsored by Canadian government.
Von Mehren was cited for his work titled: “Theory and Practice of Adjudicatory Authority in Private International Law: A Comparative Study of the Doctrine, Policies and Practices of Common- and Civil-Law Systems.” This analysis, which is nearing publication, arose out of a series of lectures von Mehren delivered at the Hague several years ago.