New head of VA looks to put system’s troubles behind

At the inaugural Disabled American Veterans Distinguished Speaker Series at Harvard Law School, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert McDonald said the troubled agency is making progress in getting its house in order, citing more — and more timely — appointments and authorizations to see private doctors for veterans who live far from VA hospitals.

Jane Harman on the evolving threat of terrorism (video)

Former Congresswoman Jane Harman ’69 was the keynote speaker at Harvard Law School on Nov. 6, at an event sponsored by HLS Democrats and HLS Republicans. In a question-and-answer session with Dean Martha Minow, Harman reflected on her political career and discussed a range of issues from the fallout from the midterm elections to U.S. intelligence, foreign policy and the evolving threat of terrorism.

Faculty Sampler: Short takes from recent op-eds

  “How to Deregulate Cities and States” Professor Cass R. Sunstein ’78 and Harvard economics Professor Edward Glaeser The Wall Street Journal Aug. 24, 2014 “In 2011 the Obama administration, with bipartisan support, called for an ambitious process through which federal agencies would periodically evaluate existing rules, eliminating or streamlining them when cost-benefit analysis suggested that elimination […]

Home Rule within Enemy Lines: Capturing life in a WWI internment camp

During World War I, about 400,000 “enemy aliens” were imprisoned by all sides in camps on nearly every continent. During that time, Germany’s only exclusively civilian prison camp, Ruhleben Gefangenenlager, became a model of civil functionality.

Gallery: The 2014 Chayes International Public Service Fellows

Since 2001, a select group of HLS students have undertaken public service internships under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship, dedicated to the memory of HLS Professor Abram Chayes '49.

Gallery: 2014 Chayes International Public Service Fellows

Since 2001, a select group of HLS students have undertaken public service internships under the auspices of the Chayes International Public Service Fellowship, dedicated to the memory of HLS Professor Abram Chayes '49.

The renamed Center on the Legal Profession sets new course with digital magazine and relaunch of website

Harvard Law School’s Center on the Legal Professionnhas announced the release of their revamped website and the launch of the first-of-its-kind digital magazine, The Practice

It’s moot, but it matters: Scalia helps to judge Law School case competition

Third-year Harvard Law School students clashed in the high drama of the venerable Ames Moot Court Competition on Tuesday under the jurisdiction of visiting federal judges, including one of the nation’s foremost legal authorities, U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. “It was fully as good as one would expect at Harvard Law School,” a pleased Scalia […]

Judge Easterbrook delivers inaugural Scalia lecture: ‘Interpreting the Unwritten Constitution’ (video)

On Monday, Nov. 17, Judge Frank Easterbrook of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals kicked off an inaugural lecture series named after his old friend, colleague and intellectual compatriot, Justice Antonin Scalia, who attended the talk titled “Interpreting the Unwritten Constitution.”

Gallery: A look inside the 2014 Ames Moot Court Competition

The final round of Harvard Law School's annual Ames Moot Court competition was held this year on November 18, and was presided over by the Hon. Antonin Scalia ’60, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States; the Hon. Adalberto Jordan, U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit; and the Hon. Patricia Millett ’88, U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

The man with the ‘golden ear’: Star-maker Clive Davis shares his six-decade journey with Dean Minow

It’s not often that Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow gets rattled. But then, it’s not every day that Clive Davis, the legendary record label executive, producer, and talent nurturer, stops by Wasserstein Hall to reminisce about his illustrious, six-decade career in the music industry.

Ferencz receives HLS Medal of Freedom

Benjamin B. Ferencz ’43, known for his role as chief prosecutor in the Nuremburg Trials and for his work promoting an international rule of law and the creation of an International Criminal Court, has been awarded Harvard Law School’s highest honor: the Medal of Freedom.

Obamacare, back on trial: Elhauge on new challenges to the ACA

In a move that caught many observers off guard, the U.S. Supreme Court last week announced it would review one of four cases currently challenging provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). Currently, qualified consumers can receive tax subsidies to help them purchase health insurance through the federal- or state-run exchanges. But the plaintiffs […]

At HLS, former secretary of state Kissinger reflects on career, surveys current affairs

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger visited the Harvard Law School campus last week to share some of the lessons learned as adviser to Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

Dean Minow challenges students to seek solutions to problems in the U.S. food system

This fall, Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow and Julio Frenk, dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, issued the "Deans' Food System Challenge" (one of several competitions held by the Harvard Innovation Lab and sponsored by Harvard Schools), encouraging students across the university to come up with fresh ideas for solving complex problems facing our food system.

To Tell the Truth: Alumna’s new film about family secrets to show at Boston film festival (video)

Lacey Schwartz ’03 will return to Cambridge this weekend to speak about her new documentary “Little White Lie,” showing Saturday Nov. 15 and 17 as part of the Boston Jewish Film Festival. The film traces her personal story of being raised as a white Jewish girl in Woodstock, N.Y., only to find out as a young adult that her biological father was an African-American man with whom her mother had an affair.

Clinic investigation: Senior Mynamar officials implicated in war crimes and crimes against humanity

On Nov. 7, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School released a legal memorandum, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity in Eastern Myanmar, which examines the conduct of the Myanmar military during an offensive that cleared and forcibly relocated civilian populations from conflict zones in eastern Myanmar.

Mary Bonauto reflects on a quarter century of seeking equal treatment under law

Mary Bonauto, director of the Civil Rights Project of the Gay & Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), spoke Tuesday at a brown-bag luncheon at Harvard Law School, during which she was interviewed by Dean Martha Minow and fielded questions from students in the audience.

HLS Veterans Legal Clinic lands victories for veterans

In just two years, more than 30 HLS students have enrolled in the Veterans’ Legal Clinic—housed at the WilmerHale Legal Services Center (LSC) in Jamaica Plain, of which HLS Clinical Professor Daniel Nagin is faculty director—and represented more than 100 clients in the areas of federal and state veterans’ benefits, discharge upgrades, and estate-planning matters.

Alumni fare well in midterm elections

Harvard Law School graduates across the country won political victories as part of the nation’s midterm elections. Rep. Tom Cotton ’02 (R-Ark.) successfully challenged two-term Democratic Senator Mark Pryor in a contentious Senate race, helping the GOP win control of the Senate. A number of HLS alumni currently serve in the Senate. In this year’s […]

Dean Minow hosts a conversation with Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Nancy Ramirez (video)

On Wednesday, Oct. 22, Martha Minow hosted a Q&A session with Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Nancy Ramirez at an event sponsored by the Black Law Students Association, La Alianza and The Journal on Racial and Ethic Justice.