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Following World War II, American universities faced a crucial housing shortage, as veterans returned to their studies. In 1948, Harvard Law Dean Erwin Griswold turned to Walter Gropius, German architect and founder of the Bauhaus school, commissioning him to create the first Harvard graduate residence center, radically expanding what many saw as the Harvard style. Continue Reading
Inside HLS
Designed for Learning
Harvard Law School’s newest building opened this fall at 1607 Massachusetts Avenue. Inside, the LEED Gold certified structure continues the school’s commitment to experiential learning, with space suited for clinics and collaborative learning as well as research programs.
Writ Large
A Precarious State
A new book warns that institutional corruption is corroding our nation
Think of an honest used car salesperson. The very idea might seem like an oxymoron. That’s not because no honest people ever sell cars. It’s because the profession as a whole is not considered trustworthy by the public. What if that sense of mistrust were not limited to the used car lot but had spread to institutions the public relies on every day? It has, according to Harvard Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig. Continue Reading
The Price Is Right
Sunstein details how government can best spend money to benefit the public
HLS Professor Cass Sunstein ’78 argues that for all their differences, every president since Ronald Reagan has agreed on one fundamental principle of government. That is, “No action may be taken unless the benefits justify the costs.” Sunstein identifies President Reagan as the main architect of this concept, and he credits the president he served under, Barack Obama ’91, with cementing what he calls “the cost-benefit revolution,” which is also the title of Sunstein’s new book. Continue Reading
Faculty Books in Brief: Winter 2019
From organized crime to 'butterfly politics' to constitutional democracies in crisis
With the increased use of a massive volume and variety of data in our lives, our health care will inevitably be affected, note the editors of a new collection, one of the recent faculty books captured in this section. Continue Reading
Featured Video
"We can't recover from this history until we deal with it."
Bryan Stevenson ’85 discusses the legacy of slavery and the vision behind creating the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum in Montgomery Alabama.
Alumni Notes and Newsmakers
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A Conversation with Patti B. Saris ’76
A trailblazing career leads Patti Saris '76 to cutting-edge science and criminal justice reform.
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A Pioneer’s Logic
As soon as Yuko Miyazaki LL.M. ’84 joined the Supreme Court of Japan in January 2018, she made history and international headlines. The sixth female justice on Japan’s high court, Miyazaki announced she’d be the first to issue opinions under her maiden name—an option not available to female judges in Japan until 2017.
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The Last Palace and the Next Battle
As the new U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, Norman Eisen ’91 moved into one of Prague’s most beautiful homes. He soon heard fascinating tales about its previous residents: former ambassadors, a German general, and one of 1920s Czechoslovakia’s richest men. After his ambassadorship, Eisen turned to those stories to explore democracy’s epic battles with fascism and Communism.
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A ’60s Experiment with a Ripple Effect
During an event at Harvard Law School last year celebrating its 40 clinics and student practice organizations, Van Lanckton ’67 was delighted to hear about so many opportunities for students to work in the public interest today. But he also felt a sense of pride and nostalgia as he recalled the legal services experiment he and hundreds of other students had been part of more than 50 years earlier—at a time when clinical education did not exist at the school and change was in the air.
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Empowered and Supported
HLSA President Dan Eaton ’89 wants to share the benefits of a remarkable experience.
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A High Court Reunion
Noah Purcell ’07 and Adam Unikowsky ’07 first met in the fall of 2004 as 1L sectionmates. Fourteen years later, they met again as adversaries arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the years in between, they served together as Harvard Law Review editors and both went on to clerk on the D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court before beginning their careers in Washington, D.C.
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HLS Authors: Selected Alumni Books Winter ’19
Alumni explorations, from the blockchain, to marriage counseling, to Guantanamo Bay
Although arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court are not video-recorded, you can watch many of its justices questioning oralists and presiding over cases—within the State of Ames. Visit Harvard Law School’s archive of video recordings of the final rounds of the Ames Moot Court Competition. Continue Reading