Recent Highlights

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  Major new study by Benkler and the Berkman Center released by the FCC for public comment as part of the National Broadband Plan process

  Following a request by the Federal Communications Commission (including chairman Julius Genachowski '91), the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University recently conducted a major independent review of existing literature and studies about broadband deployment and usage throughout the world. The project, designed to inform the FCC’s efforts in developing the National Broadband Plan, resulted in a report that is now available on the FCC’s site. HLS Professor Yochai Benkler ’94,  faculty co-director of the Berkman Center, headed the project and recently answered some questions about the report findings, in a Q&A with Harvard Law School's Office of Communications:

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  Waking to the threat matrix: How Juan Zarate ’97 survived four years inside the ultimate pressure cooker

  This story appeared in the Summer 2009 edition of the Harvard Law Bulletin.

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  Executive Counsel: Meet the President’s new lawyers—and their new laywers

  Elena Kagans’86 has returned to the executive branch as solicitor general. The next time she finds herself on a late-night phone call with a White House lawyer, it might be her HLS colleague Daniel J. Meltzer ’75, who is second in command of the White House counsel’s office, on the other end of the line. And occupying the number two spot in the Office of Legal Counsel is another faculty colleague, David Barron ’94.

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  If leaders had listened to Elizabeth Warren years ago, she wouldn’t have the job she has now

  It’s a Monday morning in early March, and Professor Elizabeth Warren’s latest interview on NPR is no sooner over than the phone in her Hauser office begins ringing. Fans call with messages of gratitude, and she is deluged by e-mails.

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  United States Solicitor General Elena Kagan ’86 addresses HLS graduating Class of 2009

  In a Class Day address on June 3, U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan ’86 acknowledged that this year’s graduating class finds itself at an inflection point in society, facing great economic and political changes. But, she said, students should take advantage of these changing times because the greatest challenges often produce the biggest opportunities.

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  Class of 2009 Racks up Record 308,605 Hours of Pro Bono Service

  Demonstrating a strong commitment to public service, the class of 2009 put in a record total of 308,605 pro bono hours, more than any previous class.

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  U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder addresses police union leaders at Harvard

  Officially, it’s the “Annual Police Union Leadership Seminar,” but it’s more memorably known as “The Big 50”—Harvard Law School’s convention of police union leaders from the fifty largest cities in the United States. 

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  Senate confirms Elena Kagan as solicitor general of the United States

  The United States Senate voted today to confirm Dean Elena Kagan ’86 as the 44th solicitor general of the United States. By a 61 to 31 vote, Kagan became the first woman solicitor general in U.S. history.

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  WEBCAST: Kagan confirmation hearing

  The nomination hearing for Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan ’86 to become the U.S. Solicitor General took place today. The Senate Judiciary Committee  also considered the nomination of Thomas Perrelli ’91 as Associate Attorney General during the same hearing. (Watch a CSPAN webcast.) A blog account of the hearing is here.

   

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  Glendon reflects on year as ambassador to the Holy See

  HLS Professor Mary Ann Glendon, the United States Ambassador to the Holy See during the past year, resigned her post in January to allow President Barack Obama to choose a new U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.

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  Six From HLS Win Prestigious Skadden Fellowships

  For the second straight year, six Harvard Law School students and recent graduates have been chosen to receive Skadden Fellowships to support their work in public service. This marks the seventh consecutive year that HLS students and recent graduates have won more of the prestigious Skadden fellowships than their competitors from other law schools.