HLS in Focus

1L and Co-Chair of the Public Interest Auction Sarah Jelsema recently sat down for a Q & A with us after this yearly highlight of the HLS calendar.

What is the public interest auction?
The public interest auction is a fundraiser run entirely by the 1L class that raises money to support students who do public interest work over the summer. We solicit donations from faculty, staff, alumni, parents, students, firms, and local businesses. Some donate money and some donate things to auction off. We receive all sorts of donations – things like Red Sox tickets, gift certificates to restaurants and salons, lunches and fishing trips with professors, cookies and brownies made by the librarians, and a tour of the Northwest Corner Construction project. The auction is one of the biggest social events of the year. Every year the auction has a theme, and we decorate Austin Hall accordingly. This year the theme was “Bright Lights: Bid City” and so the different rooms were decorated as different big cities – London, Paris, and New York.

What has gone into preparing for this event and what have you gotten out of the experience as a co-chair?
Almost all of the 1L class helps out with the auction. We divide the students up by committees and committees mostly help out either by asking for donations, calling alumni and asking them to donate, emailing firms, going door to door in Cambridge, or by helping process the donations and get them ready to sell, or by helping out on the night of the auction. As one of the auction co-chairs, I had the opportunity to work with a group of amazing people to try to plan and coordinate this huge event – it was definitely a  challenging experience for all of us. From coordinating hundreds of student volunteers to keeping track of hundreds of donations, to making sure everything comes together on the night of the auction, being a co-chair was a lot of work, but it was extremely rewarding. It was also a good opportunity to meet new students.

The event is always a lot of fun for students, faculty and staff. What was your favorite part of the evening? Did anything surprise you?
The event was a huge success. My favorite part of the evening was the live auction. Our auctioneers – this year Professors Elizabeth Warren and Jonathan Zittrain – were auctioning off the “right to be – or not be – in the 2010 parody.” The first bidder was the Dean of Students because they gave her a hard time this year in the parody, but then Professor Mann, who bought this item last year, got in a bidding war with Professor Warren and everyone was laughing so hard!

Why should admitted and prospective students seeking a strong public interest community choose Harvard? Why did you?
I think that students looking for a strong public interest community should choose Harvard because they can go anywhere and do anything with a degree from Harvard Law. We are a bigger law school, but as a result, we have so many more options to pick from than other law schools. Good public interest law jobs are really competitive – and since I want one, I’m glad I chose Harvard. I know that the connections and friends that I will make here, with professors and fellow students, will be of benefit for the rest of my life.

Starting April 15, HLS will begin accepting transfer applications for the fall. Over the last couple of years, there have been increased opportunities for Harvard Law students to study off-campus through joint degree and foreign study programs which make it possible for us to admit more transfer students than ever before.

The question of whether to apply as a transfer student is the right move is up to you, but we think that a little research will show you the vast benefits of transferring to HLS. With 102 full-time professors and more than 300 courses, HLS is home to the most intellectually stimulating legal community in the world. Outside the classroom, there are 14 journals, over100 student organizations, clinical placements in approximately 30 areas of the law, and more than enough opportunities for you to experience the incredible diversity of the HLS community during your second- and third- year. For example, the Harvard Law Review encourages transfer applicants to apply for membership and several past transfer students have been successful in that endeavor.

Bottom line? Whether you are interested in constitutional law or environmental law or human rights advocacy or any number of other areas, the breadth and depth of our offerings is incredible. Whether you want to clerk at the circuit court level, follow the path to academia, or pursue a career in public service, the opportunities presented to our graduates are unsurpassed.

For more details on the transfer application process including eligibility guidelines, deadlines, and application requirements, please visit: http://www.law.harvard.edu/prospective/j…

Also, stay tuned in the coming days and weeks for blog entries of a few students talking about their experience transferring into Harvard Law School!

The Program on Negotiation is one of the most valuable and dynamic resources here at HLS. Dedicated to developing the manifold theories and practices of negotiation and dispute resolution, PON encourages an open dialogue for alternative theories. We recently caught up with one of the program’s featured guest speakers, Nancy Shippen, executive director of an organization called Our Prison Neighbors, a local organization committed to recruiting, supporting and expanding the role of volunteers in Massachusetts’ prisons.

What is ‘Our Prison Neighbors’ and how did you come to get involved?

Our Prison Neighbors is an organization dedicated to bringing enriching programming into the prisons and to being a voice for prison reform and the humanity of prisoners. When I moved to the suburbs, I couldn’t find a way to be of service in the affluent culture. One day, driving past MCI-Concord Prison, I was struck that there was surely something in my years of special education teaching and community work that could be useful.

We recruit, train and provide ongoing support for volunteers providing the internationally recognized programs Alternatives to Violence Project, Emotional Literacy and Toastmasters as well as book discussion groups, literacy tutors, writer’s groups, father’s groups and many other programs. When possible we make public presentations on the importance of this work and the need for change in our criminal justice system to encourage the growth and development of all.

How has the organization evolved over time?

Our central programs have grown in availability, we have gained appreciation by our incarcerated participants and respect from the Department of Corrections, and we have come to know much more about the needs of incarcerated people. We have designed new curricula, and identified a number of areas where we would hope to make Massachusetts prisons more proactive. Examples are working to make the Correctional Health program aware of the many prison hospice programs and the positive effects they have had on the prisons that have them.

Other programs we have been working on include bringing programs like the Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program, Facing History and Ourselves and Thomas Lickona’s character education framework to the education departments, and providing books for the prison libraries from donations and free books available at town library sales. Recently we have been working to encourage the DOC to develop a green jobs vocational program so that incarcerated people can learn valuable job skills and state prisons could gain solar and/or wind energy systems.

You’re currently working to get students involved. How do you envision them working in the prison setting?

Graduate and mature undergraduate students would be welcome as outside participants in all of our programs and in time they could become facilitators and/or help design new programs and curricula. A program on negotiation skills would be deeply appreciated by many imprisoned people.

What of value about the experience might an HLS student interested in alternative dispute resolution take away?

Work with people in prison is a powerful way to experience some of the impact of our current criminal justice system, education system, welfare system and social services system. Students volunteering in our programs would have the opportunity to be trained in several internationally recognized programs. The Alternatives to Violence Project provides an experiential introduction to the power of a community based on respect and caring. While building community, participants learn skills in listening, communication, cooperation and conflict resolution. AVP is active in over 25 countries so we hope that international students and those intending on doing international work might train with us and be able to take this excellent material to ever-wider applications. The Emotional Literacy program develops the ability to identify, manage, and express one’s emotions in a mature and conscientious manner. Also anyone who intends to work with the criminal justice system in any way can benefit enormously from some first hand experience through programs with a record of providing opportunities for real growth and development.

How do you see this collaboration with HLS and the Program on Negotiation moving forward?

Our Prison Neighbors would like to work with HLS and PON to develop opportunities for students to participate in programming for prisoners in Massachusetts and to become leaders of programs related to their studies. This could be done through internships, service learning programs, or independent volunteering. We provide mentoring for our volunteers and could provide evaluations, recommendations and powerful experiences for ongoing professional development.

In a recent phone interview with staffer Julia Foresman, HLS alumnus Ethan Levisohn ‘06 talked about his career path in criminal justice including the DOJ application process and considerations for those interested in pursuing a career in government.  After graduation, Ethan clerked for Judge Charles Sifton in the Eastern District of New York and now serves in the Criminal Division of the Public Integrity Section in the US Department of Justice.

Ethan Levisohn: (18:40)

As the ‘changing of the guard’ continues to take place down in Washington this spring, conservatives and libertarians are seeing their power crumble and their government job prospects evaporate into the ether of political upheaval. Or are they? The Federalist Society recently invited Professor Mark Tushnet and Steven Teles, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins and the author of The Rise of the Conservative Legal Movement, to discuss the fate of the Federalist Society in the wake of 25 years of marked success. Is there still work to be done or will it disappear into an ‘end of history’ haze of obsolescence?

Teles began by framing the Federalist Society in terms of what it does and doesn’t do. “To understand what the Federalist Society doesn’t do,” he said, “it’s important to make a distinction between the Society and the networks created by the Society… much of what people attribute to the Federalist Society are done by members as facilitated by the organization.” At the heart of Teles’ discussion was the notion of direct versus indirect outputs. Direct outputs included the Society’s charter goal of creating a “parallel curriculum” for law schools, most of whom had few to no conservative faculty a couple of decades ago, and through this, to create safe space for conservative dialogue. Indirect outputs included such conceptual goals as the recruitment of members and the provision each of social, human, and cultural capital for the conservative movement. “Conservative lawyers had instincts they weren’t acting on because the social, professional and intellectual network wasn’t there to support them,” he said. “There was also a stigma associated with the brand.”

In direct response to Teles’ remarks on social capital, Tushnet pointed out that social capital can be destroyed as easily. “One issue for the Federalist Society is how to deal with credibility issues when prominent sources of thought are no longer credible,” he said, alluding to the infamous memos of former DOJ legal advisor John Yoo in which he advocated the possible legality of torture and that enemy combatants could be denied protection under the Geneva Conventions. “Yoo’s memos became associated with conservative legal thought… how does the Society deal with the effects that the Bush administration has had on conservative credibility?”

Regarding human and social capital, Tushnet and Teles explained that the development of the movement has been tied to the existence of Republicans in government. In the absence of a Republican administration, “the Federalist Society has always been dependent on jobs in, big Washington law firms, which are in turn dependent on the existence of an administrative state” said Tushnet. So what happens in periods like the present when this pipeline narrows and this source of jobs dries up? According to Teles, the rational adaptation to being out of government is to “crank up the size of public interest” when your only allies are in the judiciary.

In closing, Teles questioned whether the Federalist Society is a victim of its own success. “There’s not as much need now for a parallel curriculum in law schools,” he said. “The general environment now is not as hostile for conservatives in law schools.”

HLS has commemorated a number of historical milestones in recent months including the 40^th anniversary of Terry v. Ohio, a case which held that ‘stop and frisks’ were not a violation of Fourth Amendment rights where an officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person has committed, is committing, or is about to commit a crime. Some believed this case to have been wrongly decided, including the man who argued the case before the Court, Louis Stokes. Later in 1968 Stokes was elected to the United States Congress and served 15 consecutive terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Stokes was honored at a recent event by the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice.

The case itself involved two men who were stopped, searched, and found to possess guns in broad day on the streets of Cleveland in 1963 by a police officer who claimed the two to be exhibiting suspicious behavior. “I had no idea that Terry would become a landmark case,” said Stokes. “The more I talked to [the suspects, John Terry and Richard Chilton], the more it seemed to me that we might have a possibility of excluding the guns based on the testimony that this event had happened on the streets.” In the wake of such landmark cases as Miranda and Escobedo that succeeded in expanding the rights of the accused, Stokes filed a motion to suppress the evidence. “The officer had no probable cause accosting them,” he said, “They weren’t brandishing guns, running, or doing anything related to a crime.

In spite of the violence and turmoil of American cities in the sixties, Stokes was confident his case would prevail before the Court. “As a black man I understood how black males were stopped in urban settings and if they didn’t have contraband as a result of stopping subjecting them to the indignity of being stopped…they were just told to move on down the street. That’s why I took this case.” Yet in the final analysis the Supreme Court based their decision upon the safety of the police officer and failed to extend Fourth Amendment protections.

“What I say to you as law students is that it pays to think outside of the box as a lawyer,” advised Stokes. “It would have been easy for me to plead them guilty and work out some light sentence. It took more to go against the custom and utilize the Constitution to try to uphold what it means in light of what people are subjected to on the streets in our country.”

Stokes presence moved the audience to emotion. As one student asked, “Did you or your brother Carl, the first black mayor of a major U.S. city ever envision this day [the election of President-Elect Obama]? You must have because surely you paved the way.” Stokes remarked that Obama’s whole campaign reminded him of 1967 when his brother became the mayor of Cleveland. “Carl built coalition in Cleveland of blacks and white. That’s how he won. For many reasons related to what Carl did and my victory as the first black congressman in Ohio the following year, Barack Obama’s meant so much. It reminded me how far we’ve come.”

While at HLS, alumnus Lam Ho was a public interest dynamo. As president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau, a supervising member of Reaching Out About Depression (R.O.A.D.), and Founder & Coordinator of the Giving Tree, which raises holiday gifts for children of the HLS clinical and student practice organization clients, Lam never shied away from going above and beyond the call of duty… including 60-90 hours a week dedicated to his clinicals.

Lam is currently on a Skadden Fellowship starting a community legal clinic for low income youths and their families in Chicago. Admissions staffer Julia Foresman recently caught up with Lam in the wake of a victory he scored with the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago. Lam had been trying to get Chicago Public Schools to follow through with the Individualized Educational Plan that CPS and his client Mary Greenlee had put in place for her 6 year old grandson, Rayvaughn.  “It’s been extremely rewarding to educate and empower my clients,” he said.  “… this is what gets me up in the morning.”

Podcast: Lam Ho (13:09)

Itching to escape winter in Cambridge? How about vicariously? Recently, 2L Ethan Schiffres wrote to us about his Winter Term project with Music Industry Piracy Investigations, a joint venture between the Australian Recording Industry Association and the Australian composers/publishers’ organization. He had been working on several projects for them, including research about ISP liability for users’ copyright infringement, in which he has focused mainly on a comparison between Australian and U.S. approaches.

“My decision to spend my Winter Term in Sydney was a relatively easy one. Obviously, weather was a huge factor, but I was also interested in furthering my pre-law school interest in the music business, gaining a new international perspective on the main issues facing the industry. HLS provides the unique opportunity of allowing students to set up a legal internship anywhere in the world with basically any organization, and as appealing as spending my post New Year’s days trudging through the snow from my apartment to Austin Hall sounded, I decided to take advantage.’

“Back in October, I contacted the head of SoundExchange, the performance rights organization where I had interned back in college, and they offered to put me in touch with the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which is the Australian analogue to the RIAA. After exchanging several emails, I clenched a three-week internship at Music Industry Piracy Investigations (MIPI), which is the anti-piracy arm of the Australian music industry.’

“MIPI is a small, albeit extremely well-run, organization that coordinates the anti-piracy investigative, policy, and educational activities of ARIA and the Australian music publishers society. My main project has involved researching the liability of Internet Service Providers for their subscribers’ file-sharing and illegal downloading. ARIA has been involved in negotiations with ISPs about the possibility of a three strikes / graduated response / “notice and disconnect” scheme, whereby ISPs would provide file-sharers a series of warnings before cutting off internet service if they were engaged in repeated copyright infringement. The world’s first “three strikes” law will go into effect in New Zealand in February, and France is very close to passing a similar law. Most of my research has been a comparative analysis between Australian and U.S. copyright law regarding ISP liability. The timing is particularly apt, as a couple weeks before I headed down under, the RIAA announced that it would cease suing file-sharers and would instead pursue a “notice and disconnect” scheme with U.S. ISPs.’

“In addition to the ISP research, I have been involved in a handful of other smaller tasks for MIPI. I have responded to inquiries regarding the legality of certain behaviors related to music online, assisted with the organization’s educational efforts by updating consumer facts sheets (e.g. legal issues involving using music on your website), and have also participated in investigative efforts by monitoring eBay Australia for pirated music.’

“Outside of the office, I have spent a lot of time exploring Sydney and will be venturing out to other parts of Australia as the month goes on. I’m living at the University of Sydney in Newtown, which is a cool little neighborhood with a grungy/hipster vibe to it, not unlike the East Village or Central Square. Sydney is a great city with amazing beaches (which I’ve been to approximately every other day, despite the 40 minute bus ride after work), friendly people, and a great music scene. I have tried dearly not to be a tourist and have made an effort to experience the city as the people who live here do.’

“I’ve also tried to immerse myself in the Sydney music scene. Back when I was scouting bands for Everfine Records / Red Light management during my two years off before law school, I came across an Australian singer/songwriter named Andy Bull. Andy has an incredible voice and a great live performance, and although we never ended up signing him, I stayed in touch with his manager and producer. I found out that he was opening for American jam icon Donovan Frankenreiter in Sydney during my first weekend, so I got the opportunity to see him play in front of nearly 1,000 people in his home town. The last time I had seen him play was back in 2006 at a showcase at Piano’s on the Lower East Side – there had been maybe 40 people in the crowd.’

“I can’t really say what my typical day in Sydney is like, but today is a pretty good example. I woke up at around 7 (i.e. 3pm EST) to grab breakfast at the local café and check my email. After realizing that my weekly bus pass expired, I ran to the nearest 7-11 (they are ubiquitous here), bought a new pass, and rushed to the bus stop so I could make it to work on time. After taking two buses and walking about 500 meters, by 9 I arrived at my office in Pyrmont, which is a quiet, predominantly residential neighborhood with some great pubs. I spent the morning working on my ISP research. Usually I grab lunch at one of the local pubs or Thai restaurants with my coworkers, but today everyone brought their own lunch.  I have found that no one here eats lunch at their desk, unlike everywhere I have worked in the U.S . After a productive afternoon continuing my research and working on an educational campaign aimed to inform schoolchildren about copyright law, I headed home and changed into my gym clothes. I took the bus from Newtown to Bondi Beach, where I disembarked and began my 5 kilometer run along the Pacific Coast to Coogee Beach. The run is absolutely stunning, passing along the cliffs and through an incredible (and eerie) seaside cemetery. After arriving at Coogee, I ordered some locally caught fish, had it grilled in front of me, and brought it to the beach, where I ate facing the ocean, as the sun set behind me. I took the bus back to Newtown, where I drank a couple James Squires with my roommates and watched the Australian Open. Not a bad life, right?”

We should say not…

Anyone interested in clerking after law school knows how tough clerkships are to clench.  Famous for its attention to top grades, stellar references, and flawless essays (sound familiar?), the clerkship application process can be fiercely competitive.  We figured some words of wisdom from a recent alumnus, Dan Sullivan, might be in order…

What was your background before coming to HLS? I graduated from Williams College in 2001 and worked for three years before attending HLS. Before law school, I worked as an investment banking analyst at a Wall Street firm, a research assistant at a public policy organization, and a legislative aide to a U.S. Congressman on Capitol Hill.

Why law school? I became interested in law school when I was a student at Regis High School, a Catholic high-school for boys in New York City that emphasizes a lot of lawyerly skills, such as reading, writing, and debate. But I put the idea on hold until I began working in Washington, DC after college. In Washington, my interest in law school was re-ignited by working with a number of smart, dedicated lawyers. My experience working with them showed me that a legal education would be great training for a variety of careers, from law and public policy to business and finance.

How did you get your clerkship? What was the process like? I clerked for Chief Judge Edith Jones of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, who is an excellent judge and a wonderful person. I formally applied for federal clerkships in August before my 3L year, but I started the application process (e.g., researching judges, asking professors for recommendations) half-way through my 2L year. The application process can be long and cumbersome. But the HLS Office of Career Services (OCS) provides students with terrific, step-by-step information about the clerkship process and critical support throughout the process. Beyond reading OCS’s excellent materials and following its advice, I recommend doing independent research on judges by talking with current and former law clerks, seeking advice from professors, reading articles about and by judges, and looking up federal judges’ bios on the Federal Judicial Center website (www.fjc.gov).

What classes or activities exist at HLS for those students interested in clerking after HLS? Law clerks do a lot of research, writing, editing, and critical reading. Students interested in clerking should do activities that will help them improve those skills, such as working as an editor on the Harvard Law Review or another law journal; working as a research assistant for a professor during the school year or the summer; doing relevant pro bono or clinical work; or writing a significant research paper for course credit. While I was at HLS, I worked on the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy and as a research assistant for Professor Mary Ann Glendon, who currently serves as U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. Both experiences were great preparation for clerking, particularly working for Professor Glendon since she is an outstanding teacher and mentor. In terms of courses, students interested in clerking should definitely take Federal Courts, Constitutional Law, and Evidence. Other good, basic courses that provide a solid foundation for clerking are Statutory Interpretation/Legislation, Administrative Law, Corporations, and Advanced Legal Research.

Alumni advice for the incoming class? Make the most of your time at HLS. Dean Kagan likes to say (and she’s right) that HLS is like New York City because it has so many things to offer. Take advantage of the many opportunities to learn available at HLS both inside and outside the classroom. I recommend becoming actively involved in at least one student organization, such as a law journal or a club. Through your involvement in an organization you will have a chance to befriend and learn from other HLS students, one of the greatest assets HLS has to offer. During my time at HLS, I was actively involved in the Harvard chapter of the Federalist Society, a national organization of conservative and libertarian law students and lawyers that promotes intellectual diversity in the legal profession. My work with the Harvard Federalist Society was one of the highlights of my law school experience because it introduced me to so many students with such diverse interests, experiences, and backgrounds.

If you weren’t fully aware of the scope of opportunities available to you here at HLS, 3L Michelle Galdos’ winter term project gives a glimpse. In a brief interview with staffer Julia Foresman recently, Michelle discussed her project writing on reproductive rights and emergency contraception in Chile.

Check it out: Michelle Galdos (6:07)

Her interest in reproductive rights began at a young age by watching her father, a Peruvian OB-GYN, participate in medical missions to South America. She joined HLS Advocates for Human Rights during her 1L year and interned at the South African Human Rights Commission at the end of the proceeding summer. Following coursework in Women’s Human Rights, she enrolled in the Harvard International Law Clinic during her 3L year to work on women’s health issues. Michelle will be traveling to Santiago, Chile during Harvard’s 2009 Winter Term to research the recent banning of emergency contraception distribution in Chilean public health centers.

We hope to track Michelle’s story, as well as that of other students abroad for winter term, through January… so check back!