The contentious battle of warrantless wiretaps continues, this time with a couple of HLS alums as key attorneys in the debate. Jameel Jaffer (’99), an attorney for the ACLU, and Serrin Turner (’00) an assistant attorney with the DOJ were arguing against each other in the ongoing debate over warrantless wiretapping. The case surrounded, specifically, amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) allowing warrantless eavesdropping abroad.
The ACLU argued that the wiretapping amounts to the “interception and taping of ‘thousands and possibly millions’ of phone calls, e-mails and other communications involving Americans without warrants or probable cause.” whereas the government’s believes the “statute has mechanisms to protect Americans who are “incidental” to communications with foreigners targeted out of concern for the national security or foreign policy interests of the United States.”
To read the full article, click here.
July 28th, 2009
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A recent Boston Globe article highlights a battle over deportation and the rights of immigrants. The article highlights the case of Sunday Agbata, a Nigerian born immigrant who came to the United States as a stowaway on ship from West Africa. Agbata was ordered deported in July 2008 to Nigeria but has been sitting in jail without any explanation since he was caught. No explanation as to why he has not yet been deported has been given.
In a Supreme Court ruling in 2001, the court ruled that six months is a reasonable amount of time to allow to deport immigrants after a final decision in their case. After that, the federal government must justify the continued detention.
Andrea Saenz, a 2008 HLS graduate, is Agbata’s lawyer in the case. Saenz is currently the Equal Justice Works Fellow in the Detention Program for the Political Asylum/Immigration Representation Project (PAIR), a Boston based legal services organization.
June 10th, 2009
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The San Francisco Chronicle reported the unfortunate and devastating passing of Luke Cole, an 1989 graduate of HLS whose commitment to environmental justice and dedication to public interest work defined his career and life.
Mr. Cole was an environmental lawyer in San Francisco were he founded and was the current Executive Director for The Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, a non-profit legal organization aimed at working towards environmental justice.
He was driving with his wife on a rural road in Western Uganda when his car was struck by a truck that veered into Mr. Cole’s path, hitting his side of the car. His wife, who survived the accident, was sent to Amsterdam where she underwent an eye operation.
Luke Cole is survived by his father, Herbert Cole, and mother, Alexandra Cole, two brothers, Peter and Thomas Cole, a sister, Sarah Cole, and a son, Zane Shelby.
June 10th, 2009
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On the Cal Law blog Legal Pad, David Coleman, a Public Defender in California believes it unjust and counter-productive to place deferred associates in public defenders offices. Coleman, an HLS alum had some pretty strong remarks about the placement of deferred associates in public defenders offices. It is not fair to young lawyers who have willingly chosen the public sector at “50 cents on the dollar” for what big firms pay to have their opportunity to accrue trial experience diminished so that same trial experience can be obtained by a civil firm lawyer who 1.) eschewed lesser compensation in favor of high salaries and bonuses, 2.) had less interest in the criminal justice system and 3.) is destined (chomping at the bit) to return to Big Law as soon as the Firm will have them back.”
To read the complete blog post, click here.
April 29th, 2009
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Rebecca Hamilton, a current fellow with Open Society Institute and HLS alum (2007), wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe commenting on the potential positive consequences of the anticipated arrest of the president of Sudan, Omar Al Bashir, for crimes in Darfur. While immense problems still loom in Darfur – much of which Al Bashir has been blamed for – Hamilton senses that the arrest of Bashir is a necessary first step to ensure a small step forward away from corruption and perhaps towards unity and transparency. Nothing is guaranteed, but the possible arrest could prove to be popular among the Sudanese and force the international community to work on behalf of human rights. “No longer does the dividing line have to be between those who criticize the Sudanese government and those who do not. Instead it can be about those who want to align themselves with legally punishable behavior and those who reject it. Overnight, the costs of lining up silently alongside Khartoum have increased.”
To read Rebecca’s full op-ed piece, visit the site here.
February 27th, 2009
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Kenneth Zimmerman ‘88, former Chief Counsel to New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine and a current partner with the firm Lowenstein Sandler PC which has offices in Boston, New York, Palo Alto, and Roseland NJ, has been chosen to lead the firm’s new public interest center which it opened at the end of October.
The center will oversee the entire firm’s pro bono efforts and hopes to expand upon its commitment to “addressing significant social issues and provide community assistance.” The firm stated in a press release.
As part of the program, five associates working at Lowenstein Sandler will dedicate 25 percent of their time to the Center’s projects and help spearhead the firm’s overall pro bono efforts, which in 2007 involved some 230 lawyers and totaled nearly 19,000 hours of attorney and paralegal participation.
To read the press release, follow this link.
Click on this link to visit the firm’s website.
for more information about Ken Zimmerman, click here.
January 8th, 2009
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An article from The Nation written this past summer discusses the subprime mortgage crisis and its legal consequences in Atlanta, one of the cities hardest hit by the housing and loan crisis.
The article highlights how the subprime mortgage crisis played out both on the macro and micro level. Focusing on few families in Atlanta, Georgia, the article tries to focus on what the families went through in their efforts to keep their home.
Sarah Bolling an ‘07 alumni, is featured in the article. Bolling, who is currently working for the Legal Aid Society in Atlanta, is defending the Mitchell family and other families hit hard by the mortgage crisis.
To read the article, clink on this link
September 11th, 2008
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Sean Carter was a lawyer. He studied at Harvard with Barack Obama and comfortably worked as in-house counsel for a California mortgage company. Then he realized he was bored and deciding to unexpectedly change jobs, he pursued his other passion: comedy.
“Every month I’d take the same eight mortgage agreements and change the names and dates. It was not exactly the hardest job in the world. It was not heavy lifting. I was just bored,” he said. “It wasn’t horrible. How could you hate it? I worked indoors. I could do it asleep. Most of the time I did.”
Now working as a full-time legal humorist, he finds his job to finally have some meaning. He travels the country giving talks on subjects ranging from legal ethics to stress management. The difference between what he does and what a comedian does, as he sees it, is that he says “important things in a funny way.” Ultimately, he hopes that his lectures at corporate gatherings and organization meetings will inspire others to quit their careers and go after their dreams.
December 12th, 2007
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A recent article by the New York Law Journal profiles Robert D. McCreanor, a young HLS graduate who found a passion for public interest early in his legal career. Having recently moved to New York, he was approached by the immigrant residents of his building for help with a landlord hardly living up to his lease. Since then, he has founded the Tenant Advocacy Project with the backing of St. John’s University, as a one-man operation designed to represent recent immigrants being preyed on by their landlords. While enduring many challenges along the way, including potential bankruptcy, he now plans to leave a private career at the firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison once the project becomes an official law clinic of St. John’s. To read more, please click here.
October 22nd, 2007
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As we prepare for the arrival of students in a few weeks, we have also been looking back on the past year. In perusing the archives of the Record, we found a number of stories that highlight a year of public service at HLS. A selection of the Record’s public interest stories are linked below. Read more »
August 16th, 2007
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