Spring 2011
Feb. 2
Is it Safe Yet: Or Could Wall Street Still Blow Up the Economy?
The first Law Forum of the spring semester, held on February 2, examined whether necessary steps have been taken to avoid another major financial crisis. Titled “Is it Safe Yet: Or Could Wall Street Still Blow Up the Economy?,” the discussion featured CNBC television anchor (and graduate and trustee) Maria Bartiromo, New York Times business columnist Joseph Nocera, and Roy Smith, Kenneth Langone Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at 's Stern School of Business.
Some meaningful measures have been taken to reduce the risk of another global financial meltdown, the panelists said. Nonetheless, they agreed we remain vulnerable to another crisis. "Bubbles are part of the human condition and delusions are part of the human condition, " said Nocera. The best-case scenario, he added, is that next market meltdown is 60 or 70 years away, not 10 or 15.
Panelists:
, Anchor and Managing Editor, The Wall Street Journal Report with Maria Bartiromo
, Columnist, The New York Times
, Kenneth Langone Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance, Leonard N. Stern School of Business
Moderator:
, Associate Professor of Law, School of Law
Feb. 9
The Supreme Court was the focus of the February 9 Law Forum, with panelists looking broadly at it as an institution, and specifically at cases on its current docket. Participants in the event, titled "From Video Game Violence to Religion: The Supreme Court at Midterm," were Tom Goldstein, a leading High Court litigator and co-founder and contributing editor of SCOTUSblog; Roderick Hills Jr., William T. Comfort, III Professor of Law; and Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor and legal correspondent for Slate, and a contributing editor at Newsweek. Lithwick, along with moderator Barry Friedman, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, co-authored an article published by Slate in October, titled "Watch as We Make This Law Disappear: How the Roberts Court disguises its conservatism." That piece served as a jumping off point for much of the Forum discussion, with Friedman and Lithwick parrying frontal attacks on their arguments from both Goldstein and Hills. Combative hilarity best describes the spirit of the debate, which blended rhetorical broadsides, comedy, and constitutional analysis.
Panelists:
, Founder, Goldstein, Howe & Russell, P.C., Founder, SCOTUSblog
, William T. Comfort, III Professor of Law, School of Law
, Senior Editor and Legal Correspondent, Slate, Contributing Editor, Newsweek
Moderator:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
Feb. 16
“Big Law 2021 – And What it Will Mean for You” was the topic of the February 16 Law Forum. Led by moderator Samuel Issacharoff, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law, panelists discussed what changes are afoot in the way the nation’s major law firms conduct their business. Are there limits to how big these firms can grow? Are clients refusing to pay for training needed by junior associates? How much of the routine work these firms do may end up getting outsourced to lawyers in India? These and other questions were examined by Sheila Birnbaum '65, partner and co-head of the Mass Torts and Insurance Litigation Group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; Mark Harris, founder and CEO of Axiom Law; and Roger Meltzer '77, a partner and global chair of the Corporate and Finance Practice at DLA Piper.
Panelists:
, Partner and Co-Head, Mass Torts and Insurance Litigation Group, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Mark Harris, Founder and CEO,
, Partner and Global Chair of Corporate and Finance Practice, DLA Piper
Moderator:
, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law, School of Law
Feb. 23
Litigating Climate Change
What role will lawsuits seeking damages for climate-related injuries have in moving a climate-protection agenda forward? What kind of exposure might industries and insurers have to damage claims for everything from rising sea levels to extreme weather events? What is the record of climate damages actions to date, and what can we expect for the future? U.S. climate legislation in Congress is dead for now. Will the courts break the legislative logjam by fostering liabilities that will drive industry to embrace regulation? The discussion will feature panelists, and a moderator, with a broad range of perspectives.
Panelists:
Ina Ebert, Senior Counsel, ; Professor of Law
, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center
, Joseph M. Field '55 Professor of Law, Yale Law School
Moderator:
, University Professor and John Edward Sexton Professor of Law, School of Law
Mar. 2
America’s Cities: The Burden of the Past, or the Promise of the Future?
The topic of the Law Forum on March 2 was “America's Cities: The Burden of the Past, or the Promise of the Future?” In a discussion moderated by Roderick Hills Jr., William T. Comfort III Professor of Law, panelists looked at the factors contributing to the thriving of urban areas.
Edward Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics at Harvard University, pointed out that, despite the ability to telecommute from peaceful rural areas, cities are still desirable places to live.
“Globalization and new technologies have increased the returns to being smart,” said Glaeser. “They’ve increased the returns to having new ideas. They’ve increased the returns to understanding particularly complicated ideas. And that’s where cities come in. We are at our heart a social species that gets smart by being around other smart people. Face-to-face contact is critical to the learning process.... A young lawyer who comes to New York and works doesn’t just learn from training sessions or even the august classes that they take. They learn from the random things that they’re exposed to.”
Making cities work at a human scale is the chief concern of Ethan Kent, vice president of the Project for Public Spaces. Kent has contributed to placemaking, or the creation of useful public spaces, in Times Square and other key New York City areas as well as Portland, Oregon; Providence, Rhode Island; and Santiago, Chile. Unfortunately, he said, municipal government often isn’t set up to optimize such endeavors, even though they add significant value and appeal to urban areas.
Diana Silver, assistant professor of public health at ’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, has examined data for a number of “declining” cities—including Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and St. Louis—and investigated how those cities are addressing their issues. But the thinning ranks of local government mean fewer local initiatives, thus compounding the problem.
Panelists:
, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics, Harvard University
, Vice President, Project for Public Spaces
, Assistant Professor of Public Health, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development
Moderator:
, William T. Comfort III Professor of Law
Mar. 23
Panelists:
, Global Professor of Law, Director, Singapore Program
, Frederick I. and Grace A. Stokes Professor of Law, Co-Director, Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program
, Partner, Cahill Gordon & Reindel
, Inez Milholland Professor of Civil Liberties, Legal Director, Brennan Center for Justice
, Assistant Professor of Law
, Associate Professor of Journalism, New York University, Author,
, Professor of Law
, Samuel Tilden Professor of Law Emeritus
Moderator:
, Senior Fellow, Information Law Institute
MAR. 30 - EVENT POSTPONED
Demystifying Your Classroom Experience: How Law School Can Make You a Great Lawyer
Panelists:
, Kauffman Legal Research Fellow
, Max E. Greenberg Professor of Contract Law
Deirdre Mullen, Director of Professional Development and Recruitment,
, Professor of Law
Moderator:
Jeannie Forrest, Vice Dean
April 6
No Forum this week.
April 13
No Forum this week.
Fall 2010
Sep. 15
After the Flood: Legal Issues Surrounding the Gulf Oil Spill
Cosponsored by The Guarini Center for Environmental and Land Use Law, School of Law
Panelists:
, John Edward Sexton Professor of Law, Chair and Faculty Director, Hauser Global Law School Program, Director, Guarini Center for Environmental and Land Use Law, School of Law
, Laurence A. Tisch Professor of Law, School of Law
'85, Associate Director for Policy Outreach, White House Council on Environmental Quality
, Environmental Justice Attorney, National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Moderator:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
Sep. 22
How to Choose a Substantial Writing Topic - And Write the Paper
Panelists:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
'00, Associate Professor of Law, School of Law
'06, Associate, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP
Erin Scharff '11
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Room 210
Sep. 30
The Gender of Atrocity: Accountability v. Impunity in Sudan
Please note: different day and time.
Thursday, September 30, 2010 6:00-8:00 PM
Panelists:
, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the U.N.
, Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School
, Prosecutor, International Criminal Court
Moderator:
, Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
Oct. 6
US v. Arizona: What is the Right Direction on Immigration?
Cosponsored by The Center on the Administration of Criminal Law, School of Law
Panelists:
, Staff Attorney, ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project
, Former Head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
, Immigration Correspondent, New York Times
Moderator:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
Oct. 13 - EVENT POSTPONED
Supreme Court Preview
Panelists:
, Partner, Akin Gump, Co-Founder and Contributing Editor, SCOTUSblog
, William T. Comfort, III Professor of Law, School of Law
, Senior Editor and Legal Correspondent, Slate, Contributing Editor, Newsweek
Moderator:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
Oct. 20
The Log Cabin Republicans' Victory Against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell": Are Conservatives the Most Effective LGBT Advocates?
Panelists:
R. Clarke Cooper, Executive Director, Log Cabin Republicans
, Of Counsel, Brady Klein Weissman, LLP, and Former Special Assistant and Senior Adviser to President Bill Clinton
, Legal Director, Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
Moderator:
, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
Oct. 27
Congress Revisits the Bush Tax Cuts: Who Should Pay Taxes, and How Much?
Panelists:
, Chief Economist, Concord Coalition
, Wayne Perry Professor of Taxation, Law School
, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
Moderator:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
Nov. 3
What are the Consequences of Aggressive Policing: The NYPD's Stop and Frisk Record
Panelists:
, Adjunct Professor of Law, School of Law
, Director of Racial Justice Program, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
, John M. Olin Fellow, Manhattan Institute, Contributing Editor, City Journal
Moderator:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge
Nov. 10
How to Outline for Exams, and Take Them
Panelists:
Laura Arandes ’11
Shane Dizon, Kauffman Legal Research Fellow, School of Law
Matthew Shahabian ’11
Moderator:
, Bonnie and Richard Reiss Professor of Constitutional Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Tishman Auditorium
Nov. 17 - EVENT POSTPONED
The Senate and the Filibuster: Will Partisan Strife Kill the Institution?
Panelists:
, Professor of Political Science, George Washington University, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
, Sudler Family Professor of Constitutional Law, School of Law
, Congressman, US House of Representatives
Moderator:
, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law, School of Law
Location: Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge