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I would like to use this space as a regular (and informal) way to keep the larger community up to date on news about the Law Center. I hope that you will "bookmark" the page and consult it frequently. If you have thoughts about items on this page -- or about the Law Center in general -- please feel free to e-mail me at deanpage@law.georgetown.edu. I offer the following observations and news in no particular order. I hope you find something here that interests you.
Center for the Study of the Legal Profession February 15, 2008 – I want to call your attention to the establishment of the Center for the Study of the Legal Profession, which is directed by Professors Mitt Regan and Jeffrey Bauman. The Center’s goal is to promote interdisciplinary scholarship on the profession informed by awareness of the dynamics of modern practice. It will provide students with a sophisticated understanding of the opportunities and challenges of a modern legal career, and furnish members of the bar, particularly those in organizational decision-making positions, broad perspectives on trends and developments in practice. As one of its first projects, the Center has published "Law Firms, Ethics, and Equity Capital: A Conversation." The paper examines whether ethics rules should be changed to permit law firms to raise money from outside equity investors. It was timed to stimulate discussion of the potential effects of pending legislation in the United Kingdom that would permit law firms to become publicly traded enterprises. The paper can be found here and will be published in the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics. The Center sponsors a quarterly Roundtable of major law firm managing partners, ethics counsel, and general counsel for presentations and discussion of issues at the intersection of legal ethics and law firm structure and culture. The sessions include analyses of current developments; overviews of trends in the law; discussion of novel emerging issues confronting law firms; and research from various disciplines on organizational structure and management, ethics, and risk compliance programs. In October of last year, the Center co-sponsored an important conference along with the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics on Corporate Compliance: The Role of Company Counsel (link to webcast). This coming April, the Center will host a conference on the Future of the Global Law Firm. This symposium will bring together scholars from a range of disciplines, legal practitioners, regulators, and consultants and experts on professional service firms to discuss a variety of forces that are likely to shape the global market for law firm services in the years to come. Participants from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia will explore management strategies and business models in the global legal services market, law firm access to various sources of capital, and the impact of market forces on professional ethics, values, and identity. Particular attention will be paid to legislation in the U.K. authorizing nonlawyer equity investment in law firms, and to the emergence of the publicly traded law firm in Australia. The Center’s activities amplify the Law Center’s strong commitment to professional responsibility and ethics, and the global study of law. Please check back for more information on some of the other new Centers and Institutes at Georgetown Law.
Professor and Law Librarian Robert Oakley Georgetown Supreme Court Institute is model for Canada's Supreme Court Advocacy Institute Message Concerning Virginia Tech Legal Writing at Georgetown Law
December 18, 2007 - As our exams draw to a close and our students start to leave campus for a well-deserved break, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa! And may next year be one of peace and joy for all. Alex Aleinikoff Professor and Law Librarian Robert Oakley
Bob was a visionary leader and strong advocate for the Georgetown Law Library. Not only did Bob expand the collection well beyond one million volumes, making it the fourth largest law library in the country, but he also kept the library on the cutting edge of information technology. He was a past president of the American Association of Law Libraries and widely respected by his colleagues around the nation. The Law Center will miss him deeply. For more information about Bob and his career, or to share your thoughts and remembrances about him, please click on the link below. http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/about/oakley/
September 17, 2007 - As we begin the new year, I want to tell you about our entering class. They are an extraordinary group both in terms of qualifications and life experiences. Here are some facts about the J.D. and LL.M. classes: This year’s entering J.D. class has students from 46 states and 13 foreign countries representing 200 different colleges and universities. Including our LL.M. students, this year’s entering class will represent 62 countries. This year almost two-thirds (65%) of the J.D. Day Students have taken some time off before coming to law school. This represents a significant trend for us; just a few years ago, more than half the entering class came to the Law Center directly from college. Seventy one students in the full-time and part-time divisions have advanced degrees; 12 have Ph.D.’s The “top” home states of our full-time J.D. students are:
In the LL.M. class, for those students educated outside of the U.S., the top countries of citizenship are:
Andy Cornblatt, Associate Vice President for Graduate Admissions, adds these comments about the J.D. class:
Caryn Voland, Associate Director of Admissions, adds these comments about the entering LL.M. class:
Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute is a model for Canada’s Supreme Court Advocacy Institute July 10, 2007 – This past spring, Supreme Court Institute Fellow Tina Drake Zimmerman attended the launch of the Supreme Court Advocacy Institute (SCAI) in Ottawa, Canada. She was there because the Canadian program has used our own Supreme Court Institute as a model (http://www.law.georgetown.edu/sci). The SCAI is not affiliated with a law school, but its goals match those of our Supreme Court Institute: to provide pro bono, non-partisan advocacy advice on a first-come, first-serve basis to counsel appearing in front of the country’s highest court. Two former clerks of Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci heard about Georgetown’s Supreme Court Institute in late 2003 and thought that such an Institute would be of great benefit to Canadian attorneys. During the initial planning stages of the SCAI, they visited the law center, speaking with Institute Faculty Directors Richard Lazarus and Steve Goldblatt to learn how our Institute began and how it runs. Following our Institute model, the SCAI will moot their advocates with a panel of “Justices” that have significant relevant experience based on having presented oral argument before the Court, litigated before the Court on several occasions, or clerked for the Court. They will also add a few distinctly Canadian flourishes—“Justices” and advocates will be robed during the moot, and moots will be conducted in both English and French. June 16, 2007 – In May, we celebrated the graduation of the 135th class at the Law Center [945 graduates: 600 J.D.s , 342 LL.M.s, and 3 S.J.D.s]. The Law Center granted an honorary degree to Nina Totenberg, Legal Affairs Correspondent for National Public Radio. She told the graduating class that “When you come to a crisis in life, I think you will find that doing your duty will serve you rather well, whether it’s your crisis or someone else’s. The path is clear, the choices few. You know what you have to do. And there are no regrets afterwards. Indeed, there are rewards. You are a better person, for want of a better word, a deeper person, able to accept life’s blessings as well.” She also reminded them that “As you enter the life of the law, it’s not just the firm or the client or the company waiting for you. Also standing there, awaiting your arrival, is that blind old lady justice, and she expects you to spend some time with her, too.” Also receiving honorary degrees from the Law Center were Charles D. Swift, a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, Judge Advocate General's Corps, who, along with Georgetown Law Professor Neal Katyal, brought the successful Supreme Court challenge of the Bush administration's military tribunals for Guantánamo detainees, and Ladislas M. Orsy, S.J., visiting professor at Georgetown Law. A webcast of the proceedings may be viewed at: http://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/index.cfm
Message Concerning Virginia Tech April 17, 2007 - The Georgetown Law community is deeply saddened by the senseless tragedy that occurred at Virginia Tech yesterday. We wish to extend our deepest condolences to the Virginia Tech community – our thoughts and prayers are with the students, faculty, staff, alumni, family and friends as they grieve. Message from President DeGioia Concerning Virginia Tech
January 29, 2007 – Today is a very sad day for Georgetown Law Center, as we mourn the loss of a beloved member of our community, Robert F. Drinan, S.J. Father Drinan uniquely combined a passion for justice and compassion for each individual. So many of us were touched by his smile, his wisdom, his deep commitment to human rights and social justice. He was a gentle warrior who inspired generations of Georgetown students, alumni and friends. Many of you who are students and alumni have your own memories of Father Drinan. We have set up a website to serve as an electronic memory book and I invite you to send remembrances of Father Drinan to aboutdrinan@law.georgetown.edu. The website is http://www.law.georgetown.edu/news/drinan.html. Below are a few links to articles about Father Drinan: back to top
December 18, 2006 - As our fall semester's exams draw to a close and our students start to leave for a well-deserved break, I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a warm and wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa! And may next year be one of peace and joy for all. Alex Aleinikoff
November 27, 2006 - During the last week of October 2006, the Law Center’s Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL) convened the first annual WTO Law & Policy Academy. The Academy, an intensive week-long program, brought a diverse group of nearly sixty lawyers and other professionals from eleven different countries to campus. Participants came from government agencies, NGOs, law firms, corporations and academia. The Academy provides training to those from developing countries and transition economies as well as from developed countries. Specific topics covered included:
WTO institutional issues and dispute settlement, basic market access principles and exceptions, agriculture, import restrictions & trade remedy rules, subsidies, services,
intellectual property protection, regional trade agreements, accession of new members,
and other current and future challenges facing the world trading system (such as developing country concerns, environment, labor, health, investment and competition policy issues). A full program agenda is available at: The Academy is chaired by University Professor and IIEL Director John H. Jackson and Adjunct Professor Jane Bradley, IIEL Deputy Director. The Academy faculty of international trade law experts includes academics, lawyers and former government officials, who have represented parties before the WTO or helped negotiate or implement the treaties. For a number of years the Institute has offered a Certificate in WTO Studies to Georgetown Law students who meet certain course requirements. Recognizing that practicing lawyers and government officials have limited time to undertake professional development training, the Law Center can provide through the Academy an opportunity for detailed examination of the WTO in a concentrated fashion. The success of the program has permitted us to schedule a 2007 Academy, tentatively slated for October 29-November 2, 2007.
Legal Writing at Georgetown Law November 1, 2006 – In an earlier post I had mentioned changes to the Law Center’s Legal Writing Program. I wanted to fill you in on some of these changes and our goal for the program. We have had for many years a very strong Legal Research & Writing program at the Law Center with a talented and dedicated faculty. Last year, I appointed a committee to look at the program and to give advice on maintaining its strengths and any possible improvements that could be made. Their proposals were approved by the Faculty last spring. The most significant aspect of the changes is a dramatic reduction in the size of first year Legal Research and Writing classes. Up until now, Legal Research and Writing professors have lectured to an entire section, with law fellows (2nd and 3rd year students) teaching small sections. Once the changes are fully in place, Legal Research and Writing professors will teach classes of approximately 30 students. This will permit much closer supervision of student writing and a far better learning experience. To accomplish these changes, we have hired three new faculty members for the Legal Research and Writing Program:
To complete the reforms several more professors will be hired this year. In addition to revising and strengthening our Legal Research and Writing Program, we have also been looking at ways to provide additional practice and training for our graduates and other practitioners. To that end, we have just formed a new Legal Writing Academy as a part of our Continuing Legal Education department. The Legal Writing Academy will build upon the strengths of our Legal Research & Writing Programs and our CLE programs to serve as a national training resource for lawyers from diverse backgrounds: private firms, government, corporations, and non-profit organizations. The program curriculum will be developed to appeal to attorneys at all levels in their careers. An advisory board representing several prominent law firms, government agencies, and academia has been established to assist with curriculum development. The Academy will provide traditional seminars at the Law Center and in-house training sessions at firms or agencies.
October 6, 2006 - I have written before about the rule of law and the importance of an independent judiciary. These crucial components of the American form of government—indeed, of any decent system of governance—were central in two significant events at the Law Center last week. On Monday, September 25th, the Georgetown Law Forum sponsored a panel discussion on Guantánamo and the Rule of Law: Military Tribunals and the Geneva Conventions. We heard from Philip Zelikow, Counselor to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice; Professor Neal Katyal; Colonel Lawrence J. Morris, Chief of the United States Army Trial Defense Service; and Deborah Pearlstein, Human Rights First. The panelists focused on the legislation hammered out between the Administration and (primarily) Republican Senators Graham, McCain, and Warner establishing rules for military commissions and compliance with the Geneva Conventions. (The legislation was necessitated by Professor Katyal’s victory in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld last Spring, which held that the military commissions established by the President after September 11 violated federal and international law.) I have deep concerns about some aspects of the legislation, particularly the provisions that strip courts of jurisdiction to hear claims that the Conventions have been violated. Judicial review of executive branch conduct is a hallmark of both the rule of law and the separation of powers that serves to protect liberty. Furthermore, provisions in the law that treat U.S. citizens and non-citizens differently are likely to be subject to constitutional attack. At the same time, the fact that Congress has finally taken up its constitutional responsibility to fashion rules for the military commissions, interrogations and detention is a welcome development. The idea of the rule of law means more than complying with the rules of law. It is an aspirational notion, one that evokes images of a just system of laws administered justly. As noted, courts play an indispensable role in supporting the rule of law in mature democracies. This is not to say, of course, that courts are immune from error, prejudice and sometimes even corruption. Neither can they be immune from criticism. But as was explored at the Conference on a Fair and Independent Judiciary held at the Law Center on September 28-29, recent attacks on the judiciary threaten the independence of judges and thereby threaten our constitutional system of checks and balances. The Conference was co-chaired by former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Justice Stephen Breyer and co-sponsored by the American Law Institute. Six sitting members of the Supreme Court attended the Conference, as did the Attorney General and Solicitor General of the United States, state and federal judges, former members of Congress, business leaders, members of the media, law deans and academics. The entire proceedings of the Conference are available on the Georgetown Law website [see http://www.law.georgetown.edu/judiciary/program.html]. The Law Center was proud to sponsor the Conference and proud to welcome to campus the many distinguished participants. Here is a list of some of the important considerations that were discussed:
The Law Center will stay engaged in these issues, serving as the home for follow-on work from the Conference.
September 12, 2006 – As the first weeks of classes are underway, I want to tell you more about the entering class. They are an extraordinary group both in terms of qualifications and life experiences. Here are some facts about the class: This year’s entering class has students from 47 states and 11 foreign countries, representing 205 different colleges and universities. This year, almost two-thirds (63%) of our Day students have taken some time off before coming to law school. Eighty students in the full-time and part-time divisions have advanced degrees; 11 have Ph.D.’s. The top “home” states of our full-time students are:
The top five majors represented in this year’s class are:
Andy Cornblatt, Dean of Admissions, adds these comments:
August 30, 2006 – Summer is suddenly over, as the returning students are back this week interviewing for jobs in the On-campus Early Interview Week. Approximately 15,000 interviews will be conducted this year. The entering class of students is stronger than ever. We received about 11,200 applications for 450 places in the full time J.D. program and 125 in the evening program. The median LSAT score of the entering class was 169 (the 98th percentile) and the median GPA increased to 3.71, both figures the highest ever. More information about this entering class will follow in my next entry. We are pleased to welcome five new members to our faculty this year:
We have added three new Legal Research & Writing faculty members as part of a new legal writing program (which I will describe is more detail in a subsequent post).
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Welcome
to the Deanpage
October 1, 2007 – It is with profound sorrow that I write to let you know that our friend and colleague Bob Oakley died suddenly Saturday, September 29. We grieve with his family.