President Obama nominates U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary F. Locke ('75) to serve as Ambassador to China
 |
If approved by the Senate, Secretary Locke will become the first Chinese American to serve as Ambassador to the People's Republic of China.
Associated Press (AP) reported from Beijing that China welcomes Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke's nomination and quoted Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu as saying that "Beijing hopes the new ambassador 'will play a positive role' in promoting relations between the two nations."
BU Law interviewed Secretary Locke for the 2010 edition of our alumni magazine, The Record. In that article, he talked about his long-term goal to improve trade relations with China, saying "My position is that the U.S. offers China highly valued goods and services that can raise the standard of living in China, while creating jobs in America."
Locke was the first Chinese American both to serve as U.S. secretary of commerce and to serve as the governor of Washington state.
An Eagle Scout with a political science degree from Yale University, Locke graduated from BU Law in 1975. He worked in the district attorney's office in King County, Washington prosecuting felonies and later served as a Washington state representative and a county executive before successfully running for governor. BU Law is proud to congratulate our distinguished alumnus, the Honorable Gary F. Locke '75.
William and Patty Kleh donate $1M to fund a Visiting Professorship at BU Law
Please join us in applauding the generosity of Patricia and William H .Kleh ('71), who pledged $1M in February 2011 to establish the William & Patricia Kleh Visiting Professorship in International Law.
"This gift will enable us to attract outstanding visiting professors to BU Law, supplementing our own superb faculty" said Dean Maureen A. O'Rourke. "We are very grateful to Bill and Patty Kleh for their support of the School and our faculty." Faculty support is a key fundraising priority at the law school.
William Kleh is a Boston University overseer and sits on the University's Board of International Alumni. He is also a member of the Dean's Advisory Board and a longtime supporter of the law school and University.
President Brown names Law Professor Wendy J. Gordon a William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor
 |
Named after the University's first president, William Fairfield Warren, the award, which was established in 2009, is the highest honor bestowed on senior faculty members who will continue to be involved in research, scholarship and teaching. Each appointee receives an endowed chair supported by the William Fairfield Warren Fund.
Professor Wendy J. Gordon is one of the most respected and widely cited scholars in the field of intellectual property today. Renowned for her application of philosophy and economics to copyright law and related areas and for her groundbreaking work on fair use, she has been published on four continents, has received numerous honors and grants, and has spoken to audiences worldwide. Her articles are often anthologized and translated. The U.S. Supreme Court has cited her work in three cases, and the influence of her articles is pervasive in legal scholarship. Her work is frequently a topic in law school coursework as well; for example, her corpus has been the subject of a full-term seminar at the University of Hokkaido in Japan.
A BU Law faculty member since 1993, Professor Gordon was formerly the Philip S. Beck Professor of Law.
The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard announces the
Tamar Frankel Fiduciary Award
 |
On March 22, 2011, the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard annouced the Tamar Frankel Fiduciary Award and invited nominations. The award recognizes the individual who has made an outstanding contribution advancing the vital role of the authentic fiduciary standard to investors, the capital markets and society.
"We are honored to name this award for Professor Tamar Frankel, Boston University School of Law, Michaels Faculty Research Scholar. Professor Frankel is well recognized nationally and internationally for her work in fiduciary law. She has demonstrated a tireless commitment to advancing a greater understanding of fiduciary law through her research and writing," states Knut A. Rostad, Chairman of the Committee for the Fiduciary Standard.
2012 U.S. News rankings
U.S. News & World Report released its annual ranking of law schools on March 15, 2011. BU Law ranks #22 this year overall (the same ranking as last year).
BU Law also ranks #2 in Health Law, #7 in Intellectual Property Law and #9 in Tax Law according to U.S. News.
What law firm hiring partners say about BU Law
In a separate survey conducted in the fall of 2010, U.S. News asked law firm recruiters and hiring partners to rate the academic quality of law schools. In that U.S. News reputation survey, BU Law ranked #18 in the nation.
The National Law Journal (NLJ) also conducted a survey of the 250 largest law firms in the U.S., asking which law schools' graduates they actually hired. In the NLJ survey, BU Law ranked #17, based on the percentage of 2010 graduates hired by the largest 250 firms in the country.
Five BU Law students named Rappaport Fellows
The Rappaport Fellows Program in Law and Public Policy brings together gifted students from each of the six Boston-area law schools to work with top public policymakers on issues that affect residents of Greater Boston and Massachusetts. This program, sponsored by Suffolk Law School, is designed to expose outstanding law students to the challenges and complexities of designing public policy. Students are placed in summer legal internships with state or local government offices, engage in a weekly seminar and are matched with a mentor who has worked in the public policy arena.
The five BU Law students selected for this highly competitive program are:
- David Linhart ('12)
- Katelyn E. Homeyer ('13)
- Maria Granik ('13)
- Rachel C. Weiss ('13)
- Joy L. Spezeski ('13)
Upcoming events:
The annual Shapiro Lecture with BU Law alumnus Ken Rose ('81): April 1, 2011
 |
Finding Purpose: Lessons learned in law school and 30 years of representing inmates on death row
Lecture: 12:45 - 1:45 p.m.
Reception: 1:45 - 2:45 p.m.
Boston University School of Law, Barristers Hall
Ken Rose is a senior staff attorney at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation (CDPL) in Durham, North Carolina. His decade-long defense of Bo Jones, who was convicted of capital murder in 1987 and ultimately exonerated, is the subject of John Temple's book The Last Lawyer: The Fight to Save Death Row Inmates.
Following his graduation from Boston University School of Law in 1981, Mr. Rose joined Team Defense Project in Atlanta, where he represented clients facing capital punishment. In 1984, he moved to Mississippi, where he started and directed the Mississippi Capital Defense Resource Center and was one of a handful of lawyers representing death-sentenced inmates in capital post-conviction proceedings. In 1989, Mr. Rose went into private practice in Durham and continued to represent capital defendants. He became executive director of CDPL in 1996 and served in that position for 10 years.
For more information and to RSVP, please e-mail lawevent@bu.edu.
BU Law Commencement: May 22, 2011
 |
Our 2011 commencement speaker will be the Honorable Denny Chin, Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Judge Chin graduated from Princeton University magna cum laude in 1975 and received his law degree from Fordham Law School in 1978. After clerking for the Honorable Henry F. Werker, United States Distric Court Judge for the Southern District of New York, he was associated with the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell from 1980 to 1982. He served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York from 1982 until 1986, when he and two of his colleagues from the U.S. Attorney's Office started the law firm of Campbell, Patrick & Chin. In 1990, he joined Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard PC where he specialized in labor and employment law.
From September 13, 1994, through April 23, 2010, Judge Chin served as a United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York. He presided over both civil and criminal cases, including cases involving Megan's Law, the Million Youth March, Al Franken's use of the phrase "Fair and Balanced" in the title of a book, the Naked Cowboy, the Google Books settlement and the United Nations Oil-for-Food Program. He also presided over the trial of an Afghan warlord charged with conspiring to import heroin and over the guilty plea and sentencing of financier Bernard L. Madoff.
On April 26, 2010, Judge Chin was sworn in as Circuit Judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Judge Chin has taught legal writing at Fordham Law School since 1986. While in private practice, he provided extensive pro bono representation to the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund. He served as president of the Asian American Bar Association of New York from January 1992 through January 1994. He has served on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including Hartley House, Care for the Homeless, the Clinton Housing Association, the Prospect Park Environmental Center and the Fordham Law School Alumni Association.
Next Reunion & Alumni Weekend: October 28-30, 2011
 |
All BU Law alumni are invited to attend, with special recognition to our graduates from classes ending in 1 and 6! Plan to join us in Boston for the Annual Alumni Gala Dinner and Silver Shingle Awards Presentation on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at the Mandarin Oriental Boston.