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Recruitment Join your BLSA family as we take time to lunch together and mingle. Not only will you get to know your own family better, but you will also get to know other BLSA members. Bring your own lunch. Dessert and drinks provided. THE LAW WITHOUT LIMITS: NON-TRADITIONAL LEGAL CAREERS SERIES feat MAYOR DENNIS ARCHER Come join former Detroit Mayor, Dennis Archer, for lunch as he discusses his career path and experiences post-law school. Mayor Archer is currently a fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. In addition to serving as Mayor of Detroit, he has also served on the Michigan Supreme Court and was the first African American elected as president of the American Bar Association. Mayor Archer is a graduate of Detroit College of Law. He has worked as a trial lawyer and partner at several law firms and served as an associate professor at the Detroit College of law, among other roles. This is a wonderful opportunity to ask any burning questions about pursuing a non-traditional career path, as Mayor Archer has had varied and diverse experiences in the legal field. You must RSVP in order to attend. Please email HBLSAProfessionalDevelopment@gmail.com to secure your spot. The seats will be available on a first come, first serve basis. Friday, November 19th-Saturday, November 20th Come out for the following HBLSA events during Harvard/Yale weekend: Saturday, November 20: 12-4pm Saturday, November 20: 10pm-2am Email Natalia and Danielle at hblsasocialcommitee@gmail.com with any questions. Go Crimson! BLSA/JLSA EVENT: WHO ARE YOUR PEOPLE? An Interactive Conversation about the History and Future of Black-Jewish Relations Who are Your People? Join us as we discuss issues of race and identity with the Jewish Law Students Association. The program will consist of video clips, readings, group discussion and, of course, snacks. Thursday, November 25th If you will be in Cambridge for Thanksgiving and are looking for a place to have dinner and fellowship, email Shaylyn, HBLSAPresident@gmail.com by not later than Thursday November 18th. Also, if you are willing to bring along a BLSA person or two to a dinner you will be attending or hosting in the area, also send Shaylyn an email. Monday, December 6th, 7:30PM During the Annual BLSA Holiday Party, Monday December 6th, 7:30 p.m. in Ropes Gray, we will be playing a Yankee Swap game. The Rules: In Yankee Swap, each participant brings a wrapped, unmarked gift ($10-15 in value). Participants are given numbers and they select and unwrap gifts from the pile in that order. The person who receives the number 1 will pick a gift from the pile and open it for all to see. The person who receives number 2 then chooses and opens a gift and also must decide whether to keep it or swap it for the first player’s gift. Each person in order then gets to select a present, open it and decide whether to keep it or swap it for any of the other open gifts. The Details: If you are interested in playing Yankee Swap, email Shaylyn (HBLSAPresident@gmail.com). If you would like to play but have financial difficulties, still email Shaylyn. Dated April 29, 2010 Harvard BLSA denounces racially inflammatory language – The Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) strongly condemns the racially inflammatory email that was circulated among the entire Harvard Law School community. Like many individuals who read its content, we find the message to be deplorable and offensive. We are open to thoughtful discourse on even the most controversial of views, and yet we categorically reject the archaic notion that African-Americans are genetically inferior to white people. We recognize, however, that this issue is much larger than any single email or any particular student. Harvard BLSA is not at fault – HBLSA did not cause, create, or instigate these events. HBLSA was not the initial recipient of the student’s controversial email. HBLSA did not forward the email to Above the Law or any other media outlet. HBLSA did not contact or meet with any other BLSA chapter regarding this email. HBLSA had no contact whatsoever with the author’s clerkship judge or future employer. Any information to the contrary is unfounded and patently false. Harvard BLSA should not be the focus – It is unfortunate that HBLSA has become the center of this ordeal. We are disheartened that the reckless coverage of this controversy has shifted the nation’s attention away from the injustice and onto an unrelated third party. The real conversation—and all of the media coverage—should be about the unspoken assumptions and enduring racial prejudices that continually resurface throughout our nation. Simply put, the focus on HBLSA is misplaced. Harvard BLSA recognizes the opportunity – After learning of this disappointing email and before this incident ever went viral, the outgoing and incoming HBLSA Presidents immediately sent an email to our members calling for a “well thought-out and strategic” response. We began brainstorming and soliciting ideas from our members to determine the best way to seize this opportunity. We called for strategies that would promote constructive dialogue and meaningful solutions, not those that would merely serve to further inflame racial prejudices. Moreover, we foresaw that sensationalized blogging would be reactive and counterproductive. Harvard BLSA is moving forward – What is needed in this hour is a well-developed and effective course of action. After all, true advocacy is not a rash, knee-jerk, or emotionally charged response. Words are incredibly powerful. And as future attorneys, we realize that our words are our stock in trade. They can be used as a weapon to divide and tear down, or they can be used as a tool to unite and restore. HBLSA has chosen the latter approach. In so doing, HBLSA will continue to be a voice against injustice on our campus and in our community. (pdf)
Twenty trial advocacy teams from across the Northeastern Region participated in the competition. The two Harvard BLSA teams advanced undefeated to the final round to compete, Harvard versus Harvard, for the championship title. The first place team consisted of Ieshaah Murphy ’12, Julian Thompson ’10, Nneka Ukpai ’11, and Dominique Winters ‘10. The second place team consisted of Charles E. Redmond II ’11, Anthony Hendricks ’12, Etienne Toussaint ’12, and Allison Reid ‘12. In addition to the overall win, Ms. Reid secured a perfect score to win Best Advocate for the regional competition. The teams owe a debt of gratitude to its esteemed coaches, CJI Deputy Director J. Soffiyah Elijah and CJI Clinical Instructor Dehlia Umunna. Without their dedication, patience, and hard work, this victory would not have been possible. The team also sends a special thank you to Professor Ronald Sullivan for aiding both teams tremendously in their preparation for motions arguments. The fact pattern involved charges of theft, theft of trade secrets, and breach of computer security against an industrial engineer. Ms. Murphy, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Redmond, and Mr. Hendricks represented the prosecution; Ms. Ukpai, Ms. Winters, Mr. Toussaint, and Ms. Reid represented the defense. The team members met weekdays and weekends for countless hours to prepare for the competition. Both Harvard BLSA trial teams will be advancing to the National BLSA Trial Advocacy Competition. The competition will be held on March 11, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts where the top three teams from each of the six regions will compete for the national title. The two teams look forward to more victories in the near future. November 05, 2009 This past weekend, a team of Harvard Law students won first place at the 4th National Puerto Rico Trial Advocacy Competition in San Juan. The prestigious “invitation only” competition was sponsored by the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico School of Law and held at the Old San Juan District Courthouse Oct. 31-Nov. 1. The HLS team, which advanced undefeated, consisted of 3L’s John Quinn, Julian Thompson, and Dominique Winters and 2L Nneka Ukpai. In addition to the overall win, Thompson won Best Cross-Examination and Best Closing Argument. Quinn earned a perfect score in the semi final round.
The fact pattern involved charges of bribery and perjury against a sitting judge. Ukpai and Winters represented the prosecution; Quinn and Thompson represented the defendant. The team began practicing in late September and met several times a week, including Saturdays, in sessions that went past midnight. Only teams that have won titles in past national competitions are invited to compete in the San Juan tournament. All eight teams participate in the initial rounds of trials. Judges and attorneys from around the country evaluate and score the competitors. The four teams with the highest scores advance to the semi-finals. Harvard defeated Stetson University in the semi-final round and went on to defeat defending champion, Barry University, in the six hour final round. This year’s team members are no strangers to national trial competitions. Last year, Thompson, Ukpai and Winters, along with David Knight ’09, won the national BLSA competition. In that same year Knight, Ukpai and Winters, along with Eli Schlam ’09 took second place in the national American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section’s trial competition, co-sponsored by John Marshal Law School in Chicago. All four team members earned perfect scores. These teams were also coached by Elijah and Umunna. The HLS trial team has an outstanding legacy of winning national trial competitions. The first victorious team included Professor Ronald Sullivan Jr. ’94, and Lecturer of Law Stephanie Robinson ’94. HLS last won the ABA competition in 2004 when team member Laura Ferry won Best Advocate. The HLS trial team has been invited to return to San Juan next fall and to compete in the ABA tournament in Chicago this spring. |
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