News - June 2007
Avi-Yonah Co-Chairs Sino-U.S. Corporate Tax Law Conference at Peking University
June 25, 2007
Reuven Avi-Yonah, Michigan Law’s Irwin I. Cohn Professor of Law and Director of the School’s International Tax LL.M. Program, co-chaired “New Developments in Sino-U.S. Corporate Tax Law” at Peking University’s Law School on June 17, 2007. Avi-Yonah’s two co-chairs were Professor Jianwen Liu, Director of Peking University’s Fiscal Law Center and Director of the International Tax Law Association; and Liya Rong (Michigan SJD 2005), former publisher of the Harvard China Law Review.
The Conference was convened by the Joint Center for China – U.S. Law & Policy Studies of Peking University, the Fiscal Law Research Center of Peking University, and the University of Michigan Law School. Speakers included leading Chinese academics and tax officials, U.S. Tax Court Judge David Laro, and Professor Kyle Logue, Associate Dean of Michigan Law.
The Joint Center for China – U.S. Law & Policy Studies was initiated by Peking University and Beijing Foreign Studies University in December 2005, with the aim of researching and promoting the development of legal systems and related policies of China and the U.S. Its founding president was former Cornell University President, and former Michigan Law Dean, Jeffrey Lehman.
U-M Law School receives $3 million from Charles T. Munger
for lighting improvements
June 25, 2007
Charles T. Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has made a $3 million gift to the University of Michigan Law School for lighting improvements in the Law Quadrangle, a campus landmark dating from 1922-33.
The gift will help fund lighting upgrades in public areas of the William W. Cook Legal Research Building, including the Reading Room – listed as one of America’s 150 most famous buildings in a recent survey by the American Institute of Architects – and of Hutchins Hall, a classroom building. The lighting project was approved today by the U-M Board of Regents. Work will begin soon and is scheduled for completion in 2009, when the Law School celebrates its 150th anniversary.
“Charlie Munger is one of the world’s most knowledgeable and respected investment managers,” said President Mary Sue Coleman. “We are grateful that he has chosen to invest his visionary gift to enhance the beauty and functionality of one of the University’s signature buildings, the William W. Cook Law Quadrangle.”
Law School Dean Evan Caminker said Munger’s gift will result in a dramatic improvement of the student experience.
“Our beautiful and grand Gothic buildings create one of the most inspiring settings for higher education anywhere in the country, but traditional Gothic architecture often undervalues the importance of interior lighting, and hence leaves its inner beauty underappreciated,” said Caminker. “Thanks to Charlie, the public areas of the Law School will be more cheerful, bright, and accessible than at any time in the school’s history. After these improvements, students, alumni, and visitors will be able to see all the wonderful architectural details in the Reading Room and other areas in a new light, so to speak. We are deeply appreciative of this generous gift.”
Since his days as an undergraduate student at the U-M, Munger has always had an appreciation for the Law Quadrangle, which was dedicated June 15, 1934. This unique gift resulted from his recognition that he could add the greatest value to the historic complex through improving its lighting for future generations of students.
A native of Omaha, Neb., Munger studied mathematics at Michigan in the 1940s. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1948 and founded the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, with which he was associated until 1965.
Munger lives in Los Angeles.
Highlights of the work at the Law School include the refurbishment of the chandeliers in the Reading Room and the cleaning of the Reading Room’s 60-foot vaulted ceiling. In addition, the 1930s-era wiring in all the public areas of Hutchins Hall and the Legal Research Building will be replaced and new fixtures installed.
The gift is part of The Michigan Difference, the University’s $2.5 billion fundraising campaign.
Michigan Law names Director of new Environmental Law and Policy Program
June 6, 2007
Contact: John Masson, (734) 647-7352, jpmasson@umich.edu
Evan Caminker, Dean of the University of Michigan Law School, recently announced that David M. Uhlmann will be joining the faculty where, in addition to teaching environmental law, he’ll direct the School’s newly-established Environmental Law and Policy Program (ELPP).
Mr. Uhlmann previously served as Section Chief, U.S. Department of Justice, Environmental Crimes Section, in which role he led the national environmental crimes program, developed enforcement strategy, briefed senior administration officials, supervised prosecutions, and, among numerous other responsibilities, served as Justice Department spokesperson on environmental criminal enforcement.
Prior to joining the Justice Department in 1990, Uhlmann clerked for the Honorable Marvin H. Shoob, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, and served as a teaching assistant at Yale Law School. He received his J.D. from Yale in 1988, where he was Articles Editor of Yale Law and Policy Review and Moot Court Director, and his B.A. from Swarthmore, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa.
According to Dean Caminker, Michigan Law’s establishment of the Environmental Law and Policy Program recognizes the “indisputable importance of environmental issues as viewed from the legal perspective, the need to ensure practitioner familiarity with the field, and the opportunities for collaboration with other University of Michigan units, programs, and schools dedicated to addressing environmental issues and sustainability on a global basis.”
As ELPP Director, Professor Uhlmann’s responsibilities will include development of an annual conference in the field of environmental law or policy; identifying guest speakers of note; mentoring law students interested in the discipline and bringing disciplinary specialists to campus to stimulate career interest; coordinating with relevant academic and professional units on campus for programmatic, curricular, and research purposes; and ensuring the program’s quality and visibility.
“David brings a wealth of expertise and experience in this critically important arena,” continued Caminker, “and we eagerly look forward to both his arrival and the launching of our Environmental Law and Policy Program.”
President's Delegation from Shanghai's East China University of Politics and Law Visits
June 4, 2007
Contact: John Masson, (734) 647-7352, jpmasson@umich.edu
In late June, the Law School receives a delegation from Shanghai's East China University of Politics and Law led by President He Qinhua, one of the world's most renowned legal historians and an expert in Japanese law. While at the Law School, the delegation will meet with faculty from the Michigan Law School, tour the Law Library, and observe large-format Contracts and Torts classes taught by Professors Ben-Shahar and Clark. East China University of Politics and Law is the premier law and politics university in Shanghai and East China, and a major teaching and research institutions supported by the Shanghai Municipal Government. Its scholars graduate into key roles in the Chinese judiciary, private practice in China, government agencies (including the Shanghai Stock Exchange), and developing NGOs. The Law School is pleased to have President He and his colleagues at Michigan Law School, and be able to reciprocate the extraordinary hospitality offered a Michigan Law School delegation led by Dean Caminker which visited East China University of Politics and Law in June of 2006.