News - September 2007
Michigan Law to mark Constitution Day with Sen. Debbie Stabenow
Her role under Constitution on tap for Sept. 17 talk
September 14, 2007
Contact: John Masson, (734) 647-7352, jpmasson@umich.edu
U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow is scheduled to speak at Michigan Law as part of Constitution Day events planned for Monday, Sept. 17.
Michigan’s junior senator, a Democrat, plans to spend about an hour with Law School students, members of the public, other U-M students, and members of the media to share her thoughts about the importance of the U.S. Constitution and how that document affects her role in the Senate. A question-and-answer session will follow the talk.
Constitution Day marks the date in 1787 when the Constitution was signed. The revolutionary document clearly established the separation of federal powers into legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, and also made clear that other powers were reserved for the states or for the people. Interpretation of the document has made for lively debate in legal circles over the intervening 220 years, but hasn’t changed its significance to American democracy.
“It is fitting to have such an eminent U.S. Senator speak about the role and significance of the Constitution in shaping the lawmaking activities of the Congress,” said Michigan Law Dean Evan Caminker. “American citizens all too often think of judges on our courts as being the only officials concerned with interpreting and implementing the Constitution. But legislators are equally duty-bound to uphold the Constitution, and a respect for constitutional values and norms necessarily shapes lawmaking on a daily basis. We welcome Senator Stabenow, and we look forward to hearing an insider's view as to how the Congress does (and sometimes doesn't) follow constitutional dictates.”
MEDIA INFORMATION
WHO: Senator Debbie Stabenow
WHAT: Constitution Day talk, and Q&A session with Michigan Law students.
WHEN: 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 a.m.
WHERE:
Hutchins Hall, Room 150
University of Michigan Law School
625 S. State Street
Ann Arbor MI 48109
Michigan Law's Jim Hathaway named Dean at Australian law school
September 13, 2007
Contact: John Masson, (734) 647-7352, jpmasson@umich.edu
World-renowned refugee and asylum law expert James C. Hathaway will be taking leave from Michigan Law starting this winter to become Dean of the University of Melbourne Law School.
Hathaway, the James E. and Sarah A. Degan Professor at Michigan Law, will also be appointed to the Hearn Chair in Law at Melbourne. He’ll be the 14th Dean of the Melbourne Law School, Australia’s most prestigious, and he assumes that role at a crucial time as the school moves to the graduate model of legal education.
“The move to teach law at the graduate level will position Melbourne students to compete with the best and brightest law graduates from around the world,” Hathaway said. “Equally important, it will dramatically enhance the teaching and learning experience at the Law School. With more mature and experienced students in the classroom, we will not just teach law; we will challenge our students to innovate, to devise solutions to tough social and economic problems, and to be leaders in legal practice and public service.”
Michigan Law Dean Evan Caminker said the best wishes of Hathaway’s Michigan Law colleagues go with him as he embarks on his leave.
“Jim’s contributions to the educational mission of the Law School will be missed during his Melbourne deanship, but this new opportunity is one where his legal knowledge and creative energy can be brought to bear in making a major contribution to a great law school,” Caminker said. “It will also allow him to further expand his work in, and influence on, international refugee law. I am very proud of him and wish him well as he assumes the deanship.”
Hathaway’s work in international refugee law is regularly cited by the most senior courts of the common law world.
In addition to being the author of -- among many other works – The Law of Refugee Status (1991) and The Rights of Refugees Under International Law (2005), Hathaway also is the founding director of the University of Michigan's Program in Refugee and Asylum Law. He is Senior Visiting Research Associate at Oxford University's Refugee Studies Programme, and President of the Cuenca Colloquium on International Refugee Law.
Hathaway was previously Professor of Law and Associate Dean of the Osgoode Hall Law School (Toronto), and has been appointed a visiting professor at the Universities of Cairo, California, Macerata, Melbourne, and Tokyo. He regularly provides training on refugee law to non-governmental organizations, academics, and official audiences around the world.
“There is no finer example than Michigan of a law school combining a commitment to real excellence with a determination to serve the public interest,” Hathaway said. “Melbourne, like Michigan, is a dynamic public law school determined to influence the theory and practice of law, and to do so without compromising its social goals. I feel very privileged to have spent a decade on the Michigan Law faculty, and know that the lessons learned here will serve me well as I strive to lead a reform of the Australian system of legal education."
U-M Law School receives $5 million from alumnus Christopher Jeffries for building renovation, expansion
September 12, 2007
Contact: John Masson, (734) 647-7352, jpmasson@umich.edu
Christopher Jeffries, founder of Millennium Partners, a New York-based real estate development firm, has provided a $5 million gift for the Law School’s building and expansion project.
Jeffries, of New York City, is a 1974 alumnus of the Law School.
“Michigan Law is a world-class legal educator, and a school of its stature requires a first-rate environment for learning, teaching, research, and clinical practice,” says Jeffries. “The Law School has been instrumental in my career path. I’m delighted to be able to express my gratitude by supporting the building project.”
The project is a major goal of the Law School’s $135 million “Building On” campaign, part of The Michigan Difference, the University’s $2.5 billion campaign.
“We are deeply appreciative that Chris Jeffries understands the importance of the Law School’s building and expansion project,” says President Mary Sue Coleman. “His generosity will help the School meet its critical need for new space, thereby adding to its well deserved reputation as one of the world’s great learning communities for legal education.”
Dean Evan Caminker says Jeffries’ gift has accelerated the Law School’s building campaign at a critical juncture for the School’s needs.
“Consistent with its status as one of the top law schools in the world, Michigan Law has continued to enroll outstanding students, hire outstanding faculty, and reshape its curriculum so as to maintain its ability to train great leaders of the bar, bench, and business for the next generation,” says Caminker. “But we need to upgrade and expand our facilities in order to continue providing a top-notch legal education into the 21st century. Chris Jeffries’ magnificent gift is the most recent indication that our alumni recognize the critical importance of high-quality and updated space to the educational enterprise. Now, with Chris’s partnership, new excitement for the building campaign is palpable.”
Jeffries founded Millennium Partners in 1990 to pioneer a new concept in mixed-use urban living and entertainment centers. The firm’s prototype venture was Lincoln Square, which adjoins Lincoln Center in New York City.
In 1995 Millennium began work on a new generation of properties that include luxury condominiums, five-star hotels, sports club facilities, and retail, which were built in five gateway U.S. cities.
Jeffries was previously a partner in New York-based General Atlantic Realty Corporation, which he co-founded in 1984. Prior to that he was a principal in the leveraged buyout of Key International. He began his career at the law firm of Keywell & Rosenfeld in Southfield, Mich.
Former EPA Head Carol Browner to Speak at Michigan Law on September 11th
September 6, 2007
Contact: John Masson, (734) 647-7352, jpmasson@umich.edu
Carol M. Browner, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 1993 – 2001, and Cabinet member during the Clinton administration, has been named the inaugural speaker for the Law School’s Environmental Law and Policy Program (ELPP).
Ms. Browner’s address – open to the public and free of charge – will be presented at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11th in Honigman Auditorium, Room 100 at the Law School, 625 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, Mich. She expects to address the environmental issues confronting the nation and the world, and the resulting challenges that will face the next Administration in 2009.
A reception will follow the address at 5:30 pm.
Michigan Law Dean Evan Caminker will offer welcoming remarks and faculty member and ELPP Director David M. Uhlmann will introduce the speaker. Prior to joining the faculty, Mr. Uhlmann served for seven years as Chief of the Environmental Crimes Section at the United States Department of Justice.
Ms. Browner was the longest-serving EPA Administrator in the history of the $7 billion federal agency. In that role, she managed 18,000 employees while developing partnerships with business leaders, community advocates, and all levels of government. She is widely known for championing commonsense, cost-effective solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental and public health challenges.
Prior to assuming her EPA role, Ms. Browner was Secretary of the State of Florida’s Department of Environmental Regulation and Legislative Director for Senator Al Gore. She is currently Principal of The Albright Group, LLC, a global strategy firm, and of Capital Management LLC, an investment advisory firm; chair of the non-profit National Audubon Society; and board member of the Center for American Progress, the Alliance for Climate Protection, and the League of Conservation Voters.
Establishment of the Law School’s Environmental Law and Policy Program, according to Dean Caminker, recognizes the “indisputable importance of environmental issues, 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 Director of the Environmental Law and Policy Program, Professor Uhlmann will be teaching environmental law courses, planning annual environmental law conferences, organizing an environmental law speaker series, mentoring law students interested in the discipline, and developing interdisciplinary programs with other parts of the University.
“I am excited about the opportunity to direct a top-flight environmental law program at Michigan Law under the leadership of Dean Caminker,” said Professor Uhlmann. “We are grateful that Carol Browner has agreed to serve as our inaugural speaker and to share her perspectives on the environmental challenges facing our nation and our world.”