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Alumni Weekend 2009

The Regulatory Debate: Whether, What, and How?

October 16-18

More than one thousand YLS alums and their guests returned to the Law School for Alumni Weekend 2009 on October 16-18, to see classmates and other Law School friends. The timely theme for the Weekend, “The Regulatory Debate: Whether, What, and How?,” allowed for lively panel discussions about courts and regulation, the regulatory process, and regulation in health care, the economy, and the environment. Stanford Law Professor Pam Karlan ’84, was Master of Ceremonies on Friday night for a very funny, and very informative, interactive game addressing regulatory issues. 

Saturday morning kicked off with a matching breakfast, where almost 150 students and alumni were paired after completing surveys about their career and non-career interests. The All Alumni Luncheon on Saturday began with a tribute to Professor Thomas I. Emerson ’31. Then former Dean Harold Hongju Koh, now Legal Adviser to the U.S. State Department, received the Yale Law School Association's Award of Merit. Lunch was followed by a very special "conversation" between Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ’79 and Yale Law School Professor Kate Stith in a packed Woolsey Hall. 

Throughout the weekend individual classes had special activities such as memorials to remember class members, a panel discussion featuring alums who are judges, and a 50th reunion champagne reception. On Saturday night and Sunday morning, reunion classes were spread out around town for their festive class reunion dinners and brunches. The rain wonderfully held off until Sunday, allowing everyone to enjoy both the familiar hallways of the law school and the lovely courtyard. 

For those of you who want to remember the Weekend, and for those who were unable to attend and want to get a sense of what occurred, please take a look at the terrific photo gallery and streaming videos (which will be posted soon). 

Photo Gallery

Photos from the weekend (click here).

Schedule of Events

Friday October, 16 

12:30-7:00 pm 
Registration 
Room 122 

2:00-3:00 pm 
“Freedom of the Seas in the 17th Century” Exhibit 
The Paskus-Danziger Rare Book Room, Level L2, Lillian Goldman Law Library 

This new exhibit marks the 400th anniversary of the publication of Hugo Grotius’ classic "Mare Liberum," considered the birth of modern international law. This exhibit is co-curated by Ed Gordon ’63 and Mike Widener, Rare Book Librarian. Mike Widener will be on hand to talk about the exhibit. 

3:30-5:00 pm 
Panel Discussion 
Do Courts Play a Productive Role in the Regulatory Process? 
Levinson Auditorium

Moderator: William Eskridge, Jr. ‘78, John A. Garver Professor of Jurisprudence, Yale Law School 

Panelists: The Honorable Nancy Gertner '71, U. S. District Court, District of Massachusetts; Linda Greenhouse ‘78 M.S.L., Knight Distinguished Journalist-in-Residence and Joseph Goldstein Senior Fellow in Law, Yale Law School; The Honorable Brett M. Kavanaugh ‘90, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit; and Peter L. Strauss ‘64, Betts Professor of Law, Columbia University. 

6:00 pm 
All Alumni Reception and Dinner 
University Commons (enter either on the corner of College and Grove Streets or from Beinecke Plaza) 

8:30-9:45 pm
The Polling Game 
You Be the [Administrative Law] Judge: Make Your Voice Heard in an Interactive Game 
Levinson Auditorium 

Hosted by: Pamela S. Karlan ‘84, Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law, Stanford Law School 

Saturday, October 17 

7:00-8:00 am
Fun Run
Meet in front of the Law School, 127 Wall Street 

Join Ian Ayres ’86, William K. Townsend Professor of Law, Yale Law School, for an early morning 5K run. 

8:00 am-6:30 pm
Registration
Room 122

8:00-9:30 am 
Alumni-Student Breakfast Connections 

Alumni-student matching breakfast. If you have registered for this event, when you arrive, please pick up your name tag in the hallway outside Room 120. Your name tag will list your breakfast room assignment! Please note, this event is now full.

8:00-11:00 am 
Continental Breakfast 
Dining Hall 

Breakfast will be available in the Dining Hall for all alumni who are not participating in the student-match in Room 120. 

9:30-10:45 am 
Panel Discussions 
(two concurrent sessions) 

I. The Regulatory Process: Problems--Potential Solutions 
Room 127 

Moderator: Thomas W. Merrill, Professor of Law, Yale Law School 

Panelists: Reed Hundt ‘74, Senior Adviser, McKinsey & Company; Nikesh Jindal ‘02, Attorney, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Richard L. Revesz ‘83, Dean and Lawrence King Professor of Law, New York University School of Law; and Susan Rose-Ackerman, Henry R. Luce Professor of Jurisprudence, Yale Law School. 

II. Health Regulations in Transition 
Levinson Auditorium 

Moderator: Jerry L. Mashaw, Sterling Professor of Law, Yale Law School 

Panelists: Mark Barnes ‘84, Chief Research Compliance Officer and Senior Advisor to the Provost, Harvard University; Dr. Ellen Wright Clayton ‘79, Rosalind E. Franklin Professor of Genetics and Health Policy, Professor of Pediatrics, Professor of Law, Vanderbilt University; James C. Stansel ‘97, Partner and Co-head, Global Life Sciences Team, Sidley Austin; and Timothy M. Westmoreland ‘96, Visiting Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Investigator in Health Policy Research. 

11:00 am-12:15 pm 
Panel Discussions 
(two concurrent sessions) 

III. Does Clean and Green Require Mean? New Directions in Energy and Environmental Regulation 
Room 127 

Moderator: Douglas Kysar, Professor of Law, Yale Law School

Panelists: E. Donald Elliott ‘74, Professor (adjunct) of Law, Yale Law School, and Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher; Alvin K. Klevorick, John Thomas Smith Professor of Law and Professor of Economics, Yale Law School; Hari M. Osofsky ‘98, Associate Professor, Washington & Lee University School of Law; and Douglas W. Smith ‘86, Member, Van Ness Feldman. 

IV. The Global Financial Crisis and the Future of Financial Regulation 
Levinson Auditorium 

Moderator: Roberta Romano ‘80, Oscar M. Ruebhausen Professor of Law, Yale Law School 

Panelists: Gregory J. Fleming ‘88, Senior Research Scholar and Distinguished Visiting Fellow, Yale Law School; Robert E. Litan ‘76, Vice President for Research and Policy, The Kauffman Foundation and Senior Fellow, Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution; Eugene A. Ludwig ‘73, Founder & CEO, Promontory Financial Group; and Jonathan R. Macey ‘82, Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law, Yale Law School 

12:30 pm 
All Alumni Luncheon 
University Commons 
(Enter either on the corner of College and Grove Streets or from Beinecke Plaza) 

Opening Remarks 
Cynthia Cwik ‘87, President, Yale Law School Association Executive Committee 
Robert C. Post ‘77, Dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law, Yale Law School 

A Tribute to Professor Thomas I. Emerson ’31 LL.B. (1907-1991) 
Remarks by: Robert W. Gordon, Chancellor Kent Professor of Law and Legal History, Yale Law School 
(An exhibit on Professor Emerson is available for viewing all weekend in the Alumni Reading Room.)

Presentation of the Yale Law School Association Award of Merit 
Presented by: Robert C. Post ’77, Dean and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law, Yale Law School, to Harold Hongju Koh, Martin R. Flug ’55 Professor of International Law and former dean, Yale Law School

2:30-3:45 pm
A Conversation between The Honorable Sonia Sotomayor '79, Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court and Professor Kate Stith, Lafayette S. Foster Professor of Law
(Ticket Required)
Woolsey Hall

3:45-5:30 pm 
Extra Class Reunion Activities 
Spend Saturday afternoon with classmates and friends taking part in a variety of activities, or exploring the Law School, Yale University, and New Haven.

4:00-5:00 pm 
“Freedom of the Seas in the 17th Century” Exhibit 
The Paskus-Danziger Rare Book Room, Level L2, Lillian Goldman Law Library 
See Friday’s schedule for a description of the exhibit.

4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. 
Room 121 
Memorial for Kenny Heath '99

4:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. 
Alumni Reading Room 
Memorial for Barbara Burbach '89 & YLS 89 Reunion

4:45-5:30 pm 
Question Time with Dean Post 
Room 127 

6:30 pm Reception; 7:30 pm Dinner 
Class Reunion Receptions and Dinners 

Sunday, October 18 

9:30 am-1:30 pm 
Registration 
Room 122 

10:00 am-1:00 pm 
Class Reunion Brunches