Event on Our Bicentennial Crisis

I just had an open forum on my Our Bicentennial Crisis book with four Harvard Law professors: Randall Kennedy, Todd Rakoff, Carol Steiker and Duncan Kennedy. Here is a video of the event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MfGtWsbMBY

The Harvard Crimson covered the event:

The event, titled “Harvard Law and the Public Interest,” revolved largely around a report titled "Our Bicentennial Crisis" by Law student Pete D. Davis ’12. Panelists Randall L. Kennedy, Carol S. Steiker ’82, Duncan Kennedy ’64, and Todd D. Rakoff ’67—all Law School professors—agreed that public interest law is essential for fighting inequality and that the Law School has the power to promote that interest.

“We’re talking about the everyday things of making sure that people get proper treatment for their special needs trial or getting the consumer complaint that they have settled in a fair way. I think those things are very important,” Rakoff said to Davis. “I completely agree with you that the underserving of that kind of everyday legal problem in our society has very corrosive social and political effects.”

Steiker admitted that since the Law School relies largely on alumni donations, it might need to change its financial model in order to encourage students to pursue public interest law, which typically pays less than private law firms.

In response, Davis offered several proposals for how Law School administrators can improve the prevailing culture at the Law School. He also said he supported increasing economic diversity at the school.