Cuéllar Appointed to Obama Administration

President Barack Obama selected Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar (MA ’96, PhD ’00), professor of law and Deane F. Johnson Faculty Scholar, to serve as a special assistant to the president for justice and regulatory policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council. Cuéllar’s work will involve criminal and civil justice, safety regulation, and related issues. Initially appointed in November to co-head the transition team’s immigration policy group, Cuéllar was also active in the Obama campaign, chairing its policy advisory committee on immigration, borders, and refugees and advising on criminal justice.

Thompson Appointed Special Master; Receives Lyman Award

In October 2008 the U.S.
Supreme Court appointed Barton H. “Buzz” Thompson Jr., JD/MBA ’76 (BA ’72), Robert E. Paradise Professor of Natural Resources Law and Perry L. McCarty Director, Woods Institute for the Environment, as “special master” in the case Montana v. Wyoming. The case involves a water dispute between the two states over the Yellowstone River Compact of 1950. Because the Court has original jurisdiction over conflicts between states, a special master is appointed to conduct fact-finding, usually handled by lower court judges. Thompson’s expertise in property, water, and natural resources law and his experience as a Supreme Court law clerk led to the appointment. Thompson will report and make recommendations directly to
the justices.

In January, Stanford’s Alumni Association honored Thompson with the 2008 Richard W. Lyman Award. The award recognizes Thompson’s exceptional volunteer service to Stanford alumni and the university over the past 30 years. Presented annually to a faculty member, the prize provides funding to purchase books and materials for the university’s libraries in areas of the recipient’s choosing.

Martinez Granted

Tenure

Stanford Law School granted tenure and full professorship to Jenny S. Martinez, currently the Justin M. Roach, Jr. Faculty Scholar. An emerging voice in international law, Martinez’s scholarship focuses on tribunals operating in a globalized environment, but without the supervening sovereign authority to which they are all bound. Before joining the Stanford Law faculty in 2003, she was a senior research fellow at Yale University and an attorney at Jenner & Block. She clerked for Justice Stephen G. Breyer (BA ’59) of the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Guido Calabresi of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and she was an associate legal officer for Judge Patricia Wald of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

“Jenny was a spectacular teacher from the get-go, and she has just as quickly emerged as a major scholar in international law,” says Larry Kramer, Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and Dean. “She is part of an amazing cohort of young scholars developing at Stanford Law School.”

Kessler Awarded
J. Russell Major Prize

The American Historical Association awarded Amalia D. Kessler (MA ’96, PhD ’01), professor of law and Helen L. Crocker Faculty Scholar and professor (by courtesy) with the Stanford University Department of History, the J. Russell Major Prize for 2008. Kessler received the honor, awarded annually for “the best work in English on any aspect of French history,” for her book A Revolution in Commerce: The Parisian Merchant Court and the Rise of Commercial Society in Eighteenth-Century France. AHA presented the award during its annual meeting in January.

Goldstein and Lemley Included in
Best Lawyers 2009

Paul Goldstein, Stella W. and Ira S. Lillick Professor of Law, and Mark A. Lemley (BA ’88), William H. Neukom Professor of Law, have both been included in the most recent Best Lawyers list. Best Lawyers’ lists are compiled from numerous peer-review surveys. Goldstein and Lemley were selected by their fellow practitioners in intellectual property law.

Lemley and Falzone on Daily Journal Top 100

Mark A. Lemley (BA ’88), William H. Neukom Professor of Law, and Lecturer in Law Anthony Falzone have been named to the Daily Journal’s list of “Top 100 California Lawyers.” The publication recognized Lemley for his “provocative research” on intellectual property law. Lemley is a partner and founder of the firm Durie Tangri LLP.

Falzone, who is executive director of the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, was honored for his work on several “hot-button copyright disputes,” including the Harry Potter Lexicon case.

Fisher Honored with CLAY and Heeney Awards

California Lawyer magazine named Jeffrey L. Fisher a recipient of its California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award. Fisher was recognized for his achievements as co-director of the Stanford Law School Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, through which he argued an astounding five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008. His argument in Kennedy v. Louisiana led to the elimination of the death penalty for child rape in six states and the nullification of laws in a handful of other states that allowed capital punishment for non-homicidal crimes. The CLAY awards recognize attorneys whose work had a significant impact in the previous year, or attorneys whose work is expected to have such an effect in the coming years.

Fisher was also recognized last August by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) with the prestigious Robert C. Heeney Memorial Award. The award, which is named for the NACDL’s 18th president Robert C. Heeney, is given annually to an attorney who best exemplifies the goals and values of the association. Fisher, associate professor of law (teaching), joined the Stanford Law faculty in 2006 as co-director of the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic. A leading Supreme Court litigator and nationally recognized expert on criminal procedure, Fisher has argued several and worked on dozens of cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. For more information about Fisher, go to the spring 2008 Stanford Lawyer article on the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic at www.law.stanford.edu/publications.

Ford’s The Race Card Selected for New York Times Book Review
“Notable Books” List

George E. Osborne Professor of Law Richard Thompson Ford’s (BA ’88) critically acclaimed book The Race Card: How Bluffing About Bias Makes Race Relations Worse appeared on The New York Times Book Review “100 Notable Books of 2008” list, released in November. The Book Review describes Ford’s text as a “vivisection of every sacred cow in ‘post-racist’ America” and commends Ford’s “exquisitely subversive mind.” The Race Card was published in January 2008.

Grundfest Named to List of Top Corporate Governance Influencers

Joseph A. Grundfest ’78, W. A. Franke Professor of Law and Business and co-director of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance, appears on Directorship magazine’s list of the top 100 most influential players in corporate governance for the second consecutive year. The list honors “directors, professors, regulators, politicians, advisors, and others who have made a lasting impact.”

Lessig Recipient
of the 2008 Monaco Media Prize

Lawrence Lessig, C. Wendell and Edith M. Carlsmith Professor of Law, received the second annual Monaco Media Prize during a special ceremony at the Monaco Media Forum in Monte Carlo last November. His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco presented Lessig with the award to “acknowledge innovative use of media for the betterment of humanity.” HSH Prince Albert II praised Lessig as “a pioneer in the true sense of the term—a peacemaker who has bravely walked into one of the most hotly contested battles of the Internet age: copyright.”