School Notes: Yale Law School
May/June 2019

Professor receives human rights award

Binger Clinical Professor of Human Rights and director of the Orville H. Schell Jr. Center for International Human Rights James J. Silk ’89JD was awarded the M. Shanara Gilbert Human Rights Award by the Society of American Law Teachers on January 4, in New Orleans. Silk directs the Allard K. Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic at the Law School, which gives students firsthand experience in human rights advocacy, and he coordinates the Robina Human Rights Initiative, which provides support for human rights–related research, clinical education, teaching, and programming; visiting human rights faculty; and the promotion of careers in human rights.

Family law professor retires

Jean Koh Peters, the Sol Goldman Clinical Professor of Law at Yale Law School, is retiring this month after 30 years at Yale Law School. Peters is an expert in children, families, and the law, as well as asylum law. She served as a staff attorney in the juvenile rights division of the Legal Aid Society in New York City after clerking for the late William P. Gray of the US District Court in Los Angeles. From 1992 to 2017, she supervised students representing children, most recently in the Sol and Lillian Goldman Family Advocacy for Children and Youth Clinic. From 1992 to 2018, she supervised students representing asylum seekers in the Immigration Legal Services Clinic. A one-day conference honoring her work and scholarship was held on November 2, 2018.

Corporate Law Center turns 20

As the Center for the Study of Corporate Law marks its 20th anniversary, it continues to bridge the gap between law school faculty, students, and alumni practitioners. Its programs bring prominent judges, regulators, and practitioners to the Law School, enabling faculty and students to stay current in one of the fastest moving areas of law. The center was instrumental in establishing, with the Yale School of Management, one of the first three-year JD/MBA programs available, and the first streamlined joint JD/PhD in finance for students pursuing a career in business law teaching.