The Korematsu Lecture series was started in 2000 by a group of NYU law students who wished to create a lecture series in honor of Japanese internment challenger Fred Korematsu. The lecture provides a forum to address Asian American perspectives on the law and to honor Asian Americans who have substantially contributed to the development of the law while challenging the status quo.
This year’s special guest will be Neal Katyal, Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of Law at Georgetown University and a partner at Hogan Lovells LLP. From 2010-11, Neal served as Acting Solicitor General of the United States, where he argued several major Supreme Court cases involving a variety of issues, such as his successful defense of the constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, his victorious defense of former Attorney General John Ashcroft for alleged abuses in the war on terror, and his unanimous victory against 8 states who sued the nation’s leading power plants for contributing to global warning. He served as Counsel of Record hundreds of times, and orally argued 15 U.S. Supreme Court cases, as well as numerous others in lower courts. He was also the only head of the Solicitor General’s office to argue a case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Professor Katyal was named a Trailblazer in 2007 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association for his outstanding achievements, commitments, and leadership, which have paved the way for the advancement of other Asian Pacific American attorneys. He was awarded the very highest award given to a civilian by the U.S. Department of Justice, the Edmund Randolph Award. He has also been named as One of the 40 Most Influential Lawyers of the Last Decade Nationwide by National Law Journal (2010), One of the 90 Greatest Washington Lawyers Over the Last 30 Years by Legal Times (2008), and Lawyer of the Year by Lawyers USA (2006).
This year’s Korematsu Lecture will be held on March 9, 2012 at 3:30 p.m., Vanderbilt Hall, Greenberg Lounge. For more information and to RSVP, click here.
