Story Archive

Over the past year, alumni have published nonfiction books covering legal topics from climate change to voting rights to the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Put down the casebook! This year, alumni published a shelf’s worth of new fiction.  

As prosecutors or defense attorneys in civil and criminal cases, or as independent counsel examining internal workplace matters, alumni are specializing in one of the legal field’s hottest and most fascinating practice areas: investigations.

The Harriet S. Shapiro ’55 Memorial Scholarship Fund honors the first female attorney in the U.S. solicitor general’s office.

Ellen V. Futter ’74 and Brad Smith ’84 are honored by Dean Gillian Lester as “empathic, smart, sensitive leaders” working to advance the public good.

Columbia Law School alumni who graduated 50 or more years ago gathered in person once again on October 6.

As vice chair and president of Microsoft, Smith navigates the often choppy waters “where technology and society meet.” He will receive the 2022 Columbia Law Medal for Excellence on October 28.

As the longtime president of the American Museum of Natural History and former president of Barnard College, Futter, one of this year’s Medal for Excellence recipients, has devoted her career to expanding and burnishing the reputations of two of New York City’s most prominent institutions.

As the first chief diversity officer for the nearly 140-year-old Metropolitan Opera, Sells will use her experience at institutions from the NBA to Harvard to foster inclusion.

A child of the Jim Crow South who became a civil rights activist, state senator, and the first Black federal judge in Alabama, Clemon is retired from the bench but continues to advocate tirelessly for justice and speak out fearlessly on public affairs.