Harvard Law School hosted a conference Friday and Saturday on the impact of corporate interests on legal education and the legal system, featuring legal scholars, lawyers and legal journalists.
Systemic Justice Project – by H.L.S. An initiative led by Professor John D. Hanson educates law students about issues of justice in the legal system—and the project’s publications, “ [F]Organized a two-day conference entitled “Corporatization of the Legal System”.
Former US presidential candidate, political activist and lawyer Ralph Nader opened the event with a polite discussion criticizing the US government for protecting large corporations.
“We have a corporate crime wave in this country,” Nader said.
He urged the students to see that these corporations “don’t give small businesses protections” such as “bailouts, subsidies, grants, exemptions, and are too big to refuse.”
Nader, who recently wrote an open letter to HLS students urging them to be wary of corporate law, said the law school’s mission is to “educate leaders who will contribute to justice and the betterment of society.” “The Grandfather of Corporate Lawyers in the Country.”
US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (DR.I) spoke at the conference on the role of corporate money in politics and the legal system.
“There’s nobody who doesn’t want corporate dark money out of politics that isn’t backed by corporate dark money,” he said.
In another panel at the conference, Hanson and MIT Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky discussed how corporations influence public opinion through their public relations spending.
According to Hanson, corporations produce a “history of coercion,” in which corporations are forced to submit to regulations, shareholder consent, and consumer consent, rendering them powerless. But Hansen says such a “story” is the “ultimate attribution error.”
“It’s a way of telling stories that come from group members, who are hurt, responsible and accountable for their injuries, and who leave group members, powerful, largely free of any responsibility or accountability,” he said.
Hanson closed his speech by calling for a concerted push against corporate power.
“This is a gathering time,” he said.
-Staff Writer Joe B. Lemann can be reached at [email protected].
-Staff Writer Neil H. Shah can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter. @neilhshah15.