Why Chinese moms want American babies

Leti Volpp interviewed by CNN, February 9, 2015

“If things become economically or politically uncertain in one’s country of origin, the children have a place to come to,” said Leti Volpp, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley. The children can “then sponsor their parents when they turn 21.”

Securities lawyers flocking to Delaware

Steven Davidoff Solomon quoted in The Recorder (registration required), February 6, 2015

“It appears that some of the better cases may be migrating to Delaware because they think that the judges may reward them better,” he said.

Berkeley Law’s Human Rights Center honored with $1M award

Alexa Koenig quoted in Daily Journal (registration required), February 6, 2015

“We were absolutely bowled over,” Executive Director Alexa Koenig said of the award. “We’re not an organization that is often in the news. We tend to fly really beneath the radar, so to have such a public honor has been sort of overwhelming.”

Berkeley Human Rights Center awarded $1 million for investigating war crimes

Eric Stover interviewed on KQED, Forum, February 6, 2015

We’re taking 100,000 to really recognize the exceptional work that the Sexual Violence Program has done. And we want to keep that a permanent feature of the Center. We have just around a 2-million-dollar budget. We raise 95 percent of that. And so, an award like this is really kind of a stamp of approval.

Board strife compounds failed deal for GFI

Steven Davidoff Solomon writes for The New York Times, February 5, 2015

If the allegations in the filing are true, the failure in the news releases to mention the independent directors’ opposition or the fact that two-fifths of the board was unaware of this recommendation does not exactly meet best practices in disclosure.

Finding the funds for infrastructure improvement

Alan Auerbach interviewed by WBUR, On Point, February 5, 2015

“We’ve seen evidence of collapsing bridges and crumbling highways around the country. There’s no doubt that, as we’ve spent money on a lot of other things in the U.S., infrastructure spending has really lagged behind.”

FCC’s net neutrality plan a win for startups, consumers

James Tuthill quoted in San Francisco Chronicle, February 4, 2015

The FCC’s pending move to treat the Internet as a utility is “a huge win for consumers,” said James Tuthill. … But Tuthill and other analysts say Wheeler’s battle will not be on Capitol Hill but in the courts, as major telecoms are preparing to fight reclassification. Tuthill said it could be “minimum two years in the courts and it could be as many as five.”

Will the Supreme Court’s lethal injection review kill the death penalty?

Megan McCracken quoted in ProPublica, February 4, 2015

“In 2008, all of the states were using a very similar protocol—all the states were using the same three drugs,” McCracken said. “Because some pharmaceutical companies have made their drugs unavailable for executions, the states have been changing their methods.” McCracken considers the botched executions a “consequence of using untested, untried combinations.”

UC Berkeley program on human rights, war crimes wins $1-million grant

Alexa Koenig and Eric Stover quoted in Los Angeles Times, February 4, 2015

The MacArthur grant will establish an endowment for the center and help fund its work on researching and preventing sexual violence, Koenig said. The new endowment will “provide a sense of stability and that makes this really important,” she said.

Eric Stover … said the center is working to ally Silicon Valley companies with international prosecutors on the use of digital videos, emails and other technologies that bolster evidence in trials of those accused of atrocities. Stover said that he was grateful for the MacArthur gift and that he hoped it “will attract others to recognize our work.”