Press Releases / Media Contacts

Rico Oyola, Project Coordinator
Equal Justice Society
(415) 288-8707
royola@equaljusticesociety.org

Keith Kamisugi, Communications
Equal Justice Society
(877) 835-5679
kkamisugi@equaljusticesociety.org

Dana Gold, Director
Center on Corporations, Law & Society
(206) 398-4252
goldd@seattleu.edu

Author, Journalist William Greider to Keynote
National Conference Examining Corporate Law
and Progressive Social Movements

SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2005) - The Equal Justice Society and the Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law announced that William Greider, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and author of The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to A Moral Economy, will be the keynote speaker at "New Strategies for Justice: Linking Corporate Law with Progressive Social Movements," a national conference taking place April 7-9 at the UCLA School of Law.

This conference will explore the evolution of corporate influence in the United States, as well as new intellectual, political, private sector and grassroots trends that are emerging to address how corporations can support public interest values of justice and equality. Through understanding the mechanisms driving corporate interests today, progressives can supplement issue-specific remedies with new strategies that can address root causes of injustice.

Greider is the bestselling author of five previous books on apparently inscrutable institutions that govern our lives, including One World, Ready or Not (on the global economy), Who Will Tell the People? (on the decline of democracy in America), and Secrets of the Temple (the first inside report on the Federal Reserve). A reporter for forty years, he was a national correspondent, an assistant managing editor, and a columnist for The Washington Post, as well as a columnist for Rolling Stone. He has also been an on-air correspondent for six documentaries for Frontline on PBS. Currently the national affairs correspondent for The Nation, he lives in Washington, D.C.

In The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to A Moral Economy, Greider examines how the greatest wealth-creation engine in the history of the world is failing most of us, why it must be changed, and how intrepid pioneers are beginning to transform it. Public outrage over crooked corporate officers, the looting of pension funds, the defrauding of stockholders, and the wholesale firing of hard-working employees has reached a new high.

Yet Greider argues that our anger actually has much deeper roots, as he analyzes how our relentless pursuit of unprecedented affluence has eroded family life, eaten away at our sense of personal and professional security, corroded our communities, impoverished our spiritual lives, and devastated our natural environment. The solution, Greider contends, will not come from the politics of the past, or from more government regulation, but from a fundamental realignment of power that is already underway on many fronts.

Registration for the conference is now open online: http://conf2005.equaljusticesociety.net. The website also provides information on how to register by phone or by fax. Registration fees are $75 for public interest and nonprofit sector and $175 for private sector.

A limited number of slots are available to students for free, with an option to purchase meals for the entire conference at $25. The tentative conference program is available on the website.

The Equal Justice Society certifies that this activity has been approved for 11.75 MCLE credits by the State Bar of California. This program has also been approved by the Washington State Bar Association for 11.5 general CLE credits.

For more information on the conference, contact Equal Justice Society project coordinator Rico Oyola at (415) 288-8700 or at royola@equaljusticesociety.org.

About the Equal Justice Society
The Equal Justice Society is a national organization of scholars, advocates and concerned individuals advancing innovative legal strategies and public policy for enduring social change. We generate critical analysis on issues of race and social justice through research, public education and bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to reshape jurisprudence to ensure that the rights of all are expanded, rather than diminished, by our courts and policy makers.

About the Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law
The Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law conducts and promotes interdisciplinary scholarship and dialogue on issues related to the roles and obligations of corporations in an increasingly privatized and interdependent global society. In addition to serving as a platform for enhanced scholarly inquiry, the Center provides a forum for sustained discussion among academics, legal practitioners, business leaders, activists, policy makers and community members on the complex and important relationships between business enterprises and their many stakeholders.

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National Conference First of Its Kind to Examine
Corporate Law and Progressive Social Movements

Conference Sponsored by the Equal Justice Society and
the Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law

SAN FRANCISCO (February 25, 2005; Updated March 2, 2005) - The Equal Justice Society and the Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law today announced that their 2005 national conference, "New Strategies for Justice: Linking Corporate Law with Progressive Social Movements," will take place April 7-9 at the UCLA School of Law.

This conference will explore the evolution of corporate influence in the United States, as well as new intellectual, political, private sector and grassroots trends that are emerging to address how corporations can support public interest values of justice and equality. Through understanding the mechanisms driving corporate interests today, progressives can supplement issue-specific remedies with new strategies that can address root causes of injustice.

The following speakers, representing a wide cross-section of professional sectors and issues, are confirmed for the conference:

• Debi Barker, Executive Director, International Forum on Globalization
• Itzel D. Berrío, Deputy General Counsel, Greenlining Institute
• John Bonifaz, General Counsel, National Voting Rights Institute
• Richard Brooks, Professor of Law, Yale Law School
• James Brosnahan, Senior Counsel, Morrison & Foerster
• Devon Carbado, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
• Lee Cokorinos, Executive Director, Capacity Development Group
• Jamie Court, President, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights
• Charles Cray, Director, Center for Corporate Policy
• Scott Cummings, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
• Dana Gold, Director, Center on Corporations Law and Society, Seattle University School of Law
• Kent Greenfield, Professor of Law, Boston College School of Law
• Cheryl Harris, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
• Thomas Joo, Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law
• Jeff Milchen, Executive Director, ReclaimDemocracy.org
• Shaffy Moeel, Student, UCLA School of Law
• Eva Paterson, President, Equal Justice Society
• Katherine Stone, Professor of Law, UCLA, School of Law
• Julie Su, Attorney, Asian Pacific American Legal Center
• Kellye Testy, Dean, Seattle University School of Law; Faculty Director, Center for Corporations, Law and Society
• Eric Yamamoto, Professor of Law, University of Hawai'i Law School
• Kimberly West-Faulcon, Western Regional Director and Counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
• Adam Winkler, Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law
  

"The corporation has become the dominant institution of our time and the evolution of corporate law principles has played a significant role in the expansion of corporate power," said Eva Paterson, president of the Equal Justice Society. "In many cases that expansion endangers the environment, threatens human health and safety, increases wealth disparities both nationally and globally, and diminishes political and workplace democracy."

"In response to these social and economic justice concerns, progressives have focused their efforts on addressing specific problems, such as racial equality, environmental protection, human rights, living wages, health care, safe workplaces, and peace and security," said Dana Gold director of the Center on Corporations Law and Society at Seattle University School of Law. "These concerns have often splintered progressives as they attempt to stem erosion of fundamental principles of justice without fully appreciating a common factor-the corporation and its legal framework-that runs through all of these issues."

Registration for the conference is now open online: http://conf2005.equaljusticesociety.net. The website also provides information on how to register by phone or by fax. Registration fees are $75 for public interest and nonprofit sector and $175 for private sector. A limited number of slots are available to students for free, with an option to purchase meals for the entire conference at $25. The tentative conference program is available on the website.

The Equal Justice Society certifies that this activity has been approved for 11.75 MCLE credits by the State Bar of California. This program has also been approved by the Washington State Bar Association for 11.5 general CLE credits.

For more information on the conference, contact Equal Justice Society project associate Rico Oyola at (415) 288-8700 or at royola@equaljusticesociety.org.

About the Equal Justice Society
The Equal Justice Society is a national organization of scholars, advocates and concerned individuals advancing innovative legal strategies and public policy for enduring social change. We generate critical analysis on issues of race and social justice through research, public education and bringing together individuals from diverse backgrounds and disciplines. Our goal is to reshape jurisprudence to ensure that the rights of all are expanded, rather than diminished, by our courts and policy makers.

About the Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law
The Center on Corporations, Law & Society at Seattle University School of Law conducts and promotes interdisciplinary scholarship and dialogue on issues related to the roles and obligations of corporations in an increasingly privatized and interdependent global society. In addition to serving as a platform for enhanced scholarly inquiry, the Center provides a forum for sustained discussion among academics, legal practitioners, business leaders, activists, policy makers and community members on the complex and important relationships between business enterprises and their many stakeholders.

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