On June 25, 2009, Harold H. Koh, Dean of the Yale Law School, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate for the position of Legal Adviser to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton by a vote of 62-35. The Legal Advisor is the nation’s top international lawyer, advising the Secretary of State on international security law, international labor law, human rights law, and the legal aspects of international engagements.
As the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law and former director of Yale Law School's Center for International Human Rights, Koh is a prominent advocate of human rights and authority on international law. President Obama had nominated Mr. Koh for the position nearly four months earlier but his nomination had lingered in the Senate because of Koh’s reputation as an outspoken critic of the Bush administration's foreign and legal policies.
On Tuesday, ranking Senate Foreign Relations Committee Republican Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) indicated his support for Koh in a statement on his website. "After reading his answers to dozens of questions, attending his hearing in its entirety, meeting with him privately, and reviewing his writings, I believe that Dean Koh is unquestionably qualified to assume the post for which he is nominated," Lugar said.
Mr. Koh got his law degree from Harvard and was a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun. He started teaching at Yale in 1985 and was appointed dean of Yale Law School in 2004. He served as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor under President Bill Clinton from 1998 until 2001.
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