Richard J. Lazarus is an American legal scholar who is the Charles Stebbins Fairchild Professor of Law at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

Early life and education

Lazarus graduated from University High School in

Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...

. He holds a B.S. in chemistry and a B.A. in economics from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

(1976) and a J.D. from

(1979). Prior to his arrival at Georgetown in 1996, Lazarus taught at the

Law School A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

at Washington University in St. Louis (1989–1996) and the Indiana University Maurer School of Law (1983–1985) and worked in the Solicitor General's Office (1986–1989) and the Land and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice (1979–1983).

Career

Lazarus was the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Professor of Law at the

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

, where he focused his teaching and scholarship on

environmental law Environmental laws are laws that protect the environment. The term "environmental law" encompasses treaties, statutes, regulations, conventions, and policies designed to protect the natural environment and manage the impact of human activitie ...

, natural resources law,

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

, Supreme Court Advocacy, torts, property, and administrative law. He was Faculty Director of the Supreme Court Institute, which provides moot court sessions for counsel in more than 90 percent of Supreme Court cases. He was also the Stanley Legro Professor of Environmental Law at the University of San Diego, School of Law. He was appointed Executive Director of the

National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling The National Commission on the BP ''Deepwater Horizon'' Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling is a bipartisan presidential commission, established by Executive Order 13543 signed by Barack Obama on May 21, 2010, that is "tasked with providing recommend ...

in June 2010. Since 2011, he has been the Charles Stebbins Fairchild Professor of Law at

. In November 2020, Lazarus was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

Selected works

* * * Lazarus, Richard (2021). ''The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court''. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0674260436. *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lazarus, Richard J. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Georgetown University Law Center faculty University of Illinois alumni Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty Indiana University Bloomington faculty