Professor Joel Eisen teaches introductory and advanced environmental law courses, including Environmental Law, Energy Law, Law of Global Warming, and the first-year Property course. He also teaches the Environmental Law and Policy course to undergraduate students in the University of Richmond’s Environmental Studies program. In spring 2009, Professor Eisen was a Fulbright Professor of Law at the China University of Political Science and Law in Beijing, China. He has become an authority on China’s efforts to address climate change, and gave presentations on this issue at universities throughout China during his time there. He led a multinational simulation exercise on climate change featuring students from the University of Richmond and universities in Hong Kong and China, and wrote an article on China’s Renewable Energy Law.

Professor Eisen has published extensively in law periodicals, periodicals for general consumption, and books and treatises. He is a co-author of the leading law and business school text on energy law, Energy, Economics and the Environment, the 2006 edition of which has been adopted in over 40 energy law and policy courses. His scholarly interests include “brownfields” (reuse of abandoned or underutilized sites where contamination is feared), electricity restructuring, global warming regulation, and laws favoring alternative energy sources.  Professor Eisen is a graduate of the Stanford Law School (J.D., 1985), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (B.S. in Civil Engineering, 1981). His primary avocation is constructing crossword puzzles; he has had puzzles published in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal.

Professional Experience

Fulbright Professor of Law (Spring 2009)
China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing, China

Professor of Law (2000-present)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, Va.

Assistant Professor of Law (1994-1997)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, Va.

Associate Professor of Law (1997-2000)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, Va.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law (1993-1994)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, Va.

Director, Robert R. Merhige, Jr., Center of Environmental Law (1993-2005)
University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, Va.

Adjunct Professor (1992)
University of the District of Columbia School of Law, Washington, D.C.

Lecturer (1989)
George Washington Univ. Law School, Washington, D.C.

Counsel (1987-1993)
U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.

Associate Attorney (1985-1987)
McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen, San Francisco, Ca.

Education

Specialization

• Environmental Law

Selected Publications

Books

Energy, Economics and the Environment: Cases and Materials (3d ed. 2010) (co-authored with Fred Bosselman, Jim Rossi, David Spence, and Jacqueline Lang Weaver)
Energy and Environmental Law (2010 in a primer on American law for students in China)
Energy, Economics and the Environment: Cases and Materials (2d ed. 2006) (co-authored with Fred Bosselman, Jim Rossi, David Spence, and Jacqueline Lang Weaver)
Structuring Commercial Real Estate Workouts: Alternatives to Foreclosure (2d ed. 1999)(Author, with W. Wade Berryhill and Michael J. Herbert)

Chapters

“Smart” Brownfields Development, in Agenda For a Sustainable America (Environmental Law Institute, 2008)
A Case Study of Sustainable Development: Brownfields, in Stumbling Toward Sustainability, Ch. 40 (Environmental Law Institute, 2002)
Tenancy in Common, Tenancy in Partnership, and Tenancy in Coparcenary, in Powell on Real Property, Ch. 50 (2000)
Practice, Policy, and Pedagogy in a Mandatory Environmental Law Course, in Environmental Challenges (Shimshon Belkin and Shoshana Gabbay eds. 2000) (with Michael Allan Wolf)
Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Environmental Protection Agency, in Federal Administrative Dispute Resolution Deskbook for Practitioners, Ch. 13 (ABA Section of Admin. Law and Regulatory Practice, Marshall J. Breger et al. eds., 2000
Alternative Dispute Resolution In American Environmental Conflicts: A Framework For Analysis And Application To Environmental Protection In Israel, in VI(A) Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference, at 321 (Israel Society for Ecology & Environmental Quality Sciences, 1996)

Articles

Can Urban Solar Become a “Disruptive” Technology?: The Case For Solar Utilities, Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy (2010)
China’s Renewable Energy Law: The “Green” To China’s “Black,” William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review (2010)
Brownfields and BRAC: A Surprising “Compatibility,” 32 William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review (2008)
Brownfields at 20, A Critical Reevaluation, 34 Fordham Urban Law Journal 721 (2007)
Rapanos, Carabell, and the Isolated Man, 40 University of Richmond Law Review 1099 (2006) (symposium issue)
The Environmental Responsibility of the Regionalizing Electric Utility Industry, 15 Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum 295 (2005) (symposium issue).
Regulatory Linearity, Commerce Clause Brinksmanship, and Retrenchment in Electric Utility Deregulation, 40 Wake Forest Law Review 545 (2005) (invited article in dedicated issue on “Realizing the Promise of Electricity Deregulation”)
The Blackout of 2003: What Is Next?, 39 University of Richmond Law Review 709 (2005)(symposium remarks)
A Critique of the Regulations Revising the U.S. Clean Air Act’s New Source Review Program, inProceedings of the 13th World Clean Air and Environmental Protection Congress, London, England, August 2004
The Trajectory of "Normal" After 9/11: Trauma, Recovery and Post-Traumatic Societal Adaptation, 14 Fordham Environmental Law Journal 499 (2003) (symposium issue)
A Case Study of Sustainable Development: Brownfields, 32 Environmental Law Reporter 10,420 (2002).
Practice, Policy, and Pedagogy in a Mandatory Environmental Law Course, 123 Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 409 (2000).
Brownfields Policies For Sustainable Cities, 9 Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum 187 (1999)
From Stockholm to Kyoto and Back to the U.S.: International Environmental Law's Effect on Domestic Law, 32 University of Richmond Law Review 1435 (1999)
Are We Ready For Mediation in Cyberspace?, 1998 Brigham Young University Law Review 1305
"Brownfields of Dreams?": Challenges and Limits of Voluntary Cleanup Programs and Incentives, 1996 University of Illinois Law Review 883
Toward a Sustainable Urbanism: Lessons from Federal Regulation of Urban Stormwater Runoff, 48 Washington University Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law 1 (1995)
Introduction: Policy in the Wake of the Kepone Incident, 29 University of Richmond Law Review 521 (1995)
Antitrust Reform For Joint Production Ventures, 30 Jurimetrics Journal 253 (1990)
Federal Preemption of Due-On Sale Clause Prohibitions, 15 The Urban Lawyer 858 (1983)
Sino-American Relations: Environmental Protection & Climate Change: A Framework For Discussion, Sino-American Relations Workshop, The Fulbright Program, Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Fudan University, Nanjing, China, May 2009

Selected Professional Activities

Presentations

China’s Renewable Energy Law: The “Green” To China’s “Black,” William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, January 2010 (invited participant in annual symposium)

Copenhagen Climate Change Simulation, November 2009 (multinational negotiation exercise conducted via videoconferencing with universities in Hong Kong and mainland China)
The Challenge of Global Warming and the Copenhagen Negotiations, October 2009, via videoconference to Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong (introductory lecture in multinational climate change negotiation exercise)
Experience As A Fulbright Scholar in China, University of Richmond Board of Trustees, Richmond, VA, September 2009
U.S. Climate Change Policy in the Obama Administration, Peking University, Beijing, China, June 2009
U.S. Energy and Environmental Policy in the Obama Administration, Southwest University of China, Chongqing, China, June 2009
Addressing Global Warming at the Domestic and International Levels, Southwest University of China, Chongqing, China, June 2009
U.S. Climate Change Legislation and Administrative Proposals: Implications For International Agreement on Global Warming, Hongik University, Seoul, South Korea, June 2009
Environmental Issues in Real Estate Transactions: Brownfields, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China, May 2009
U.S. Energy and Environmental Policy in the Obama Administration, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, China, May 2009
Sino-American Relations: Environmental Protection & Climate Change: A Framework For Discussion, Sino-American Relations Workshop, The Fulbright Program, Hopkins-Nanjing Center, Fudan University, Nanjing, China, May 2009

Energy and Environmental Law and Policy in the Obama Administration, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, China, May 2009
International Law of Global Warming: Kyoto Protocol and Recent Negotiations, United International College, Zhuhai, China, April 2009
Environmental Issues in Real Estate Transactions: Brownfields, Renmin (Peoples’) University of China, Beijing, China, April 2009.
Energy, Environment, and the Election, Temple Beth El, Richmond, VA, September 2008.
National Regulatory Conference, Williamsburg, VA, May 2007 (invited panel moderator on energy “re-regulation” law).
Mission Impossible?, The Compatibility of Military and Environmental Goals, William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review, February 2007 (invited)
Preserving the Chesapeake: Law, Ecology, and the Bay, University of Richmond School of Law, October 2006 (panel moderator)
Jepson Leadership Forum, University of Richmond, October 2006 (panelist for discussion of "An Inconvenient Truth").
The End of Oil:  How Will the U.S. Power the Future?, University of Richmond VOICES public panel discussion, October 2005.
Realizing the Promise of Electricity Deregulation,Wake Forest Law Review, Summer 2005 (invited to contribute to dedicated issue).
Recent Supreme Court Cases, 5400 Men’s Club, Weinstein JCC, Richmond, VA, April 2005.
Environmental Regulation, Energy, and Market Entry, Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum, Duke Law School, Durham, NC, November 2004.
13th World Clean Air and Environmental Protection Congress, London, England, August 2004.
The Blackout of 2003: What’s Next?: Transmission Investment, Restructuring, and the Future of the Electric Utility Industry, University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, VA, April 2004 (symposium organizer, leader, and panelist).
Terror in the Air: Environmental Fallout from 9/11, Fordham Environmental Law Journal, Fordham Law School, New York, NY, March 2003.
Richmond Bar Association, Environmental Law, November 2000 (moderator and speaker).
Seventh International Conference on Ecology and Environmental Quality Sciences, Jerusalem, Israel, June 1999.
National Town Meeting on Sustainable Development, Detroit, MI, May 1999
Sixth International Conference on Ecology and Environmental Quality Sciences, Jerusalem, Israel, June 1996.

Memberships

Faculty Leader, George E. Allen Chair in Law Visiting Scholars Series (1998) (theme: "Resolving International Environmental Disputes in the 1990s and Beyond")
Chair, Search Committee for Director of the Law Library (1996)
Member and Co-Chair, Committee on Student and Alumni Affairs (2002-2006; 2009 - present)
Member, Promotion and Tenure Committee (2001-2004; 2006-present)
Member, Admissions and Financial Aid Committee (1995-present); Committee Chair (2009-10)
Member, Library and Technology Committee (1995-2001)
Member, Faculty Colloquy Committee (1993-1995). Faculty Secretary (1994-1995)
Faculty Representative, American Association of Law Schools House of Representatives (1994-95)
Faculty Advisor, Robert R. Merhige, Jr. National Environmental Negotiation Competition (1994-2005)
Member, Committee to Draft Campus Climate Action Plan (2009-present)
Member, Advisory Board, Center for Teaching, Learning, and Technology (2009-present)
Member, Fulbright Scholarship Evaluation Committee (2008-present).
Member, Committee on Honorary Degrees (2002-present). Member, University Faculty Council (2001-2005)
Member, Committee on Honorary Degrees (2002-present). Member, University Faculty Council (2001-2005)
Direction of the Robert R. Merhige, Jr. National Environmental Negotiation Competition (annual competition for students from law schools throughout the nation) and the Merhige Summer Stipend Program (program awarding stipends for summer placements in federal government agencies and public interest organizations)
American Bar Association, Section on Natural Resources and Environmental Law
Member, Advisory Committee, Virginia Housing for the Environment
Member, Advisory Board, Legal Information Network for Cancer (1998-2002)
Member, Board of Trustees, Richmond Shakespeare

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia
California