Tuesday, April 18, 2017 | 6-8 p.m.

Hofstra Law School | Sidney R. Siben and Walter Siben Moot Courtroom, Room 308

Registration begins at 5:30 p.m. The program will begin promptly at 6 p.m., followed by a networking reception with light snacks.

There is NO FEE. Seating is limited. An RSVP is required.

Registration deadline: Friday, April 14, 2017

This program qualifies for 1 CLE in areas of professional practice and 1 CLE in ethics and professionalism.

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn cutting-edge law, accrue needed New York CLE credits, and network.

The early days of the Trump presidency augur significant changes in the environmental field. From the prospect of steep budget cuts at EPA to uncertainty about continued U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement and possible rescission of significant regulations, including the Clean Water Rule and the Clean Power Plan, environmental practitioners face a shifting legal landscape.

This program will forecast potential legal developments in environmental law and offer thoughts for how practitioners might respond. Speakers will address ramifications of the Trump presidency for energy and climate law, how a Trump presidency may impact the implementation of federal statutes addressed to traditional environmental media, whether any insights are possible from the experience of environmental practitioners under the Reagan presidency, and how to navigate relevant ethical considerations, including counseling clients about the likelihood of enforcement.

About the Presenters

Katrina Fischer Kuh teaches Environmental Law, Torts, Introduction to Administrative Law, Global Change and U.S. Law, and International Environmental Law. Her scholarship, which has been published in journals including the Duke Law Journal and Vanderbilt Law Review, focuses on climate change, sustainability, and second generation environmental challenges. Professor Kuh is the co-editor of The Law of Adaptation to Climate Change: United States and International Aspects.

Prior to joining the Hofstra Lawfaculty in 2007, Professor Kuh worked in the environmental and litigation practice groups in the New York office of Arnold & Porter LLP and served as an advisor on natural resource policy in the United States Senate. She received her law degree from the Yale Law School and served as a law clerk to Judge Charles S. Haight of the District Court for the Southern District of New York and Judge Diana Gribbon Motz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Richard G. Leland '74 has over 35 years of experience as an environmental lawyer and litigator, focusing on the environmental aspects of real estate transactions, development, and land use. He works with real estate developers, universities, hospitals and other non-profit organizations and industrial companies throughout the nation on a wide variety of environmental matters including environmental impact review and regulatory and transactional counseling permitting, as well as counseling operators and lenders in litigation arising under the Federal "Superfund" Law. Rick also represents developers, outdoor advertising companies, municipalities, and public authorities in a variety of zoning matters and litigation arising from zoning and environmental determinations in New York City and suburban counties in the New York metropolitan area.

James P. Rigano '82 has concentrated his practice exclusively in environmental law for more than two decades.

Mr. Rigano has served in the Enforcement Division of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, where he was involved in a variety of water pollution control programs and was environmental counsel to the New York Power Authority. He has extensive experience in subsurface contamination and solid waste issues and has represented clients in numerous matters before environmental regulatory agencies. He has negotiated the environmental issues in numerous transactions and has handled a broad range of cases involving wetlands, open space, and air pollution issues, and has litigated cost recovery actions. Mr. Rigano has had extensive experience with subsurface soil gas issues.

Prior to practicing law, Mr. Rigano was employed for five years as an environmental scientist conducting research on the environmental effects of electric power generation.

Jessica Wentz joined the Sabin Center in September 2014 as an Associate Director and Postdoctoral Fellow. She became a staff attorney in 2016. Her work at the Sabin Center spans a variety of topics related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, sustainable development, and environmental justice. Much of her research focuses on how existing U.S. laws -- such as the Clean Air Act and the National Environmental Policy Act -- can be used to address the causes and impacts of climate change. She has also written on the nexus between climate change and human rights law. In addition to her scholarship, Jessica maintains online resources such as the Climate Deregulation Tracker and the State Attorneys General Environmental Action Database.