Biographical Information
Richard Lazarus is the Howard J. and Katherine W. Aibel Professor of Law at Harvard University, where he teaches Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Supreme Court Advocacy, and Torts. He also recently served as the Executive Director of the President’s Commission responsible for investigating the root causes of the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979 and he has a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.A. in economics from the University of Illinois, where he focused on environmental issues.
Books and Reports
Law Review Articles
- Stewart's Paradoxes of Liberty, Integrity, and Fraternity: Sobering Lessons from COVID-19 for Environmental Law, 29 N.Y.U. Envtl. L. J. 543 (2021)
- Advocacy History in the Supreme Court, 2020 Sup. Ct. Rev. 423.
- The Super Wicked Problem of Donald Trump, 74 Vanderbilt L. Rev. 1811 (2020)
- Rights for Lake Erie?, Harvard Law Review Blog, April 1, 2019
- The Impact of Justice Kennedy and the Effect of His Retirement, 48 Envtl. L. Rep. 10,863 (2018)
- Judicial Missteps, Legislative Dysfunction, and the Public Trust Doctrine: Can Two Wrongs Make It Right?, 45 Envtl. L. Rev. 1139 (2016)
- Back to "Business" at the Supreme Court: The "Administrative Side" of Chief Justice Roberts, 129 Harv. L. Rev. F. 33 (2015)
- Senator Edmund Muskie's Enduring Legacy in the Courts, 67 Me. L. Rev. 240 (2015)
- The Opinion Assignment Power, Justice Scalia's Unbecoming, and UARG's Unanticipated Cloud Over the Clean Air Act, 39 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev. 37 (2015)
Supreme Court Advocacy
- Counsel of Record for Respondent St. Croix County, Joseph P. Murr, et al., v. State of Wisconsin and St. Croix County, 137 S. Ct 1993 (2017)
- Co-Counsel, Los Angeles County Flood Control Dist. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., 568 U.S. 78 (2013)
- Co-Counsel for Respondents, Monsanto v. Geertson Seed Farms, 561 U.S. 139 (2010)
- Counsel of Record for Environmental Respondent Riverkeeper, Entergy Corp. v. Riverkeeper, 556 U.S. 208 (2010)
- Co-Counsel for Petitioners, Massachusetts v. U.S. Envt'l Prot. Agency, 549 U.S. 497 (2007) (jurisdictional stage only)
- Counsel of Record for Respondents American River and Friends of the Presumpscot River, S.D. Warren v. Maine Department of Environmental Protection, 547 U.S. 370 (2006)
Recent Presentations
- Justice Breyer’s Friendly Legacy for Environmental Law, USC School of Law (April 1, 2022)
- Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court, New York State Library, Webinar (March 24, 2022)
- A Critical Year at the Supreme Court, University High School Alumni Association Century Celibration, Webinar (March 24, 2022)
- Climate Change Returns to the U.S. Supreme Court, West Virginia v. EPA, Harvard Law School, Webinar (March 22, 2022) (panelist)
- Climate Litigation, National Academy of Science, Pasadena CA (March 22, 2022)
- Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court, University of Utah School of Law, Webinar (February 24, 2022)
- Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court, Harvard Law School 1817 Society, Webinar (February 21, 2022)
- The U.S. Supreme Court and Environmental Law, ABA/ALI Environmental Law Conference, Washington D.C., Webinar (February 10, 2022)
- Natural Resources Defense Fund Program in China, Climate Change Litigation (November 19, 2021)
- The Biden Administration’s First 100 Days: Undoing the Undoing of Environmental Protection Law, Harvard Law School (April 22, 2021)
In the News
- Supreme Court to Hear a Case That Could Limit the EPA's Power to Fight Climate Change, NPR, February 28, 2022
- Supreme Court Will Hear Biggest Climate Case in Decades, New York Times, February 27, 2022
- In EPA Supreme Court Case, the Agency's Power to Combat Climate Change Hangs in the Balance, Washington Post, February 25, 2022
- How a Court Case Over Pollution Could Be Used to Unravel Federal Regulatory Power, The Guardian, February 25, 2022
- The Birth of Environmental Law, Q Magazine, February 21, 2022
- With Breyer's Exit, a Farewell to Marshmallow Guns and Tomato Children, New York Times, January 31, 2022
- Justice Stephen Breyer -- A Passionate Pragmatist, Harvard Law Today, January 28, 2022
- Judges Increasingly Demand Climate Analysis in Drilling Decisions, New York Times, January 28, 2022
- The Supreme Court Case That Could Upend Efforts to Protect the Environment, New Yorker, January 10, 2022
- WIth Roe at Risk, Justices Explore a New Way to Question Precedents, New York TImes, December 13, 2021
- Future of Abortion Rights Depends on a Supreme Court for Which Compromise Seems Elusive, Washington Post, December 2, 2021
- Amicus Podcast: Everyone Wants to Be Scalia, Slate, November 20, 2021