Donald Kochan is Professor of Law and Executive Director of the Law & Economics Center (LEC). Professor Kochan is an elected member of the American Law Institute (ALI) and serves as an Adviser to ALI's Restatement of the Law Fourth, Property project. Professor Kochan is a Nonresident Scholar at the Center for the Constitution at Georgetown University Law Center, where he was a Visiting Scholar in residence during Fall 2018. Before joining the Antonin Scalia Law School faculty, he was the Parker S. Kennedy Professor in Law at Chapman University’s Dale E. Fowler School of Law from 2004 to 2020. From 2003 to 2004, Professor Kochan was an Olin Fellow at the University of Virginia School of Law. During 2002-2003, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason’s Scalia Law School.
Professor Kochan’s scholarship focuses on areas of property law, constitutional law, administrative law, local government law, natural resources and environmental law, and law & economics. He has published several books and more than 50 scholarly articles and essays in well-regarded law journals. His work has been cited in more than a dozen state and federal court opinions, in more than 75 briefs filed in state and federal courts including more than 25 filed in the U.S. Supreme Court, in dozens of books and treatises, and in more than 800 scholarly articles.
Professor Kochan received his JD from Cornell Law School, where he was a John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics and managing editor of the Cornell International Law Journal. During law school, he also served as editor and executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy symposium issues in 1997 and 1998. He received his BA from Western Michigan University, magna cum laude, with majors in both political science and philosophy, where he studied as the John W. Gill Medallion Scholar and was honored as the Presidential Scholar (awarded to the top graduate in the political science department).
After graduating from law school, Professor Kochan was a law clerk to The Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Professor Kochan was an associate with the firm of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in natural resources & environmental law as well as tort, products, and consumer civil litigation & legislative affairs.
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Climate Change Litigation, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law (Networking & CLE Program)
Maine Lawyer Chapter
Andy's Old Port Pub94 Commercial Street
Portland, ME 04101
The Declaration at 250 with Donald Kochan: The Role of the Declaration of Independence in an Originalist Constitutional Interpretation
Orange County Lawyer Chapter
Conference Room2040 Main Street, 2nd Floor
Irvine, CA 92614
The Constitutional Perils and Policy Imprudence of Climate Change Litigation
Charleston Lawyers Chapter
Turner Padget40 Calhoun St. Suite 250
Charleston, SC 29401
Can State Courts Set Global Climate Policy?
Climate change has been described as a “super wicked” policy problem. Policymakers face profound difficulties...
Can State Courts Set Global Climate Policy?
Climate change has been described as a “super wicked” policy problem. Policymakers face profound difficulties...
SCOTUS Accepts Opportunity to Curb State Court Intrusion into National Defense Contractor Activity
A slew of more than forty lawsuits brought by local parishes in myriad Louisiana state...
Property & Personal Rights: A Discussion of Short-Term Rental Regulations
Short-term rentals—popularized by Airbnb and Vrbo—have been given modern platforms for the customary alternative to...
State “Climate Superfund” Laws and Related Legal Issues
Regulatory Transparency Project
Join us for a distinguished panel discussion on state “climate superfund” laws, including Vermont’s Climate...
Introduction to Property
Why does the law school curriculum start with Property class? What are some foundational legal principles that every student needs to know about property? Most...