Michael R. Barsa

Senior Lecturer
Co-Director of the Environmental Law Concentration

Phone: (312) 503-7983
E-mail: m-barsa@law.northwestern.edu

Michael Barsa litigated numerous high-profile environmental and natural resources cases before joining the Northwestern faculty. He developed novel legal strategies in cases involving large-scale groundwater contamination from MTBE in gasoline, DDT off the California coast, subsurface trespass of oilfield water, international environmental harms arising from the first Gulf War, and recycling. His scholarly work has explored international environmental claims under the Alien Tort Claims Act, risk perception under environmental warning statutes, and the Public Trust Doctrine. Professor Barsa graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif from Stanford Law School and clerked for Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Courses

Selected Publications

Reconceptualizing NEPA to Prevent the Next Preventable Disaster (forthcoming). (with David A. Dana)
Three Obstacles to the Promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility by Means of the Alien Tort Claims Act: The Sosa Court’s Incoherent Conception of the Law of Nations, the “Purposive” Action Requirement for Aiding and Abetting, and the State Action Requirement for Primary Liability in 21 fordham environmental law review 79-121 (2010). (with David Dana)

Education

BA, Stanford University
MA, Stanford University
JD, Stanford University

Prior Appointments

Munger, 1999-2008, Tolles & Olson
Law Clerk, 1997-1998, Hon. Cynthia Holcomb Hall Holcomb Hall, U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit