Law School announces new faculty, director of Environmental Law Program

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Beverly Creamer, (808) 389-5736
Media Consultant, William S. Richardson School of Law
Posted: Oct 20, 2014

Professor Daniel L. Barnett and Associate Professor Shalanda H. Baker.
Professor Daniel L. Barnett and Associate Professor Shalanda H. Baker.
Faculty Specialist David M. Forman '93, Director of the Environmental Law Program.
Faculty Specialist David M. Forman '93, Director of the Environmental Law Program.

Two exceptional new faculty members -- Associate Professor Shalanda H. Baker and Professor Daniel L. Barnett -- have joined the Law School on the UH Mānoa campus this summer, providing expanded offerings in the School’s award-winning Environmental Law program, as well as advanced courses in legal writing and problem solving.

Additionally, Associate Faculty Specialist David M. Forman ‘93 was named Director of the Environmental Law Program after nearly three years as Interim Director.

These additions and changes serve to strengthen the already highly rated course offerings at the William S. Richardson School of Law. It has been singled out repeatedly by national publications for its diversity, as well as its affordability within a culture that welcomes students from around the world. The incoming class of 2014 was the largest in the Law School’s 41-year history.

In joining the Law School, Baker will focus on creating an energy law program in addition to teaching courses in energy and international environmental law.

She joins Richardson after two years on the University of San Francisco School of Law faculty, two years as a William H. Hastie Fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Law, and legal work as a corporate and project finance associate at the international law firm, Bingham McCutchen, in Boston and Japan. Following her law school graduation, Baker clerked for Justice Roderick Ireland of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Baker is a 1998 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a 2005 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law. In 2012 she earned an LLM from the University of Wisconsin School of Law.

“I’m thrilled to join the ELP as a member of the core faculty, and as Faculty Advisor to the program, in addition to creating a new energy law project at the Law School,” said Baker. “This is such an exciting time to be in Hawai‘i, which is leading the way to solve complex problems related to energy and the environment.”

Barnett, meanwhile, will bring remarkable breadth as the new Director of Legal Writing. He joins Richardson from Lewis & Clark Law School, where he was the Distinguished Professor of Legal Writing. He also taught at Boston College Law School for more than two decades, receiving the Boston College Distinguished Teaching Award in 2004 and the 2007 Teaching with New Technology Award.

Barnett earned his BA at the University of the Pacific in 1982 and his JD with honors at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in 1986.

“I feel privileged to be part of a Law School with such an important history of celebrating diversity and creating a dynamic learning environment -- both in and out of the classroom,” said Barnett. “As the new Director of Legal Writing, I am particularly excited by the challenge of continuing the school’s long tradition of creative teaching, especially in the legal writing curriculum.”

Both Barnett’s and Baker's appointments began August 1, 2014.

Law Dean Avi Soifer said he is pleased to have such remarkable people join the Richardson ‘ohana:  “We are excited to have two such enthusiastic and talented new faculty members as part of our team, and to welcome David Forman into the leadership role at ELP. He has done an outstanding job of guiding the program as interim director."

At this point, 195 students have graduated with certificates in Environmental Law.

Forman’s appointment as ELP Director began last March, after he served for almost four years as a full-time faculty member, including almost three years as ELP Interim Director.  Forman’s diverse legal experience includes a stint in Washington, D.C., as a fellow with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, as well as working in the Environmental and Cultural Resources Practice Group at one of Hawai‘i’s largest law firms, Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing, and six years as the Enforcement Attorney with the Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission.

Forman graduated from Harvard College in 1988, before he attended Richardson Law School and graduated in 1993. Following his UH Law School graduation, Forman clerked for Justice Robert Klein of the Hawai‘i Supreme Court.

(Photos by Law School Faculty Specialist Spencer Kimura '96.)

For more information, visit: https://www.law.hawaii.edu/