Friday November 20, 2009

School of Law

Joshua Fershee

Assistant Professor of Law
jfershee@law.und.edu

Josh Fershee

Professor Joshua Fershee received his J.D. magna cum laude from Tulane Law School, where he was elected Order of the Coif and editor in chief of the Tulane Law Review.  He is also a graduate of Michigan State University, where he received a B.A. in Social Science, with a focus on economics, psychology, and sociology.  Before joining the UND School of Law faculty, he served as a visiting professor of law at Penn State University’s Dickinson School of Law in State College, PA. 

Professor Fershee began his legal career with Davis Polk & Wardwell, New York, NY, where he represented clients in corporate and litigation matters including mergers and acquisitions, derivatives transactions, and securities regulation.  He then joined the energy practice group at Hogan & Hartson, LLP, Washington, D.C., where he represented energy clients in matters before state and federal regulators, analyzed state and federal legislation, and advised clients on mergers and acquisitions, climate change issues, and renewable portfolio standards. 

Before his legal career, Professor Fershee worked for a Washington, D.C.-based trade association comprised of video and computer game companies where he coordinated the media relations program and conducted intellectual property and anti-piracy training sessions for law enforcement officials (e.g., U.S. Customs and FBI), media, and other key audiences.  He then served as a public relations professional in the entertainment technology industry specializing in strategic planning, brand management, and crisis communications with two Los Angeles public relations agencies.

Professor Fershee writes and lectures on business associations, corporate law and governance, energy law and policy, climate change and environmental policy, agricultural law, labor and employment law, law and economics, Native American law, and sports and entertainment law.

OpEd in Lansing State Journal, September 7, 2008

 

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
PUBLICATIONS
PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES / PRESENTATIONS
BLOGS
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE

University of North Dakota School of Law
Assistant Professor, July 2007 – present

Courses Taught: 

  • Business Associations I: Agency & Partnership
  • Business Associations II: Corporations
  • Energy Law and Policy
  • Labor & Employment Law
  • Property II

Penn State Dickinson School of Law (State College, PA)
Visiting Assistant Professor, July 2006 – June 2007

Courses Taught: 

  • Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis
  • Business Planning

New York University School of Law
Judge, NYU Lawyering Program (volunteer)
Spring 2004

Tulane Law School
Senior Fellow (TA) Legal Research & Writing Program
August 2002 – April 2003

PUBLICATIONS

Articles

Atomic Power, Fossil Fuels, and the Environment:  Lessons Learned and the Lasting Impact of the Kennedy Energy Policies (submitted for publication)

The Rising Tide of Climate Change:  What America’s Flood Cities Can Teach Us About Green Energy Policy, and Why We Should Be Worried, Environmental Law (forthcoming)

 Struggling Past Oil:  The Infrastructure Impediments to Adopting Next-Generation Transportation Fuel Sources, Cumberland Law Review (forthcoming) (symposium issue)

The North Dakota Publicly Traded Corporations Act:  A Branding Initiative Without a (North Dakota) Brand, 84 North Dakota Law Review 1085  (2008)

Changing Resources, Changing Market: The Impact of a National Renewable Portfolio Standard on the U.S. Energy Industry, 29 Energy Law Journal 29 (2008) (peer reviewed) excerpt in Chris Wold, et al., Climate Change and the Law 699-701 (2009) SSRN

Misguided Energy:  Why Recent Legislative, Regulatory, and Market Initiatives Are Insufficient to Improve the Failing U.S. Energy Infrastructure
44 Harvard Journal on Legislation 327 (2007) pdf

Levels of Green: Balancing State and Regional Efforts, in Wyoming and Beyond, to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions 7 Wyoming Law Review 269 (2007) (symposium, by invitation) - referenced at Wyofile.com

Tax Magic: Did Billy Donovan Pull Income Out of a Hat?
116 Tax Notes 389 (2007), with Jeffrey H. Kahn, SSRN

From Self-Determination to Self-Domination:  Native Americans, Western Culture, and the Promise of Constitutional-Based Reform 39 Valparaiso Law Review 1 (2004) (lead article)

Aviall Services v. Cooper Industries: The Fifth Circuit Makes Securing CERCLA Contribution for Environmental Cleanup a Messy Proposition
76 Tulane Law Review 1749 (2002)

Books and Book Chapters

ABA Section of Antitrust Law, State Antitrust Practice and Statutes (4th ed. 2009)
(Updated and Revised Treatise Chapter 37:  State of North Dakota)

Periodicals

Bailout has to have strings:  GM as deserving as Bear Stearns, however taxpayers need protection
Lansing State Journal (Sept. 7, 2008)

States Get Together on Greenhouse Gases
Legal Times (June 12, 2006) (with Mary Anne Sullivan)

PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS

Diversify Your Portfolio:  Regulating Energy Sources with Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards, Williamsburg, VA
William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review  scheduled:  01/2010 

  • Balancing Power:  Rethinking Renewable Energy Standards   (invited speaker)

Corporate Governance and Shareholder Rights in a Time of Financial Crisis:  How the North Dakota Publicly Traded Corporations Act Changes the Landscape, Bismarck, ND
North Dakota Law Review & University of North Dakota School of Law      06/2009

  • The North Dakota Publicly Traded Corporations Act:  A Branding Initiative Without a (North Dakota) Brand (symposium speaker)

Greening the Grid:  Building a Legal Framework for Carbon Neutrality, Portland, OR
Oregon Law Institute, Lewis & Clark Law School, and Environmental Law      04/2009 

  • Going, Going, Green or Going, Going, Gone?: The Need for a Comprehensive U.S. Energy Policy to Achieve a Greener Planet and How to Get One (symposium speaker)

Transportation Energy Policy in National and Global Perspective: A New Beginning?, Birmingham, AL
Cumberland School of Law, Samford University      02/2009 

  • Struggling Past Oil:  The Infrastructure Impediments to Adopting Next-Generation Transportation Fuel Sources (symposium speaker)

JFK:  History, Memory, and Legacy: An Interdisciplinary Conference and Community Event, Grand Forks, ND
University of North Dakota       09/2008 

  •  Atomic Power, Fossil Fuels, and the Environment: Reconciling the Energy Policies of the Kennedy Years (abstract accepted, panel speaker:  Domestic Economic and Energy Policy)

CSLSA Annual Conference, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL
Central States Law Schools Association        10/2008 

  • Ending America’s Addiction to Oil:  Learning Lessons from the Law’s Role in Prior Fuel Sources Changes (abstract accepted for presentation)

Energy Bar Association Mid Year Meeting, Washington, DC
Energy Bar Association      11/2007

  • Overview speaker and panel moderator: The Pros and Cons of a National Renewable Portfolio Standard

Wyoming Energy Development:  A Community and Regulatory Assessment, Laramie, WY
Wyoming Law Review, University of Wyoming School of Law      02/2007

  • Invited Presenter:  Levels of Green:  State and Regional Efforts, in Wyoming and Beyond, to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions.  Symposium participants included:  U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas, and Rob Hurless, Energy Advisor to Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal

Blogs

Agricultural Law, A Member of the Jurisdynamics Network
The official Blog of the AALS Section on Agricultural Law

Energy Bar Association Renewable Energy Committee Blog

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

Tulane Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 2003               
New Orleans, LA

  • Editor in Chief, Tulane Law Review, Volume 77
  • Order of the Coif
  • Certificate in International Commercial Arbitration
  • Aegean Institute of the Law of the Sea and Maritime Law, Summer Abroad – 2001 (Greece)

Michigan State University, - B.A./Social Science, 1995           

  • Dean’s List (Spring 1995)

Admitted to Practice:  New York and District of Columbia

Professional Association Membership & Service

American Bar Association

Member, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources  (2005–present)

    • Section Leadership:  Vice Chair, Constitutional Law Committee (2006–present)
    • Vice Chair, Restructuring of the Electric Industry Committee (2008–present)

* Member, Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar  (2007–present)
* Member, Young Lawyers Division (2004–present)

Energy Bar Association

Co-Chair, Professional Development Committee (2008–present)
Member, Climate Change and Emissions (2008-present)
Member, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2008-present)
Member, Legislation Committee (2007–2008)
Member, Renewable Energy Committee (2007–2008)
Member, Electricity Regulation Committee (2007–2008)
Member, Environmental Protection and Regulation Committee (2006–2007)
Member, Judicial Review Committee (2006–2007)

Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation

Trustee, representing the University of North Dakota School of Law (2007 – present)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Hogan & Hartson, LLP
Washington, DC, October 2004 - July 2006
Associate; Attorney, Government Regulation

Davis Polk & Wardwell
New York, NY, October 2003 - October 2004
Associate; Attorney, Corporate/Litigation (Summer Associate - 2002)

Breazeale Sachse & Wilson, LLP
New Orleans, LA, July 2001 - August 2001
Summer Associate, Litigation

Douglas, Cohn & Wolfe
Los Angeles, CA, April 2000 - July 2000
Public Relations Account Supervisor

Golin / Harris International
Los Angeles, CA, October 1998 - April 2000
Public Relations Account Supervisor 

Interactive Digital Software Association
(predecessor to the Entertainment Software Association)
Washington, DC, July 1995 - October 1998
Membership and Research Manager