Joshua Fershee

Assistant Professor of Law
jfershee@law.und.edu

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.

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

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

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) 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

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)

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

PROFESSIONAL CONFERENCES/PRESENTATIONS

• Invited presenter, Energy Bar Association, Mid-Year Meeting, Washington, D.C., Nov. 29, 2007.
Overview speaker and panel moderator: The Pros and Cons of a National Renewable Portfolio Standard. Speakers included: David Owens, Executive Vice President, Edison Electric Institute; Greg Wetstone, Senior Director of Government and Public Affairs, American Wind Energy Association; and Patricia Stanton, Director of Renewable Energy Markets Conservation Services Group (formerly Deputy Commissioner, Division of Energy Resources in Massachusetts).

• Invited Presenter, Wyoming Law Review Symposium, February 23, 2007.
Wyoming Energy Development: A Community and Regulatory Assessment.
Levels of Green: State and Regional Efforts, in Wyoming and Beyond, to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Other symposium participants included: U.S. Senator Mike Enzi, the late U.S. Senator Craig Thomas, and Rob Hurless, Energy Policy 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

Vice Chair, Constitutional Law Committee, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources

Energy Bar Association

Current Member: Professional Development & Ethics Committee (Vice Chair), Climate Change and Emissions Committee, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
Prior service: Legislation Committee, Renewable Energy Committee, Electricity Regulation Committee, Environmental Protection and Regulation Committee, Judicial Review Committee
Trustee, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 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