Kevin Leske

Biography

Associate Professor Kevin Leske joined the faculty of the Barry University School of Law at the start of the 2012-2013 academic year. He previously held academic positions as a Visiting Scholar at Vermont Law School and as a Fellow at Harvard Law School. His principal expertise is in environmental law (including air and water pollution, climate change, and land use), administrative law, constitutional law, civil procedure, and appellate advocacy. His published works and presentations cover areas such as the Clean Air Act, climate change regulation and litigation, agency deference, preemption, federalism, and U.S. Supreme Court practice. Prior to entering academia, Professor Leske served as an Assistant Attorney General of Vermont, where he focused primarily on national air pollution and global warming cases. His work also included arguing Vermont Supreme Court appeals in land-use cases and environmental enforcement actions. In addition, he served as a U.S. Supreme Court Fellow for the National Association of Attorneys General in Washington, D.C., where he helped prepare state attorneys for their upcoming oral arguments, edited Supreme Court briefs, and prepared an Amicus Brief in a pending case. Before joining the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, Professor Leske worked in Washington, D.C., for a small environmental law office where he litigated Clean Water Act citizen suits for environmental groups, such as Friends of the Earth and Sierra Club. He also represented the Province of Ontario, Canada, in Clean Air Act cases in federal courts of appeals and before the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Leske is admitted to practice law in the State of Vermont (inactive), as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Fourth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits.

Research Interest

Clean Air Act, climate change regulation and litigation, agency deference