Read Porter
Education
J.D., Harvard Law School
B.A., Amherst College
Read Porter is senior staff attorney with the Marine Affairs Institute at Roger Williams University School of Law and the Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program. Read directs the Sea Grant Law Fellow Program, an experiential education program in which RWU law students conduct legal research on behalf of outside organizations.
Mr. Porter has worked in and published widely on topics in environmental and natural resources topics, including international and domestic fisheries and aquaculture, compliance and enforcement, and marine protected area governance. From 2006-2016, he was a Senior Attorney and Director of the Invasive Species Program at the Environmental Law Institute, a non-partisan research and education organization based in Washington, DC. He previously served as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Julia Smith Gibbons on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
Read earned a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was editor-in-chief of the Harvard Environmental Law Review, and a B.A. in Geology, summa cum laude, from Amherst College.
Courses Taught
LAW.674Ocean and Coastal Law & Policy
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The areas in which oceans and their branches and land masses meet are the source of many relationships largely peculiar to those areas. Sea level rise, global warming and effects on our oceans, coastal resilience and retreat options from mega storms like Sandy and Katrina, wetlands protection, environment and ecological issues, the position of the area in terms of industry and commerce including such international rules as those governing fisheries, whaling and other trapping and hunting, are a part of the special problems facing this zone and the areas of water and land nearby. The course examines the various legal regimes with a consideration of policy issues that are involved in the complex relationships generated in these areas.
Course Type
ElectiveCourse Credits
3.0Course Degree
Juris DoctorMaster of Studies in LawLAW.816Sea Grant Law Fellow Program
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Students enrolled in this program work under the professor’s supervision on a legal research project on behalf of an outside organization. Projects are assigned by the professor and will focus on a specific research question related to ocean and coastal law or maritime law. Law Fellows have the opportunity to work with stakeholders on important issues, to gain in-depth substantive knowledge on the applicable law and its real-world application, and to draft a high-quality written product, and may have the opportunity to present their work in a professional setting. Certain projects can satisfy the Graduation Writing Requirement. Law Fellows must dedicate a minimum of 10 hours per week during the semester, but hours are flexible. The professor’s permission is required to register.
Course Type
ElectiveCourse Credits
1.0Course Degree
Juris DoctorMaster of Studies in LawFaculty Associated
Read PorterLSM.889Water Law
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Water is our most valuable resource, and as the 21st Century continues, struggles regarding its management and use will become even more prominent as the climate changes and populations grow. This course explores legal schemes for securing, allocating, and managing water rights for public and private uses, and will address both fresh surface and ground water resources. Over the course of the semester, we will examine the riparian and prior appropriation doctrines; common law, state and federal statutory schemes and regulations for managing water use; and mechanisms for transboundary and interstate allocation of water. We will also consider social policy, history, and the value (economic, social cultural, etc.) of water, as well as the science of hydrology and hydrogeology, as a basis for water law and for understanding overall water resources management and regulations