Read Porter

Photo of Read Porter
Read PorterSenior Staff AttorneyMarine Affairs Institute & RI Sea Grant Legal Program

Contact Information

401-254-5734rporter@rwu.edu284CCurriculum Vitae

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.

Close Course Type Descriptions

Course Types

We have classified RWU Law classes under the following headers. One of the following course types will be attached to each course which will allow students to narrow down their search while looking for classes.

Core Course

Students in the first and second year are required to take classes covering the following aspects of the law—contracts, torts, property, criminal law, civil procedure, and constitutional law, evidence, and professional responsibility.  Along with these aspects, the core curriculum will develop legal reasoning skills.

Elective

After finishing the core curriculum the remaining coursework toward the degree is completed through upper level elective courses.  Students can choose courses that peak their interests or courses that go along with the track they are following.

Seminar

Seminars are classes where teachers and small groups of students focus on a specific topic and the students complete a substantial research paper.

Clinics/Externships

Inhouse Clinics and Clinical Externships legal education is law school training in which students participate in client representation under the supervision of a practicing attorney or law professor.  RWU Law's Clinical Programs offer unique and effective learning opportunities and the opportunity for practical experience while still in law school.