Getting to Know Professor Tony Derron
An Associate Professor of Law, is an environmental law scholar who examines how administration, government structure, and property rules affect environmental outcomes. Professor Derron鈥檚 scholarship explores the many pathways of environmental law, from federal regulation to state constitutions, and draws on historical and current environmental practices to inform solutions to problems both inside and outside the field. He teaches Advanced Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, and Energy Law.听听
His recent scholarship, Unwritten Administrative Law and the Regulatory Law Mile, in the University of Pennsylvania Law Review identifies a structural flaw in cooperative federalism. Through a comprehensive fifty-state survey, Professor Derron finds that state administrative law is undeveloped across the states, even though federal programs like the Clean Water Act rely on state administrative law to function.听听
Prior to joining the faculty, Professor Derron taught at the University of Chicago Law School as a Bigelow Fellow. Before that, he served at the Colorado Attorney General鈥檚 Office, spearheading its multistate environmental efforts as well as representing state agencies in litigation and rulemakings. Immediately after law school, Professor Derron clerked for Chief Judge Brimmer on the United States District Court for the District of Colorado and Justice Hood on the Colorado Supreme Court. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.S. in Business & Political Economy from NYU Stern School of Business. An avid rock climber, you will likely find Professor Derron adventuring on the Flatirons and other geological playgrounds outside of work.听
Learn more about Professor Derron in the Q&A below.听听听听
I see that you previously worked in various roles throughout Colorado鈥攚hat excites you most about returning to the state? 听
TD: Professionally, the Colorado legal community has been so kind to me. Before I moved to academia, nearly my entire legal career was in Colorado. Whether internships during law school, clerking at both the state and federal levels, or working at the Colorado Attorney General鈥檚 Office, I鈥檝e been privileged with remarkable mentors and teammates (many of whom are CU Alums!). It鈥檚 a treat to return the favor and help teach and mentor budding members of the bar. And, selfishly, I can鈥檛 wait to learn from and work with my colleagues. Colorado Law is unmatched in the breadth and depth of its environmental faculty and is filled with rockstars across the spectrum.听
More personally, it didn鈥檛 feel quite right to be so far from the mountains. I鈥檓 thrilled to be back in the action and a stone鈥檚 throw away from world class rock climbing and skiing.听 听
Can you share a bit about any current projects you are working on?听
TD: A project about to come off the press, , identifies a missing link in cooperative federalism: state administrative law. Many environmental statutes, like the Clean Water Act or Clean Air Act, are implemented by states through state statutes and regulations. That means state, not federal, administrative law often governs agency action. I completed a fifty-state survey of state administrative law, finding that it鈥檚 undeveloped along a number of metrics, and argue that this 鈥渞egulatory last mile鈥 has ramifications for how well both federalism and cooperative administration are working.听听
Another paper, Environmental Rights, Original Meaning, and the Separation of Powers, offers a historical account of state rights to a 鈥渉ealthful environment,鈥 found in seven state constitutions. Environmental rights have made headlines because of successes in places like Montana and Hawai鈥檌, but there hasn鈥檛 been a comprehensive analysis of the ratifying debates. The article excavates this history to learn what people thought these rights were meant to do, and how courts and executives were meant to implement them. Contrary to accounts about the limitations of courts in the implementation of environmental rights provisions, this historical record shows that the framers and the public believed that courts were integral partners in their enforcement.听听
How does your past experience practicing law inform your approach as a legal scholar and teacher?听
TD: I try to let on-the-ground practice and realities drive my research and theoretical conclusions, and I think that stems from time in practice. As a lawyer, there are so many legal arguments you can make and cases you can string together, but there is always some bit of reality in the way. That might be consequences on the state or agency in adopting a particular legal framework. Or, even if you鈥檙e 鈥渞ight鈥 on the law, there might be serious environmental effects. Having a keen understanding of what is going on and theorizing out from there helps contextualize my scholarship.听听
In the classroom, I like to use the same approach, but in the reverse direction. We鈥檙e often teaching high-level concepts with the goal of piecing together the individual threads and doctrines into a cohesive narrative. It鈥檚 important to step back and root these concepts in the trade of being a lawyer. Whenever I can, I want to show my students how these doctrines and rules operate in practice, and why they鈥檙e important for the lawyer鈥檚 lawyer, and not just the law student or academic.听听
What inspired your interest in environmental, administrative, and property law? 听
TD: My interest in the environment was actually cultivated in Colorado at science camp as a kid! That started me on a path of thinking about the natural world and how we interact with it. The law seemed like a natural step in helping protect the places where I grew up. But as I learned more, I saw how complicated environmental law is. 鈥淓nvironmental law鈥 encompasses so many things and relies on nearly infinite interacting parts to be successful. So to understand and write about environmental law, I needed to grasp how statutes are put into practice, which led me to administrative law. But that鈥檚 only part of the story. Individuals influence the scope and impact of environmental law, too, which requires understanding property law. It鈥檚 a fun, tangled web!听听听
What is your proudest career accomplishment so far? 听
TD: It might just be getting to join Colorado Law! Teaching has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my career, and I feel extraordinarily fortunate to now be able to do it back home in Colorado. But part of that is all the many proud moments you get as an educator 鈥 a student reaching out about after getting their dream job or watching the tremendous growth of your students from the start of the year to the end.听听
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