Professor Michelle Bryan Mudd teaches
in the law school’s environmental program, including
the Land Use Planning and Water
Law courses. She is also Director of the Land
Use Clinic, which
works on behalf of Montana local governments and is
among only a few such clinics nationwide. Prior to
teaching in the environmental program, Professor Bryan
Mudd taught in the school’s legal writing program
and continues to emphasize writing and analytical skills
in the clinic and classroom setting. She has been
honored to receive the Garlington, Lohn & Robinson Faculty Teaching Award and the Margery Hunter Brown Faculty
Merit Award for her professionalism in the classroom,
in her research, and in her public service.
Professor Bryan Mudd was drawn to the fields of land
use and water law because of her background growing
up in ranching and farming communities in the West.
Before joining the law school faculty, she was in private
practice specializing in land use and water law in
both the transactional and litigation contexts. She
worked with a variety of clients including local governments,
private landowners, non-profits, developers, and affected
neighbors and community groups. She brings this diversity
of perspective to her work with students and government
clients.
Outside of teaching, Professor Bryan Mudd serves as
President of the Montana
Justice Foundation,
the non-profit state entity that collects and distributes
funds to promote access to legal services for Montana’s
underprivileged. She enjoys poetry and photography,
as well as hiking, fly fishing, and exploring Montana
with her husband John Mudd, her daughter, and
their dog Bradley.
Professor Bryan Mudd graduated from The University
of Montana School of Law with high honors and served
as an editor of the Montana Law Review. Prior to law
school she was a policy specialist for the Water
Resources Center in Bozeman, Montana.
Her current research interests include the relationship
between land and water use, the balancing of environmental
and land use rights, and the evolution of eminent domain
law.
SELECTED PUBLIC SERVICE
President, Montana Justice Foundation (Board
Member since 2005)
Member, Montana Small Business Compliance Assistance Advisory Council (Gubernatorial
Appointment in 2010)
Technical Advisory Panel Member for the Montana Department of Transportation
online website – Montana
Transportation and Land Use Resources
for Growing Communities (2008-2010)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
A “Constant and Difficult Task”: Making Local Land Use Decisions in States with A Constitutional Right to a Healthful Environment, Ecology Law Quaterly (Vol. 38.1, pending spring 2011).
The Role of Fish and Wildlife Evidence in Local
Land Use Regulation, 30 Pub. Land & Res.
L. Rev. 107 (2009) (with students
DarAnne Dunning and Melissa Hayes).
Montana Chapter, American Bar Association's Law
and Procedure of Eminent Domain in the 50 States,
published and maintained online at www.abanet.org/litigation/committees/condemnation/compendium.html (2007-present).
Was the Big Sky Really Falling? Examining Montana’s
Response to Kelo v. City of New London, 69 Mont.
L. Rev. 79 (Winter 2008).
Student Author, Baldridge v. Board of Trustees: A Case for Reform of Montana's Tenured Teacher Dismissal
Process, 61 Mont. L. Rev. 251 (2000).
Wading into Montana Water Rights (Mont. Water
Resources Ctr. & Mont. Envtl. Quality Council 1997)
(with Gerald Westesen).
A Guide to Montana Water Quality Regulation (Mont.
Water Resources Ctr. & Mont. Envtl. Quality Council
1997) (with Michael Kakuk).
"A Drop in the Bucket" guest
column series, published in Montana newspapers statewide,
through the Montana Water Resources Center (1995-1997).
SELECTED PRESENTATIONS
Lecturer, “The Laws that Govern Land, Water, Rocks and Trees,” and Panelist, “A Water Primer: Pollution, Rights, Species and Utilities,” Society of Environmental Journalists Conference (2010).
Panelist, The Montana Constitution’s Clean & Healthful Environment Provisions, The Honorable James R. Browning Symposium on the Montana Constitution (2010).
Panelist, Land Use & Water: Focusing on Exempt Wells, Montana Watershed Symposium (2010).
Poster Presentation, Crossing the Bridge: How Students Move From Novice
to Professional By Leading Community Workshops, Association of American
Law Schools (AALS) national Conference on Clinical Legal Education (2010).
Presenter, Preparing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, Montana
Local Government Workshop Series (2009-2010).
Presenter, Basics of Montana Water Law, Water Policy Interim Committee
of the Montana Legislature (2009).
Moderator, Stream Access Panel, The Honorable James R. Browning Symposium
on Rural Law (2009).
Presenter, Using Model Legislation to Integrate Land Use and Water
Use Planning at the Community Level, Water Policy Interim Committee of the
Montana Legislature (2008).
Lecturer, How to Write a Winning Brief, The University of Montana
School of Law Winter CLE Series (2007 and 2008).
Lecturer, An Immodest Proposal: Tying Land Use and Water Use Planning,
Annual New West Conference on Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies
(2007).
Lecturer, Community Planning from a Legal Perspective, Annual
New West Conference on Real Estate and Development in the Northern Rockies
(2006). |
