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. In 2009 she was
honored to receive 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 on
the board of directors for 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, daughter Amelia, and 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 PUBLICATIONS
The Role of Fish and Wildlife Evidence in Local
Land Use Regulation, ___ Pub. Land & Res.
L. Rev. ___ (pending Spring 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
Moderator, Stream Access Panel, The Honorable James R. Browning Symposium
on Rural Law (2009).
Presenter, Preparing Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law,
Montana Local Government Workshop Series (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). |
