Robert H Abrams
- robert.abrams@famu.edu
- PHONE
- 407-254-4001
- OFFICE
- College Of Law - Instruction
College of Law Bldg Room # 330C
Office hours vary with each semester and can be obtained from the program assistant. Walk-in meetings are welcomed when Professor Abrams is in the office. It is best, however, to confirm an appointment time in advance via email due to possible conflicts with faculty and committee meetings. Other mutually convenient times can be arranged, including Zoom, when it is more convenient.
Program Assistant is Puja Bhatavdekar, Phone: (407) 254-3270, puja.bhatavdekar@famu.edu
LAW 5300 Civil Procedure • Mon. We. Th. — 6:00 pm - 7:20 pm
LAW 6802 Contract Drafting • Tu. Th. — 7:45 pm - 9:15 pm
Robert Abrams is an expert in both Water Law and Environmental Law. He is co-author
of a leading casebook in each field: Legal Control of Water Resources (with Barton
Thompson, Jr., John Leshy, & Sandra Zellmer, 6th ed. 2018) and Nature Law & Society:
A Coursebook on Environmental Law & Policy, (with Zygmunt Plater, Robert Graham, Lisa
Heinzerling, David Wirth, & Noah Hall (5th ed. 2016). He is editor and a contributing
author of a book that blends the two fields, Water Rights and Environmental Regulation:
A Lawyer’s Guide (2018).
Professor Abrams attended law school at both Stanford University where he was a member
of the Law Review and the University of Michigan. He holds his J.D. cum laude (1973)
and A.B. with distinction (1969) from the latter. In addition to his areas of specialization,
Professor Abrams also teaches the first year Civil Procedure class.
Professor Abrams is a Life Member of the American Law Institute.
- Civil Procedure
- Water Law
- Environmental Law
- Contract Drafting
- J.D., cum laude
University of Michigan Law School • 1971-1973 - Stanford Law Review 1970-71
Stanford Law School • 1969-1971 - A. B. with distinction, Philosophy
University of Michigan • 1969
Academic Positions
- Professor of Law • 2004-present
- Human Dimensions Focus Area Lead • 2010-2017
NOAA-EPP/FAMU-ECSC
Florida A & M, College of Law - Visiting Fellow, Fenner School of Natural Resources
Institute for Water Futures • Spring 2023
Australian National University - Professor of Law • 1981-2004
Wayne State University, Law School - Interim Dean • 1986-1987
Wayne State University, Law School, - Associate Dean • 1984-1986
Wayne State University, Law School - Associate Professor of Law • 1977-1981
Wayne State University, Law School - Adjunct Professor of Natural Resources • 1989-2003
University of Michigan - Visiting Professor of Law • Fall 2002
University of Michigan - Visiting Professor of Law • Winter 1999
University of Michigan - Visiting Professor of Law • Winter 1989
University of Michigan - Visiting Professor of Law • Winter 1988
University of Michigan - Visiting Professor of Law • Winter 1983
University of Michigan - Visiting Professor of Law • Fall 1987
Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht
Instituut voor Staats-en Administratief Recht - Professor of Law • Summer 1980 (Oxford)
Institute of International and Comparative Law - Professor of Law • Summer 1993 (Paris)
Institute of International and Comparative Law - Associate Professor of Law • 1976-77
Western New England College School of Law - Assistant Professor of Law • 1974-76
Western New England College School of Law
Legal Practice
- Litigation Attorney • 1973-74
Frederick D. Jasmer, P.C.
- Selected Writings
Books:
Current editions:
Legal Control of Water Resources, 6th ed. 2018, West Publishing Co., (1200 pages with accompanying Teacher's Manual), co-author with Barton Thompson, Jr., John Leshy, & Sandra Zellmer. [co-author of all previous editions]
Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society, 5th ed. 2016, Wolters/Kluewer-Aspen Publishing Co., (approximately 1050 pages and accompanying Teacher's Manual) co-author with Zygmunt Plater, Robert Graham, Lisa Heinzerling, David Wirth, & Noah Hall. [co-author of all previous editions] Annual Teacher’s Updates—most recent 2021 for AY 21-22 (approximately 250 pages).
Water Rights and Environmental Regulation: A Lawyer’s Guide, 2018 (editor-in-chief and contributing author of four chapters); ABA Publication (approximately 400 pages).
Selected Articles and Chapters:
Weather Modification: Past and Prologue, 37 Natural Resources & Environment 21 (Fall 2022) (Co-author with Alexis Clark).
Prior Appropriation and the Commons, in Sheila Foster & Chrystie Swinney, eds., THE CAMBRIDGE HANDBOOK OF COMMONS RESEARCH INNOVATION (2021) (This is a shorter and differently focused version of the next item. This paper was delivered as part of a Symposium commemorating the 50-year anniversary of Hardin’s Tragedy of the Commons)
Prior Appropriation and the Commons, 37 UCLA Journal of Environmental Law & Policy 141 (2019))
Water and Property Rights in an Era of Hydroclimate Instability, College of William & Mary, 2018 Gideon Kanner Property Rights Journal 129 (2018)
Downstream Inundations Caused by Federal Flood Control Dam Operations in a Changing Climate: Getting the Proper Mix of Takings, Tort, and Compensation, 19 University of Denver Water Law Review 1 (2015) (lead author, co-author Jacqueline Bertelsen)
Water Law Transitions, 66 South Carolina Law Review 597 (2015)
Transboundary Water Allocation Risks of Compacts: Who Wins When Legal Rules Face Adaptive Challenges?, 60 Rocky Mt. Min. L. Inst. 9-1 (2014)
Water, Climate Change, and the Law: Integrated Eastern States Water Management Founded on a New Cooperative Federalism (42 Environmental Law Reporter 10433 (2012)
Legal Convergence of East and West in Contemporary American Water Law 42 Environmental Law, 42 Natural Resources & Environment 65 (2012)
Framing Water Policy in a Carbon Affected and Carbon Constrained Environment, 50 Natural Resources Law Journal 3 (lead author, co-author Noah Hall, 2010)
Correcting Mismatched Authorities: Erecting a New “Water Federalism”, 25 Natural Resources & Environment 22 (2010)
Water Federalism and the Army Corps of Engineers Role in Eastern States Water Allocation, 31 University of Arkansas Little Rock Law Review 395 (2009)
The Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 as a Model for Interjurisdictional Water Governance, 54 Wayne Law Review 1635 (2008)
Settlement of the ACF Controversy: Sisyphus at the Dawn of the 21st Century, 31 Hamline Law Review 679 (2008)
Climate Change and Freshwater Resources, 22 Natural Resources & Environment 30 (Winter 2008) (co-author with Noah Hall & Brent Stuntz)
Walking the Beach to the Core of Sovereignty: The Historic Basis for the Public Trust Doctrine Applied in Glass v. Goeckel, 40 University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform 861 (2007)
Broadening Narrow Perspectives and Nuisance Law: Protecting Ecosystem Services in the ACF Basin, 22 J. Land Use & Env. Law 243 (2007)
Interstate Water Allocation: A Contemporary Primer for Eastern States, 25 University of Arkansas Little Rock Law Review 155 (2002).
Superfund and the Evolution of Brownfields Federalism, 21 William & Mary Environmental Policy Journal 265 (1997).
Using Experience to Improve Superfund Remedy Selection, 29 University of Richmond Law Review 581 (1995).
Secure Water Rights in Interstate Waters, appearing in Water Law: Trends, Policies, and Practice, Kathleen Marion Carr & James D. Crammond, eds. (1995).
• Recipient Wayne State University Board of Governors Faculty Recognition Award •
1993
• Recipient Wayne State Law School Donald Gordon Teaching Award • 1995
• Recipient Western New England College School of Law Teacher of the Year • 1977
• Tenure first awarded • 1980
- LAW 5300 Civil Procedure
- LAW 6802 Contract Drafting
