James R. May
- Contact
- 1700 SW College AveRobert J. Dole HallRoom 227
Topeka, KS 66621785.670.1786
- Degrees & Certifications
- The University of Kansas, Bachelor of Science
- The University of Kansas, Juris Doctor
- Pace University School of Law, Master of Laws
- Teaching
-
- LW 811 1, Environmental Rights Practicum
- LW 862 1, Constitutional Law II
- Career Accomplishments
Media Engagement
"Interview with James May - Dignity Rights," Cylindr Magazine, September 3, 2024.
Interviewed, "Sustainability as a Legal Concept" for the Podcast Liminal Spaces, August 27, 2024.
Presentations
"The U.S. Supreme Court and the Rule of Law: Friend or Foe," Current Issues in the Judicial Branch: Instrumentalization of the Judiciary, Turkish Bar Association, Ankara, Turkey, November 20-21, 2025.
Panel moderator, "The Role of the Judiciary in the Climate Agenda," United Nations Climate Change, 30th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30), Belém, Brazil, November 13, 2025.
"Is There a Human Right to a Clean Environment: The International Case Against the United States for the Climate Emergency," Florida State University College of Law, Tallahassee, Florida, November 13, 2025.
Panelist, "A Mandate for All: The Legal and Civic Imperative to Confront the Climate Emergency," 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) Side Event, sponsored by the FGV Rio Law, the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, and the World Commission on Environmental Law, November 12, 2025.
"Human Dignity Rights in America," Central States Law Schools Association 2025 Scholarship Conference, University of Kansas Law School, Lawrence, Kansas, October 11, 2025.
"Hardly at All: Sustainability in the U.S. Federal Court System," 22nd annual meeting of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature Academy of Environmental Law, Lima, Peru, July 4, 2025.
"Cooperative Federalism: Water Regulation, Restoration, and Protection in the Mid-Atlantic," American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, 54th Spring Conference on Environmental Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, March 28, 2025.
"Dignity Rights in America," 2025 Global Summit on Constitutionalism, University of Texas School of Law, Austin, Texas, March 22, 2025.
"International Climate Rights and Children," 2025 Symposium: Children and Constitutions in the Anthropocene Era, Washington and Lee University School of Law, Lexington, Virginia, March 7, 2025.
"Dignity Rights in America," 2024 Workshop on Transforming Humiliation and Violent Conflict, hosted by the Morton Deutsch International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution, Columbia University Teachers College, New York City, New York, December 6, 2024 (based on a work-in-progress "Dignity Rights in America").
"Climate Displacement and the Constitution," Climate-related Displacement in the US webinar, George Washington University School of Law, Washington, D.C., November 12, 2024.
"Dignity Rights in America," Ankara University Faculty of Law, Ankara, Turkey, November 7, 2024.
"The End of American Apartheid," 100th Anniversary of the Turkish Constitution, Ankara University Faculty of Law, Ankara, Turkey, November 5, 2024.
Panel chair, "Novel Applications of Law in Pursuit of Improved Environmental and Climate Governance," 2024 Annual Conference of the Environmental Law Association of South Africa, hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand, Wits School of Law, Johannesburg, South Africa, September 5, 2024.
Panelist, "Administrative and Environmental Fallout in the Aftermath of Loper Bright – the End of Chevron Deference," 30th Annual Life in the Big City CLE Conference, City of Philadelphia Law Department, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 9, 2024.
"Climate Rights in the United States," The Natural World, Sustainable Development Goals and the Law Symposium, hosted by The Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), the United Nations Environment Programme and the University of Cambridge, July 29, 2024.
"Sustainability in the U.S. Court System," and "Subnational Climate Rights in the United States," at the 21st Annual Colloquium of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Academy of Environmental Law, hosted by Gajaret National Law University Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India, and sponsored by (among others) IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, July 4 - 7, 2024.
Professional Services
Chaired and served as a panelist for the national webinar, "States Stepping into the Enforcement Void," American College of Environmental Lawyers, February 12, 2026.
Attended Winter Council Meeting of the American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy and Resources, New York City, January 30, 2026.
Served as a delegate to the fourth annual "Environmental Summit of the Americas," sponsored by the American Bar Association Section on Environment, Energy and Resources, and the International Bar Association Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law, New York City, January 28-29, 2026.
Appointed as one of American Bar Association’s virtual delegates to the United Nations Climate Change, 30th Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP30), Belém, Brazil, November 10-21, 2025.
Participated in a roundtable, "The Environment and the Future of the Constitution," sponsored by the Brennan Center for Justice’s Future of the Constitution Project, and hosted by the League of Conservation Voters, Washington, DC., November 12, 2025.
Gave introductory remarks, "Universal Rights v. Local Realities: Advancing Human Dignity Rights in an Uncertain America" Washburn Law Journal Symposium," Washburn University School of Law, Topeka, Kansas, November 6, 2025.
Gave remarks on, "The European Union and Climate Change," Department of International Studies, Jean Monnet Module at Universidad ORT, Montevideo, Uruguay, June 26, 2025 (virtual).
Served as a delegate of the American Bar Association to the World Justice Forum; also provided remarks on the panel, "Environmental Justice in the Americas," in Warsaw, Poland, June 25, 2025.Invited to share his views about democracy and the rule of law, human dignity rights, and environmental human rights, Ankara University, Turkey, May 2025.
Gave remarks about climate litigation in the United States at the seminar "Safeguarding Environmental Rights Amid Political Shifts: U.S. and Australian Perspectives," co-sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Melbourne, May 7, 2025.
Invited to give lectures on Climate Law, Environmental Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, Trier University, Germany, April 30, 2025.
Attended the annual Samuel Dash Conference on Human Rights, "Truth, Solidarity, and Repair: Haiti & the Global Movement for Reparations," Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C, April 8, 2025.Gave keynote remarks about climate law and adaptation and moderated a discussion on how constitutional law affects strategies for addressing and redressing climate change at the "Receiving Communities: A Workshop to Advance a Research & Policy Agenda," George Washington University Law School, Washington, D.C., February 6, 2025.
As Founder and Special Advisor to the ABA's Environmental Justice Task Force, attended the American Bar Association's first Environmental Justice symposium, Howard University School of Law, Washington, D.C., November 15, 2024.
Invited to Mexico City as one of two representatives from the United States to attend the 16th InterAmerican Congress on Constitutional Rights, celebrating the 200th Anniversary of the Constitution of Mexico, October 25, 2024.
Discussant, "Democracy, Dignity and Climate Change," at the book launch for Democracy in a Hotter Time: Climate Change and Democratic Transformation (David W. Orr, ed.) (MIT Press, 2023), Arizona State University Tempe Campus, Arizona, August 27, 2024.
Honors and Awards
Honored as one of the nation's 2026 leading environmental lawyers by LawDragon – The Green 500, 2021-2026 (for exemplary achievement in law, policy and advocacy in the profession).
Recipient, Beacon of Dignity Award from the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies Institute, at their Annual World Dignity University Initiative Workshop, Columbia University Teachers College, New York City, New York, December 6, 2024.
- Related Links
