Climate change, as witnessed through Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and other natural disasters, is having a major impact on communities. Initiatives that have proved successful, as well as questions arising from the need for these changes, will be discussed at a day-long conference at The John Marshall Law School.
“Adaptation of the Built Environment to Achieve Resilience to Climate Change,” the Kratovil Conference on Real Estate Law and Practice on Sept. 26, will bring experts to John Marshall to discuss the legal, financial, economic, governmental, insurance and human issues that need to be addressed when adapting the built environment to make it resilient to climate change.
The 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. program is hosted by the law school’s Center for Real Estate Law. The conference features experts from across the country.
Morning topics for discussion include “Adaptation to Climate Change: What Is Being Done, What Could Be Done, and What Is Being Ignored” with Professor Rosina M. Bierbaum, School of Natural Resources and Environment, and School of Public Health at the University of Michigan; “Is FEMA Climate-Ready?” with Robert R. M. Verchick, Gauthier-St. Martin Chair in Environmental Law and faculty director of the Center for Environmental Law and Land Use at Loyola University New Orleans College of Law; and “Climate Change Adaptation, Land Use and the Federal Role” with Professor Alice Kaswan of the University of San Francisco School of Law.
Sean B. Hecht, executive director of the UCLA Environmental Law Center and director of the Evan Frankel Environmental Law and Policy Program at UCLA School of Law, will address the audience on “Local Governments Feel the Heat: Principles for Local Government Adaptation to the Impacts of Climate Change.” His presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with Deborah Rosenthal of SheppardMullin of Orange County, Calif.; Carl Adrianopoli, United States Department of Health & Human Services Chicago office; Lois Vitt Sale of Chicago’s Wight & Company.
The afternoon program will be a special presentation on adaptation in cities around the world with an introduction by Rada Doytcheva, RADA Architects, Chicago. Guest presenters will be Jörn Walter, chief urban planner and architect of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg offering a case study of adaptation in Hamburg; Associate Professor Jonathan Rosenbloom, Drake University Law School, outlining the Dutch public/private collaboration in funding adaptation of local infrastructure in response to climate change; and Professor and Associate Dean Carl J. Circo of the University of Arkansas School of Law discussing the use of development financing tools to help cover the costs of adapting to climate change in ‘Tornado Alley.’
The final segment will examine “Insurance and Climate Change: Spreading, Regulating, and Avoiding the Risks” with guest presenter Peter Kochenburger, executive director of the Insurance Law Center at the University of Connecticut School of Law. A second segment, “The Transactional Attorney’s Response to Climate Change: So Do Transactional Attorneys Really Need to Understand Atmospheric Science and Sea-Level Rise?” will be given by Professor Celeste M. Hammond, director of John Marshall’s Center for Real Estate Law. Panel commentators will be Dan Slone of McGuireWoods LLP, Richmond, Va.; Lorence Slutzky of Robbins Schwartz, Chicago; Shari Shapiro, of Cozen O’Connor, Cherry Hill, N.J.; Janet Johnson of Schiff Hardin LLP, Chicago.
There is a $150 fee for this day-long program. For additional information, visit https://events.jmls.edu/kratovil.