Morrison Prize 2026 - SRP Sustainability Conference at ASU
by Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University
The Morrison Prize is a prestigious $10,000 award presented annually to the author(s) of the most impactful sustainability-related legal academic paper published in North America during the previous year. Hosted by the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, the prize aims to recognize and promote significant contributions to environmental sustainability law.
Eligible participants include full-time law professors who have published papers on topics such as environmental law, water law, energy law, natural resources law, land use law, disaster law, climate change law, or agricultural law in U.S. or Canadian legal academic journals. The judging process involves independent review by a diverse panel of law professors from accredited North American law schools, focusing on the quality, originality, and potential real-world impact of the submissions.
The winner of the Morrison Prize is announced in February and is required to present their winning paper at the SRP Sustainability Conference of American Legal Educators, held annually in May at ASU Law. This conference serves as a platform for leading scholars to discuss and advance research in environmental sustainability law.
Law professors engaged in sustainability-related research are encouraged to participate in this competition to gain recognition for their work and contribute to the broader discourse on environmental law and policy.
Speakers(4)
Heather Payne
Carter C. Kissel Professor in Law at The Ohio State University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law
Heather Payne is the Carter C. Kissel Professor in Law at The Ohio State University’s Michael E. Moritz College of Law. She won the 11th annual Morrison Prize for her article 'Reliance and Reliability,' published in the UC Irvine Law Review, which examines how legal and regulatory frameworks governing energy reliability often overlook the lived realities and dependence of consumers.
Jaclyn Lopez
Director at Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic for Democracy and the Environment at Stetson’s College of Law
Professor Jaclyn Lopez established and directs the Jacobs Public Interest Law Clinic for Democracy and the Environment at Stetson’s College of Law. Her interdisciplinary work lies focus on the intersection of property law and environmental social science, with a focus on how the law responds to environmental conditions like climate change. She holds four graduate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley. She briefly practiced land use and environmental law at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco before entering academia. She is one of the founders of the Environmental Law Collaborative and part of the team that won the Morrison Prize in 2019.
LeRoy C. Paddock
Associate Dean for Environmental Law Studies at George Washington University Law School
LeRoy (Lee) C. Paddock is associate dean for environmental law studies. He is a member of the ABA Section on Environment, Energy and Resources Council. Prior to coming to GW Law, he was the director of Environmental Legal Studies at Pace University Law School from 2002 to 2007. He also was a visiting scholar at the Environmental Law Institute between 1999 and 2002, focusing on the clean air act, state-federal relationship, and enforcement issues.
Rhett Larson
Richard Morrison Professor of Water Law at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law
Rhett Larson is the Richard Morrison Professor of Water Law at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. He is also a senior research fellow with the Kyl Center for Water Policy at ASU’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy. Professor Larson’s research and teaching interests are in property law, administrative law, and environmental and natural resource law, in particular, domestic and international water law and policy. Professor Larson’s research focuses on the impact of technological innovation on water rights regimes, in particularly transboundary waters, and on the sustainability implications of a human right to water. Professor Larson also practiced environmental and natural resource law with law firms in Arizona, focusing on water rights, water quality, and real estate transactions.
Event Details
- Date
- May 14-15, 2026
- 2 days
- Location
- 🇺🇸 Phoenix, United States
- Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University
- Pricing
- Free
- Audience
- Law professors, legal scholars, environmental law practitioners
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