James W. Coleman

Biography
Prior to joining SMU, he was on the faculty at the University of Calgary, where he taught at both the law school and the business school. Before Calgary, he served on the faculty at Harvard Law School as a Climenko Fellow and Lecturer on Law.
Coleman’s scholarship addresses regulation of North American energy companies, focusing on how countries account for and influence regulation of fuel and electricity in their trading partners and how global energy companies respond to competing pressures from investors and regulators in multiple jurisdictions. He publishes the Energy Law Professor blog and you can follow him on Twitter at @energylawprof. This fall he will teach Oil & Gas Law.
Areas of Expertise
- Energy Law
Education
J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School
Courses
Articles
The Third Age of Oil and Gas Law, 95 Indiana Law Journal ___, (forthcoming 2019)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Energy and Eminent Domain, 104 Minnesota Law Review ___, (forthcoming 2019)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Pipelines & Power-lines: Building the Energy Transport Future, 79 Ohio State Law Journal __ (forthcoming 2019)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Country-level Life Cycle Assessment of Liquified Natural Gas Trade for Electricity Generation (with Sarah Jordaan, Adebola Kasumu, Jeanne Liendo, and Vivian Li), 53 Environmental Science & Technology 1 1735 (2018) (peer reviewed)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Beyond the Pipeline Wars: Reforming Environmental Assessment of Energy Transport Infrastructure, 2018 Utah Law Review 119 (2018)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Policymaking by Proposal: How Agencies Are Using Proposed Rules to Transform Industry Long Before Final Rules Are Tested in Court, 24 George Mason Law Review 497 (2017)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Repeal the Jones Act for American Energy, Regulatory Transparency Project, White Paper (2017)
Clearing the Air: How Canadian Liquified Natural Gas Exports Could Help Meet World Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals, C.D. Howe Institute, Issue Brief (2016) (with Sarah Jordaan)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
How Cheap is Corporate Talk? Comparing Companies' Comments on Regulations With Their Securities Disclosures, 40 Harvard Environmental Law Review 47 (2016) (Chosen as one of the year's four best articles in environmental law and policy and republished with scholarly commentaries at 47 Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review 10,681 (2017))
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Liquefied Natural Gas Exports: Can Canadian Gas Help the World Meet Its Climate Goals? (with Sarah Jordaan), C.D. Howe Institute, Issue Brief (forthcoming 2016)
International Environmental Law: A Guide for Judges (with Roger Martella), Federal Judicial Center 2015
Investing in the Shadow of the Law: How Agencies Are Using Proposed Rules to Transform Industry Long Before Final Rules Are Tested In Court, 23 George Mason Law Review __ (forthcoming 2016)
Book Review, RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON INTERNATIONAL ENERGY LAW, Kim Talus, ed. (2014), 33 International Energy Law Review 220 (2015)
Calibrating Liquefied Natural Gas Export Life Cycle Analysis: Accounting for Legal Boundaries & Post-Export Markets (with Sarah Jordaan, Adebola Kasumu, Jeanne Liendo, and Vivian Li), Canadian Institute of Resources Law, Occasional Paper No. 49 (2015)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Importing Energy, Exporting Regulation, 83 Fordham Law Review 1357 (2014)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Unilateral Climate Regulation, 38 Harvard Environmental Law Review 87 (2014)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
North American and Global Integration of Carbon Control Markets in THE LAW OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN CANADA (with Roger Martella & Jeffrey Gracer) (Dennis Mahony ed., 2d ed. 2012)
An Empirical Analysis of Wealth Disparities in WTO Disputes: Do Poorer Countries Suffer from Strategic Delay During Dispute Litigation? (with Geoff Antell), 29 Boston University Law Journal 267 (2011)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Ratifying Kyoto via Local Actors: Accomplishments and Limitations of Local Cap and Trade Programs (with Roger Martella), 40 Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review 10,780 (2010)
Comment, The Slow, Just, Unfinished Demise of the Buckley Compromise: Randall v. Sorrell, 126 S. Ct. 2479 (2006), 30 Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy 427 (2006)
Phylogeny of Agrodiaetus Hübner 1822 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) Inferred from mtDNA Sequences of COI and COII and Nuclear Sequences of EF1-alpha: Karyotype Diversification and Species Radiation (with Nikolai Kandul, Vladimir Lukhtanov, Alexander Dantchenko, Cagan Sekercioglu, David Haig, and Naomi Pierce), 53 Systematic Biology 278 (2004)
Book Chapters
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Energy Market and Policy Revolutions: Regulatory Process and the Cost of Capital, in Energy Law and Economics (Klaus Mathis ed., 2018)
Full-text: SSRN | SMU Repository
Other Publications
Presentations
Sustainability Conference on American Legal Educators
Phoenix, Arizona (May 2018
Customers & Rate-payers
Electricity Dialogue at Northwestern
Northwestern Pritzker School of Law
Chicago, Illinois (May 2018) (invited)
North American Energy Transport & Trade: The Impact of
Climate Policy
North American Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Symposium
University of Houston Law Center
Houston, Texas (May 2018) (invited)
Energy Competition: From Commodity to Boutique and Back
Energy Law and Economics Conference
University of Lucerne
Lucerne, Switzerland (April 2018)
Power-lines & Pipelines: Building the Energy Transport Future
Center for the Study of the Administrative State Research
Roundtable on Environmental Law in Administrative State
George Mason University School of Law
Arlington, Virginia (April 2018) (invited)
New Rules for New Energy Transport
Texas A&M School of Law
Fort Worth, Texas (February 2018) (invited)
Transforming U.S. Energy Markets: Energy Transport Challenges
Harvard Club of Dallas
Dallas, Texas (February 2018) (invited)
Natural Gas: A Bridge or a Cliff?
Harvard, Duke, University of North Carolina Power Shift Workshop
Washington, DC (February 2018) (invited)
The Future of Energy Systems in North America
Transitions to the Future of Energy Management
University of Calgary Faculty of Law
Calgary, Alberta (November 2017) (invited)
Expanding the Lens: Other Emerging Risks to Energy Finance
Fixed Costs and Uncertain Futures in the Regulated Electricity Sector
University of South Carolina School of Law
Columbia, South Carolina (November 2017) (invited)
Moderator, The Future of Texas-Mexico Energy Integration
Mission Foods Texas-Mexico Center
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas (October 2017) (invited)
Investment & Risk in Energy Transport: Market &
Policy Upheavals
John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies
Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences
Southern Methodist University
Dallas, Texas (September 2017)
Enabling the Energy Future: Investment & Risk in
Energy Transport
University of Colorado, University of Claifornia-Santa Barbara, &
Duke University Energy & Climate Workshop
University of Colorado School of Law
Boulder, Colorado (August 2017) (invited)
The Future of Energy Transport: Transitions and Uncertainty
2017 Natural Resources Law Teachers Workshop
Santa Fe, New Mexico (July 2017) (invited)
Building Energy Transport for a Low Carbon Future:
Investment and Uncertainty
Emerging Energy Scholars Workshop
University of Colorado School of Law
Boulder, Colorado (June 2017) (invited)
Energy Revolutions and Legal Flashpoints
Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Natural Resources Law
Teachers Institute
Banff, Alberta (June 2017)
Energy Market and Policy Upheaval: Investment and
Risk in Fuel and Power Transport
Austin Bar Association
Austin, Texas (May 2017) (invited)
Beyond the Pipeline Wars: Reforming Environmental Assessment
of Energy Transport Infrastructure
International Energy Governance conference
Vanderbilt Law School
Nashville, Tennessee (April 2017) (invited)
Enabling the Energy Future: Public Participation, Regulatory
Process, and the Cost of Capital
Energy Law and Economics Conference
University of Lucerne
Lucerne, Switzerland (April 2017)
Featured Speaker, Do Corporations Cry Wolf? Statements to
Regulators and Investors
Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review
Environmental Law Institute and Vanderbilt Law School
Washington, DC (March 2017) (invited)
Energy Market & Policy Revolutions: Investment & Uncertainty in
Pipeline & Renewable Power Transport
Texas Environmental Law Journal Symposium
University of Texas at Austin School of Law
Austin, Texas (March 2017) (invited)
Energy Pipelines, the Trump Administration, & the Courts: New
Policies & New Challenges
Dallas Bar Association
Dallas, Texas (March 2017) (invited)
Keynote Address, North American Energy Federalism
North American Environment, Energy & Natural Resourced
Symposium
University of Houston Law Center
Houston, Texas (February 2017) (invited)
Roundtable, Harvard-Duke-University of North Carolina Workshop,
Power Shift: Regulating the Evolving Electricity Sector
Washington, DC (February 2017) (invited)
Enabling the Energy Future: Reconciling an Energy Transport
Boom with Increased Scrutiny for Interstate Infrastructure
Regional Challenges and Opportunities in Energy Transformations
Workshop
University of Texas
Austin, Texas (November 2016) (invited)
Is Alberta a Model for Other energy Producing Jurisdictions?
Oil and Gas Royalties and Climate Regulation
Dentons North America Energy Law Panel
University of Calgary Faculty of Law
Calgary, Alberta (October 2016) (invited
Environmental Review of Energy Transport and Global
Energy Markets
Center for the Study of the Administrative State
Public Policy Converence on Environmental Law in the Administrative
State
George Mason University School of Law
Arlington, Virginia (September 2016) (invited)
The Energy Infrastructure Challenge: Parallel Movement
in Canadian and United States Energy Federalism
Eminent Speakers in Energy Law Course
University of Calgary Faculty of Law
Calgary, Alberta (September 2016) (invited)
Environmental Review of Pipelines, Energy Transport and
Global Energy Markets
Texas Legal Scholars Workshop
Southern Methodist Unviersity
Dedman School of Law
Dallas, Texas (August 2016)
Roundtable, Duke-Harvard Workshop
Power Shift: Regulating the Evolving Electricity Sector
Nashville, Tennessee (July 2016) (invited)
Environmental Review of Energy Transport Projects &
Global Energy Markets
University of Washington Junior Environmental Law Scholars Workshop
Seattle, Washington (June 2016)
Environmental Review of Pipelines, Energy Transport,
and Global Energy Markets
Center for the Study of the Administrative State, Research
Roundtable on Environmental Law in the Administrative State
George Mason University School of Law
Arlington, Virginia (May 2016)
Using Corporate Securities Disclosures to Assess Accuracy of
Corporate Warnings About Regulation
Environment and Climate change Canada,
Government of Canada, Teleconference
Ottawa, Ontario (April 2016) (invited)
Getting to Markets: Natural Resource Projects in Canada
C.D. Howe Institute
Calgary, Alberta (March 2016)
Moderator, New Political Promises: What They Mean for
Environmental Assessment of Pipeline Projects
Canadian Association of Environmental Law Societies
Annual Conference
Calgary, Alberta (February 2015) (invited)
How Cheap Is Corporate Talk? Comparing What Companies Tell
Regulators With What TheyTell Investors
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv, Israel (December 2015) (invited)
Do Corporations Cry Wolf? Comparing What Companies Tell
Regulators About Proposed Rules With What They Tell
Shareholders
Society for Empirical Legal Studies Global Workshop for
Junior Empirical-Legal Scholars
Hebrew University
Jerusalem, Israel (December 2015)
Do Corporations Cry Wolf? Comparing What Companies Tell
Regulators About Proposed RulesWith What They Tell
Shareholders
Florida State University College of Law
Tallahassee, Florida (November 2015) (invited)
Policymaking by Proposal: How Agencies Are Transforming
Industry Investment Long BeforeFinal Rules Are Tested In Court
George Mason University School of Law
Arlington, VA (October 2015) (invited)
Investing in the Shadow of the Law: How Agency Proposals are
Driving Energy Investments
Transatlantic Law Forum
Arlington, VA (October 2015) (invited)
The Climate Impact of Liquefied Natural Gas from Canada
Hydraulic Fracturing Initiative
Interdisciplinary Workshop
Calgary, Alberta (August 2015) (invited)
How Cheap is Corporate Talk? An Empirical Comparison of
Companies' Statements toRegulators and Statements to Investors
University of Washington Junior Environmental Law
Scholars Workshop
Seattle, Washington (July 2015)
Addressing Pollution in Other Countries: New Regulatory
Models, New Problems
Calgary Sustainability Conference
Calgary, Alberta (June 2015) (invited)
New Energy Regulation: Changing Investment Decisions in the
United States and Abroad
Natural Resources Law Teacher’s Institute
Salt Lake City, Utah (May 2015) (invited)
Corporate Regulatory Impact Predictions
Society for Environmental Law and Economics
Groningen, Netherlands (May 2015)
How Cheap is Corporate Talk? Comparing What Companies Tell
Regulators With What TheyTell Investors
Sustainability Conference on American Legal Educators
Phoenix, Arizona (May 2015)
Liquefied Natural Gas, Energy Trade, and the Climate
Alberta Student Energy Conference
Calgary, Alberta (March 2015) (invited)
An Energy Transport Revolution: Fracking and the Clean
Power Plan
Iowa Law School Federalist Society
Iowa City, Iowa (March 2015) (invited)
Agricultural Regulation and Litigation
Federalist Society Iowa Lawyers Chapter
Des Moines, Iowa (March 2015) (invited)
Power Shift: Regulating the Evolving Electricity Sector
Roundtable, Duke-Harvard Workshop
(February 2015) (invited)
Prospects for Liquefied Natural Gas in Canada: Environmental
Regulation, RoyaltySchemes, and Broader Environmental Goals
Moderator, Canadian Association of Environmental Law
Societies Annual Conference
Calgary, Alberta (February 2015) (invited)
United States Scrutiny and Regulation of Canadian Oil Production
Canadian Political Science Students’ Association Annual Conference
Calgary, Alberta (January 2015) (invited)
Petroleum and Pâté: Other Nations’ Efforts to Influence Canadian
Crude Oil Production
Haskayne Hour
Calgary, Alberta (December 2014)
Environmental Matching Commitments
Notre Dame Law School London Roundtable on
Valuation, Institutions, and Environment
London, England (November 2014) (invited)
Perils of Carbon Tariffs for Energy Trade & Climate Cooperation
Canadian Council on International Law Conference on Energy,
Resources and Environmental Issues Igniting
International Law
Ottawa, Ontario (November 2014)
Environmental Matching Commitments
University of Washington Junior Environmental Law
Scholars Workshop
Seattle, Washington (July 2014)
Influencing Regulation in a Nation’s Energy Trading Partners:
Alternative Models of Unilateral Climate and Energy Regulation
European Consortium for Political Research
Barcelona, Spain (June 2014)
Increased Scrutiny for Energy Trade: Environmental Assessments
& Lifecycle Regulation
Association of Canadian General Counsel
Victoria, British Columbia (May 2014) (invited)
Regulation of Imported Fuel: Infrastructure &
Lifecycle Regulations
Alberta Student Energy Conference
Calgary, Alberta (March 2014) (invited)
Environmental Matching Commitments
Canadian Law and Economics Association Annual Conference
University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Toronto, Ontario (September 2013)
Importing Energy, Exporting Regulation: Reconciling State Policy
Innovation with National Energy Markets, Legal & Policy
Pathways for Energy Innovation
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN (April 2013) (invited)
How Can Domestic Regulation Enable International Cooperation?
International Conference on Law & Society
Honolulu, HI (June 2012)
Developments in Greenhouse Gas Regulation: EPA, Courts,
and Legislatures
Moderator
American Bar Association’s 41st Annual Conference on Environmental Law
Salt Lake City, UT (March 2012)
Development of International Environmental Law
Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations
Harvard Law School
Cambridge, MA (February 2012) (invited)
How Can Domestic Regulation Enable International Cooperation?
The Case of Climate Change
Junior International Law Scholars Association Conference
University of Georgia School of Law
Athens, GA (February 2012)