Jeff Thaler has become Of Counsel to the Portland lawfirm of Preti Flaherty, following over a decade serving as a Professor of Practice at the University of Maine School of Law, and as Associate University Counsel on energy projects, particularly floating offshore wind, for the University of Maine. He has been a successful trial, environmental and renewable energy attorney in Maine for decades, and has taught students at the college, law & graduate school levels. In 2019, Jeff co-taught an international environmental policy course in China's Duke Kunshan graduate program as a Fulbright Specialist. Since 2009 Jeff has been the attorney for Maine's floating deep-water wind projects and initiatives, handling all regulatory, permitting, transactional and related issues at local, state and federal levels. Recently he completed 18 months of negotiations with 2 multinational energy companies to invest $100 million and be the developers of the first U.S. full-scale floating wind project. Jeff has developed and taught courses such as Legislative and Administrative Law, Energy Law, Trial Practice, Toxic Torts, Climate Change Law, and an Environmental and Administrative Law Practicum. He is the lead author of the only book on Maine Environmental Law, and has published law review articles on climate change, energy, legal educating, and in January 2021 an article examining what legal authority States have to impose protective restrictions to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. He has his B.A. from Williams College, magna cum laude, and J.D. from Yale Law School.
Work Phone:
(207) 791-3213
Email:
jthaler@preti.com
Website:
https://www.preti.com/jeffrey-a-thaler/
EPA Region:
Region 1 – (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, and VT)
Year of induction:
2007-8
Degrees:
1974 Williams College, Magna cum laude
1977, Yale Law School Juris Doctor
Admissions:
Maine (Active)
Court Admissions:
All state and federal courts in Maine; First Circuit Court of Appeals; District of Columbia; New York; New Hampshire
Professional Societies and Organizations:
ACOEL; Environmental and Energy Technology Council of Maine
Other Environmental Career Experience:
Maine Audubon Society, Staff Attorney and Director of Advocacy
Berman Simmons and Bernstein Shur-- Partner in law firms
University of Maine
University of Maine School of Law
Preti Flaherty, Of Counsel
Representative Publications:
June 9, 2020 Northwestern University Law Review On Note, “What Can a Governor Do When the 2nd COVID-19 Surge Comes?” https://blog.northwesternlaw.review/?p=1481
Fall 2020: Mitchell Hamline Law Journal of Public Policy and Practice, “The Next Surges Are Here: What Can Governors Constitutionally Do Now to Prevent More COVID-19 Cases and Deaths? http://ssrn.com/abstract=3604706
https://www.pressherald.com/2020/04/11/maine-voices-novel-virus-raises-novel-legal-issues/
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/04/tenth-amendment-donald-trump-no-total-authority.html
https://www.justsecurity.org/69770/can-governors-close-their-borders-to-pandemic-risks/
“Experiential Educating in the Classroom: An Administrative Law Practicum Meeting Student and Bar Needs” (Chapter 12 in Experiential Education in the Law School Curriculum (Carolina Academic Press 2017)) http://www.cap-press.com/books/isbn/9781611636901/Experiential-Education-in-the-Law-School-Curriculum
“Experiential Educating in the Classroom: Designing an Administrative Law Practicum Meeting New ABA Requirements and Student Needs”, 68 Maine Law Review 161 (January 2016) http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2574833
https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/mlr/vol68/iss1/13/
“From Immersion with Farmers and Autoworkers to Refugees and Immigrants: 40 Years of Transformational Learning”, Chapter 11 in Putting the Local in Global Education: Transformative Learning Through Domestic Off-Campus Programs (May 2015, Stylus Press)
“The Seas Are Changing: It’s Time to Use Ocean-Based Renewable Energy, The Public Trust Doctrine, And a Green Thumb to Protect Seas From Our Changing Climate”, 19 Ocean and Coastal Law Journal 241-96 (2014) https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=oclj
“Hubris Games: Analyzing Success and Failure of Large-scale Energy Projects”, Book review Spring 2014 in Energy Research and Social Science (Issue 1), at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629614000061
“In the Public Trust: Climate Changed Sea Levels and Ocean Wind Power”,
31 Delaware Lawyer 20 (No. 4 Winter 2014) http://www.delawarebarfoundation.org/delaware-lawyer-publication/
“Roadmap for Permitting and Leasing for Maine Offshore Wind Energy Projects” and “Roadmap for Permitting and Leasing For Maine Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) Power Projects”
E2Tech and Maine Ocean and Wind Industry Initiative (2013) http://www.e2tech.org/projects/wind-energy
“Fiddling as the World Burns: How Climate Change Urgently Requires a Paradigm Shift in the Permitting of Renewable Energy Projects”
42 Lewis & Clark Environmental Law Review 1101-1156 (December 2012); reprinted in full in 24 Environmental Law & Management 277-303 (Issue 6 2012)
http://law.lclark.edu/live/files/13156-thalerready-for-websitepdf
“Greenhouse Gas Litigation: A Split in the Courts”
American Bar Association Trends (May 2012)
“Treatment of Greenhouse Gases Under the National Environmental Policy Act”
Lexis-Nexis Treatise, Global Climate Change Series (October 2010)
Illustrative Projects:
Maine and New England Aqua Ventus Offshore Wind Projects