Janet Neuman
Professor of Law and
Associate Dean of Faculty

Specialty Areas & Course Descriptions

Administrative Law, Mining & Mineral Law, Water Law, Water Policy Seminar, Graduate Environmental Law Seminar

Academic Credentials

B.A. summa cum laude 1975 Drake University
J.D. 1979 Stanford Law School
Member, Phi Beta Kappa

Professional Background

Professor Neuman joined the faculty in 1992 after serving as the director of the Oregon Department of State Lands, where she oversaw the state’s management of Common School Fund lands and natural resources. Before becoming director, Ms. Neuman had been the agency’s assistant director for resource management. Prior to working in state government, she was an attorney in the Oregon firm of Tonkon, Torp, Galen, Marmaduke, and Booth, where she did commercial litigation and handled both trial and appellate work in state and federal court; Ms. Neuman began her legal career at the Gray, Plant firm in Minneapolis before coming to Oregon.

Professor Neuman was appointed as Lewis & Clark's first Associate Dean of Faculty in 2005. In that role, she promotes and supports faculty in teaching, scholarship, and community service.

Professor Neuman’s research interests are in the area of water and natural resources law, and she is a frequent speaker and writer on topics of water law and policy. Professor Neuman is co-director of the Law School's Natural Resources Law Institute, past president of the Oregon Water Trust (a non-profit entity restoring instream flows through purchase of water rights), and a former member of the State Board of Forestry, appointed by the governor of Oregon. Professor Neuman served on the Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission, appointed by President Clinton, which released a comprehensive report in 1998 about the recommended future role of the federal government in western water management.