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Joseph F. Rice School of Law

  • Masters of Environmental Law staff

Faculty and Advisory Board

Meet the faculty and advisory board for the Master of Studies in Law program.

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John Boyd

John Boyd

Adjunct Faculty

John Boyd is an attorney and shareholder at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd and teaches Environmental Law & Policy.

Etienne Toussaint

Etienne Toussaint

Associate Professor of Law

Etienne C. Toussaint is a private law scholar whose research examines how dominant cultural values and assumptions embedded in private law sustain economic and social hierarchies, and how imaginative and historical perspectives from marginalized communities can help reimagine law and political economy toward more liberatory ends. Drawing on critical legal theory, history, and cultural analysis, his work interrogates the normative foundations of private law across contexts such as community economic development, environmental and food justice, and social movements, while also exploring how literature and art can reshape legal meaning and expand the boundaries of legal imagination. He teaches Contracts, Business Associations, Law and Political Economy, Critical Legal History, and the Reconstruction Constitution.

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John Frick

John Frick

Adjunct Faculty

John Frick teaches Energy Law.

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Sara Bazemore

Sara Bazemore

Director, State Energy Office

Sara Pendarvis Bazemore is Director of the South Carolina Energy Office, within the Office of Regulatory Staff.  Her team promotes energy efficiency, renewable energy and clean transportation through funding, education, and collaborative outreach efforts, while serving as an energy data clearinghouse.  The State Energy Office implements plans that maximize environmental quality and energy conservation and efficiency and minimize the cost of energy throughout the state.

Prior to joining the Energy Office in 2021, Sara practiced environmental, regulatory law for over 15 years both in the private and public sector. While most of that time was with the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of General Counsel, Sara gained valuable insight and experience as an attorney in the private sector with Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and most recently with D’Alberto Graham & Grimsley.  

In 2005, Sara earned her MEERM/JD dual degree (Master of Earth and Environmental Resources Management from the USC School of the Environment, along with a Juris Doctor from the USC School of Law).  Today, she also serves as an adjunct professor at USC School of Law. Sara is a native of Charleston, South Carolina, where she developed her passion for the environment and public policy.

Zoe Niesel

Zoe Niesel

Professor of Law

Zoe Niesel is a Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law, where she teaches Civil Procedure, Legal and Equitable Remedies, and Drafting with Generative AI. Her scholarship explores the intersections of law and technology, civil procedure, federal courts, administrative law, and innovations in legal education.

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Will Kinney

Will Kinney

Attorney with the Mullikin Law Firm, LLC

Will Kinney is an attorney with the Mullikin Law Firm, LLC in Camden, South Carolina. He has over 15 years of experience in government and regulatory affairs legal practice and strategic advocacy.

Kinney represents clients across a diverse range of industries, including energy, manufacturing, healthcare, insurance, K-12 education, and financial services. He advises clients on complex legislative and regulatory challenges. As a registered lobbyist, he advocates for client interests before the South Carolina General Assembly and Executive Branch.

 Kinney serves as ethics and campaign finance counsel to candidates, corporations, trade associations, and political organizations, helping clients navigate and comply with state and federal election laws and regulations. He also counsels nonprofit organizations involved in environmental protection initiatives in the United States and South America.

 Kinney often presents to industry groups and public forums on legal and policy topics, including climate change and energy policy, civil justice reform, environmental regulation, and political ethics compliance.

 Originally from Sumter, South Carolina, Kinney earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Mississippi and his J.D. from the University of South Carolina School of Law. He lives in Columbia with his wife and three sons.

Dr. Matthew Klein

Dr. Matthew Klein

CEO & Chief Futurist of the Aqualaurus Group

Dr. Klein is the CEO & Chief Futurist of the Aqualaurus Group, a firm providing executive, anticipatory, and strategic leadership solutions for water-focused organizations. Previously, Dr. Klein served as President of North Carolina and Tennessee for a private equity-backed drinking water and wastewater utility. Dr. Klein led the successful turnaround and eventual sale of Indianapolis Water, one of the largest public drinking water systems in the United States. Earlier in his career, Dr. Klein served as both a senior environmental regulator and a senior utilities regulator.

 Dr. Klein earned his Doctor of Strategic Leadership from the School of Business & Leadership at Regent University.  Also, he possesses a Juris Doctoratefrom the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, a Master of Science degree from Ball State University, and a Bachelor of Science degree from Taylor University.

 Dr. Klein is a Senior Fellow with the Sagamore Institute and the host of the Water Foresight Podcast.  Also, he is the recipient of the 2018 Exceptional Service Award from the Management & Leadership Division of the American Water Works Association. Finally, Dr. Klein is a member of the American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, the Association of Professional Futurists, and the American Bar Association.

Courtney Cumming

Courtney Cumming

Staff Attorney with the Center for Heirs Property Preservation

Ms. Cumming is a staff attorney with the Center for Heirs Property Preservation in Columbia, South Carolina, where she advises clients on probate, heirs’ property, intestate inheritance, tax, and title issues.  She gained valuable environmental law express as an attorney for the South Carolina Law Project and as a legal intern with Earth Law Center.  Ms. Cumming is a Cum Laude graduate of Lander University (BS-Political Science) and hold a Juris Doctorate Degree for North Carolina Central University.  She is licensed to practice law in North and South Carolina.

Lauren Milton

Lauren Milton

Attorney with the South Carolina Environmental Law Project

Lauren Megill Milton is an attorney with the South Carolina Environmental Law Project.  Her passion for the environment stems from her upbringing in South Carolina’s upstate, where she explored the outdoors.  She is most happy when hiking, kayaking, or climbing. Her environmental litigation experience is extensive and includes work on the McClellanville Sand Mine, Gadsen Creek, and Dominion Pipeline cases. Ms. Milton is a graduate of Anderson University and the Charleston School of Law.  


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