Dr. Amy Cahn

Biography

Amy Laura Cahn is a community-based movement lawyer focused on environmental climate justice and civil rights. She collaborates with advocates and attorneys to support self-determination and shift power to affected communities. Cahn serves as the convener of the national Title VI Alliance, a coalition dedicated to advocating for civil rights in the context of environmental, climate, housing, and transportation justice. Previously, she was the Legal Director at Taproot Earth, where she facilitated the launch of the Transition Lawyering Network. Cahn has also held positions as a Visiting Professor and Director of the Environmental Justice Clinic at Vermont Law Graduate School and has led environmental justice practices at the Conservation Law Foundation and Philadelphia’s Public Interest Law Center. She founded the Garden Justice Legal Initiative, the nation’s first urban agriculture law clinic, and provided legal counseling to residents in the floodplain community of Eastwick, addressing injustices related to an extensive urban renewal project. She clerked for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division. Cahn teaches climate policy law at Tufts University and lawyering transition at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

Research Interests