The JSW Centre for the Future of Law at NLSIU continues its online presentation series on contemporary scholarship by leading academics, with Dr. Liz Fisher, Professor of Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law and Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford on October 27, 2025. The talk is part of a series of presentations by the Centre on contemporary scholarship by leading academics.
About the Talk
Prof. Fisher will be discussing her ongoing research on the relationship between legal expertise and environmental regulation, covering her working paper titled “Imagining the World: Environmental Problems and Legal Expertise.”
Abstract
Environmental law is often understood as a legally anomalous subject that doesn’t demand much in the way of conventional legal thought and doesn’t fit into the way law is normally classified. This presumption about the lack of fit of environmental law has resulted in a failure to recognise the legal work and legal expertise the subject involves. In this paper, building on a three year project that involves archive work in Australia, the US, and the UK, I show the type of structural legal questions environmental law gives rise to, the dangers of wishful thinking, and the law jobs (and legal expertise) the subject requires.
About the Speaker
Dr. Liz Fisher is a Professor of Environmental Law in the Faculty of Law, Oxford and has written widely on environmental law and administrative law in national common law jurisdictions. A Leverhulme Major Research Fellow from 2022-25, she is a non-executive board member of the Office for Environmental Protection, Delegate of OUP, and an Overseas Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.
Prof. Fisher’s work looks at the nature of legal expertise required in environmental law and administrative law in common law legal systems, by studying doctrine, legislation, legal culture and socio-political culture. Prof. Fisher’s research explores the mental constructs lawyers and legal scholars use to legally reason, particularly in relation to public administration and environmental problems. Her work is grounded in national common law jurisdictions.
How to register?
Attendees are required to register here.
The meeting link for the discussion will be shared directly to the registered email address.