University of Utah : S.J. Quinney College of Law

Sanne Knudsen to Join Quinney College Faculty as Visiting Professor

Posted: 12 May 2009 by Barry Scholl
Updated on: 13 May 2009

Tags: Sanne Knudsen Visiting Faculty Environmental Law Clinic 

Beginning this fall, Sanne Knudsen will join the S.J. Quinney College of Law as a Visiting Professor for two years to teach Natural Resources Law and Environmental Practice.  She will also assist Dean Adler in developing the new Environmental Law Clinic.

Knudsen comes to the College from the Regulatory Litigation Practice Group at the law firm of Faegre & Benson LLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she has engaged in extensive pro bono litigation representing national and regional environmental advocacy organizations including the Defenders of Wildlife, The Humane Society of the United States, and the Sierra Club.  Litigating under the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and National Forest Management Act, Knudsen has served as lead counsel in wildlife and forestry cases before the D.C. Circuit and Eighth Circuit.

Prior to joining Faegre & Benson, Knudsen worked as an associate in the Environmental Law Practice Group at the Chicago office of Sidley Austin Brown & Wood LLP where she provided litigation, regulatory, and transactional support to various corporate clients, and worked with state and federal regulatory agencies to resolve compliance disputes.  Upon graduating from law school, she clerked with the Honorable Ronald M. Gould, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Seattle, Washington.

"We're thrilled to have someone with Professor Knudsen's training and background to complement our already superb environmental and natural resources faculty.  She will bring her considerable experience to bear in both our new environmental clinic and in our academic curriculum,” said Robert Adler, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and James I. Farr Chair in Law at the College.

In addition to her litigation background, Knudsen benefits from strong academic credentials.  She has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School where she instructed brief writing and oral advocacy in the year-long Environmental Law Moot Court course.  Knudsen also taught as an adjunct professor of Environmental Law at Hamline University Law School, St. Paul, Minnesota.  And as a graduate student research assistant at the Institute for Environmental Science, Education and Technology, Ann Arbor, Michigan, she designed curriculum for a course entitled “Environmental Law: Exploring the Influence on Engineering Design.”

Described by her students as “dedicated and energetic,” Knudsen explains that she believes in “creating open communication, enabling active participation, and providing students with analytical tools to think through new issues based on knowledge gained in the classroom."

Knudsen received a B.S. in Environmental Engineering (summa cum laude) from Northwestern University (1998), a M.S. in Environmental Engineering from The University of Michigan Rackham School of Graduate Studies (2002), and her J.D. from The University of Michigan Law School (magna cum laude), where she was associate editor and then contributing editor of the Michigan Law Review (2002).

An outdoor enthusiast who loves to hike, commute by bike, and snowshoe, she views Salt Lake City as an ideal home.  “With the presence of the Wallace Stegner Center at the College, which encourages examination of broader environmental issues, I think S.J. Quinney is the perfect place at this stage of my academic career,” said Knudsen. “I am excited by the opportunity to learn from the students and faculty at S.J. Quinney as I enhance my scholarship and embark on this endeavor.”