Prof. Donald J. Kochan

Professor Kochan’s scholarship focuses on areas of law and economics, international law, property, and jurisprudence, among others. He has published more than 25 scholarly articles and essays in well respected law journals, including theUniversity of Pittsburgh Law Review, University of Richmond Law Review, Loyola University Chicago Law Review, Nevada Law Journal, Seattle University Law Review, Berkeley Journal of International Law, Fordham International Law Journal,George Washington International Law Review, and Virginia Journal of Social Policy & Law, to name a few.  His work has been cited in more than 200 published law review articles, and his articles have been downloaded more than 5,000 times from SSRN and BePress.  In addition to his scholarly publications, Professor Kochan has published opinion editorials in leading newspapers across the country, recently including the Wall Street Journal and the L.A. Times.  Professor Kochan has presented his work at national legal conferences and at law schools domestic and foreign, has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, and has appeared on national radio and cable news broadcasts.

Immediately before coming to Chapman in 2004, Professor Kochan was an Olin Fellow at the University of Virginia School of Law for the 2003-2004 academic year. During 2002-2003, he was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law where he taught courses in Property and Environmental Law. During the summer of 2007, he was a visiting Professor at the University of Houston Law Center. Professor Kochan received his Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School, where he was a John M. Olin Scholar in Law and Economics and managing editor of the Cornell International Law Journal. He also served as editor and executive editor of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policysymposium issues in 1997 and 1998. He received his B.A. from Western Michigan University, with majors in political science and philosophy. After graduating from law school, Professor Kochan was a law clerk to The Honorable Richard F. Suhrheinrich of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Following his clerkship, Professor Kochan was an associate with the firm of Crowell & Moring LLP in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in Natural Resources & Environmental Law.

At Chapman, he is currently the chair of the faculty Committee on Teaching Excellence & Scholarship.  Professor Kochan teaches Property, Law & Economics, Agency & Partnership, Administrative Law, Natural Resources Law & Policy, and Federal Courts.

Publications