David A. Wirth joined the faculty of the Boston College Law School in 1999 and serves as Director of International Programs. His areas of research and teaching include public international law, environmental law, and administrative law. From 1990 to 1998 Professor Wirth was a member of the faculty at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington, Va., and since 1992 has served on the summer session faculty at the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School in South Royalton, Vt. He has also taught at Harvard and Oxford Universities, the University of Virginia, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As a Fulbright Scholar at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Regional Research Program in 1996-97, Professor Wirth researched environment as a security issue. His other professional experience includes serving as director of the Trade, Health, and Environment Program of the Community Nutrition Institute in Washington, D.C.; senior attorney at the National Resources Defense Council; and attorney adviser, Office of the Legal Adviser, U.S.Dept. of State. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Professor Wirth currently has served on the National Advisory Committee to the U.S. Representative to the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and the Environmental Advisory Council to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

A graduate of Yale Law School, Professor Wirth was editor of the Yale Journal of World Public Order. He served as law clerk to Judge William H. Timbers, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, New York, and has been admitted to the bar in New York and the District of Columbia.

EDUCATION

A.B., Princeton University; A.M., Harvard University; J.D., Yale University.

RECENT ACTIVITIES

Work in Progress:  "The President, the Environment, and Foreign Policy: The Globalization of Environmental Politics." In The Presidency and the Environment: The Twentieth Century and Beyond, ed. Keith Bartholomew.

Presentations: “Un regard extérieur: Back-impact of EU Measures on US Regulatory Regimes,” at a conference entitled “Les échanges entre les droits, l’expérience communautaire,” L'Université du Littoral-Côte d’Opale, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, in May 2006. "Trade Disputes over Science: The European Union’s Ban on Hormone-Treated Beef and Genetically Engineered Foods and Crops," to the Environmental Policy Group, Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in October 2004. "The Globalization of Environmental Policy," a Hamilton Hall Lecture Series presentation, Salem, Massachusetts, in February. "The Pros and Cons of the WTO’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement: US v. EU Approaches," at the Second Annual Solutions Conference at Vermont Law School, South Royalton, Vermont, in April 2005. "Review of Experience to Date with Article 13 of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation," to the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, San Diego, California, in April 2005.

Activities: Instructor of a workshop, “International Environmental Policy, Negotiations, and Law,” in the MSc Program in Nature, Society, and Environmental Policy, Oxford University, England, in April 2006. Co-instructor at a workshop entitled “International Environmental Policy, Negotiations, and Law” for the Oxford University Master of Science Program in Nature, Society, and Environmental Policy, Oxford, England, in May 2004. Panelist at the “Public International Law—Dead or Alive?” roundtable co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Lawyers Alliance for World Security and the Ford Hall Forum in December 2003. Panel moderator at a symposium titled “Immigration Law and Human Rights: Legal Line Drawing Post-September 11” at BC Law in March 2004. On-site director of the BC Law London Program for the spring semester 2003. Visiting professor at Harvard Law School for the spring 2002 semester.

Appointments: Appointed member scholar of the Center for Progressive Regulation. Elected to the Association of American Law Schools Planning Committee for the Workshop on Integrating Transnational Legal Perspectives into the First-Year Curriculum.

Other: Visited Pembroke College, Oxford University, in Oxford, England, in March, as BC Law contact for international programs to discuss student exchanges.

COURSES

Fall 2011: International Computer Law Review; International Environmental Law; International Law; Jessup International Law Moot Court
Spring 2012: Foreign Relations Law of the United States; International Organizations

• With Zygmunt J. B. Plater et al. Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society. 4th ed. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2010.
• "International Trade Law: CLI Background Paper No. 10." In Recalibrating the Laws of Humans with the Law of nature: Climate Change, Human Rights, and Intergenerational Justice, by Burns H. Weston and Tracy Bach, Appendix A, 295-297. [South Royalton, VT]: Vermont Law School, 2009.
• "Make Trade Rules Attuned to the Ecological Needs and Interests of Future Generations: CLI Recommendation No. 15." In Recalibrating the Laws of Humans with the Law of Nature: Climate Change, Human Rights, and Intergenerational Justice, by Burns H. Weston and Tracy Bach, Appendix B, 202-207. [South Royalton, VT]: Vermont Law School, 2009.
• "Un regard extérieur: Back Impact of European Union Legislation on American Environmental Regulations." In Les échanges entre les droits, l'expérience communautaire: Une lecture des phénomènes de régionalisation et de mondialisation du droit, sous la direction de Sophie Robin-Olivier et de Daniel Fasquelle, 107-128. Brussels: Bruylant, 2008.
• "The International Organization for Standardization: Private Voluntary Standards as Swords and Shields." Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review 36, no.1 (2009): 79-102.
• "The EU's New Impact on American Environmental Regulation." Fletcher Forum of World Affairs  31: no.2 (Summer 2007): 91-109.
• "Hazardous Substances and Activities." In Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law, edited by Daniel Bodanskyk, Jutta Brunee and Ellen Hey, 394-422. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
• “The Transatlantic GMO Dispute Against the European Community: Some Preliminary Thoughts.” In EU and WTO Law: How Tight is the Legal Straitjacket for Environmental Product Regulation? edited by Marc Pallemaerts, 175-208. Brussels: VUBPRESS Brussels University Press, 2006.
• "Globalization and the Environment: Why All the Fuss?" International Environmental Law Committee Newsletter (ABA Section on International Law) 1, no.3 (Winter/Spring 2006): 2-9.
• “Tribute to Frederic L. Kirgis.” Washington and Lee Law Review 62, no.3 (Summer 2005): 861-863.
• Contributing Author. A New Progessive Agenda for Public Health and the Environment, edited by Christopher H Schroeder and Rena Steinzor. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2005.
• "The President, the Environment, and Foreign Policy: the Globalization of Environmental Politics." Journal of Land, Resources & Environmental Law 24 (2004): 393-407.
• With Zygmunt J. B. Plater et al. Environmental Law and Policy: Nature, Law, and Society. 3rd ed. New York: Aspen Publishers, 2004.
• Review of International Organizations and International Dispute Settlement, edited by Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Cesare Romano, and Ruth Mackenzie. American Journal of International Law 97 (October 2003): 1002-1006.
  With Douglas J. Caldwell. "Unilateral Trade-Based Measures for Protection of the Marine Environment: A Legal and Policy Perspective." In Values at Sea: Ethics for the Marine Environment, edited by Dorinda G. Dallmeyer, 147-182. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2003.
• With Jeffery Atik. "Science and International Trade – Third Generation Scholarship." Boston College International and Comparative Law Review 26 (2003): 171-181.
• "International Law." "International Court of Justice." "Territorial Sea." In Dictionary of American History, Stanley I. Kutler, editor-in-chief, vol. 4: 393-395, 387-388, vol. 8: 93. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, Thomson, Gale, c2003.
• "Precaution in International Environmental Policy and United States Law and Practice." In North American Environmental Law and Policy [v.] 10, prepared by the Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America, 219-268. Montreal: Published for The Commission by Editions Yvon Blais, 2003.
• "Current Developments: The Sixth Session (Part Two) and Seventh Session of the Conference of the Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change." American Journal of International Law 96 (July 2002): 648-660.
• "International Decisions. European Communities -- Measures Affecting Asbestos and Asbestos-Containing Products." American Journal of International Law 96 (April 2002): 435-439.
• Review of Administrative and Expert Monitoring of International Treaties, edited by Paul C. Szasz. American Journal of International Law 95 (April 2001): 471-472.
• "Compliance with Non-Binding Norms of Trade and Finance." In Commitment and Compliance: The Role of Non-Binding Norms in the International Legal System, edited by Dinah Shelton, 330-344. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000.
• "Some Reflections on Turtles, Tuna, Dolphin, and Shrimp." Yearbook of International Environmental Law 9 (1998): 40-47.
• "Teaching and Research in International Environmental Law." Symposium: Environmental Law: Trends in Legal Education and Scholarship, Harvard Environmental Law Review 23 (1999): 423-440.
• "International Decisions. European Communities -- Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products." American Journal of International Law 92 (October 1998): 755-759.
• "Partnership Advocacy in World Bank Environmental Reform." In The Struggle for Accountability, edited by Jonathan A. Fox and L. David Brown, 51-79. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998.
• "Trade Implications of the Basel Convention Amendment Banning North-South Trade in Hazardous Wastes." Review of European Community & International Environmental Law: RECIEL 7 (1998): 237-248. [Condensed version appears in International Environment Reporter 19 (1996): 796-799.]
• "Globalizing the Environment." William and Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review 22 (Spring 1998): 353-374. (Also appears in Beyond Sovereignty: Issues for a Global Agenda, edited by Maryann K. Cusimano, 198-216. Boston: St. Martin's, 2000)
• "At War With the Environment." [Review of National Defense and the Environment, by Stephen Dycus.] Virginia Law Review 84 (1998): 315-332.
• "International Trade Agreements: Vehicles for Regulatory Reform?" University of Chicago Legal Forum 1997: 331-373.
• "Economic Assistance, the World Bank, and Nonbinding Instruments." In International Compliance With Nonbinding Accords, edited by Edith Brown Weiss, 219-246. Washington, D.C.: American Society of International Law, 1997.
• "Government by Trade Agreement." In Joining Together, Standing Apart: National Identities after NAFTA, edited by Dorinda G. Dallmeyer, 111-129. The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 1997.
• "Risk-Based Regulatory Reform and Public Participation." In 1996 International Symposium on Technology and Society: Technical Expertise and Public Decisions: Proceedings, June 21-22, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. Piscataway, N.J.: IEEE Service Center, 1996.
• With Douglas J. Caldwell. "Trade and the Environment: Equilibrium or Imbalance?" [Review of 4 books on trade and environment.] Michigan Journal of International Law 17 (Spring 1996): 563-590.
• "Public Participation in International Processes: Environmental Case Studies at the National and International Levels." Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy 7 (Winter 1996): 1-38.
• With Ellen Silbergeld. "Risky Reform." [Review of 4 books on risk assessment.] Columbia Law Review 95 (November 1995): 1857-1895.
• Review of Greening International Law, edited by Philippe Sands. American Journal of International Law 89 (1995): 244-247.
• "The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development: Two Steps Forward and One Back, or Vice Versa." Georgia Law Review 29 (Spring 1995): 599-653.
• "Reexamining Decisions-Making Processes in International Environmental Law." Iowa Law Review 79 (May 1994): 769-802.
• "The United States and the World Bank: Constructive Reformer or Fly in the Functional Ointment?" Review of The United States and the Politicization of the World Bank: Issues of International Law and Policy, by Bartram S. Brown. Michigan Journal of International Law 15 (1994): 687-703.
• "Role of Science in the Uruguay Round and NAFTA Trade Disciplines." Cornell International Law Journal 27 (Symposium 1994): 818-859. [Reprinted as a monograph. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations Environment Programme, 1994.]
• "International Decisions. Environmental Defense Fund v. Massey. 986 F.2d 528. U.S.Court of Appeals, D.C. Cir., Jan. 29, 1993." American Journal of International Law 87 (1993): 626-635.
• "The Uneasy Interface Between Domestic and International Environmental Law." American University Journal of International Law and Policy 9 (1993): 171-190.
• Review of Participation and Litigation Rights of Environmental Associations in Europe: Current Legal Situation and Practical Experience, edited by Martin Führ and Gerhard Roller. Michigan Journal of International Law 14 (1993): 465-478. [Reprinted in International Environmental Affairs 5 (1993): 279-284.]
• "The International Trade Regime and the Municipal Law of Federal States: How Close a Fit?" Washington and Lee Law Review 49 (1992): 1389-1401. [Reprinted in Trade and the Environment: Law, Economics and Policy, edited by Durwood Zaelke, Paul Orbuch and Robert F. Housman, 33-43. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1993.]
• "The North American Free Trade Agreement and U.S. Environmental Law." American Society of International Law, Proceedings of the 86th Annual Meeting (1992): 155-166.
• "A Matchmaker's Challenge: Marrying International Law and American Environmental Law." Virginia Journal of International Law 32 (1992): 377-420. [Also appears in The Greening of World Trade: A Report to EPA from the Trade and Environment Committee of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology, 204-240. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of the Administrator, 1993. Also appears in An Environmental Law Anthology, edited by Robert L. Fischman, Maxine I. Lipeles and Mark S. Squillace, 503-514. Cincinnati, Ohio: Anderson Publishing Co., 1996.]
• "A Climate for Change." Review of Negotiating Climate Change: The Inside Story of the Rio Convention, edited by Irving M. Mintzer and J. Amber Leonard. Environmental Science and Technology 30 (January 1996): 45A.
• Environmental Reform of the Multilateral Development Banks. Washington, D.C.: Mott Foundation, 1992.
• Review of International Law and Pollution, edited by Daniel Barstow Magraw. Yearbook of International Environmental Law 2 (1991): 479-482.
• "Legitimacy, Accountability, and Partnership: A Model for Advocacy on Third World Environmental Issues." Yale Law Journal 100 (1991): 2645-2666.
• Remarks on "International Financing Mechanisms and Institutional Responses." In The Role of Law in the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, Conference on the Environment (20th: 1991: Warrenton, Va.), 14-19. Washington, D.C.: Public Services Division, American Bar Association, 1991.
• With Daniel Lashof. "Beyond Vienna and Montreal -- Multilateral Agreements on Greenhouse Gases." Ambio 19 (October 1990): 305-310. [Also appears in Greenhouse Warming: Negotiating a Global Regime, edited by Jessica T. Mathews, 13-24. Washington, D.C.: World Resources Institute, c1991. Updated and revised version with title "Beyond Vienna and Montreal - A Global Framework Convention on Greenhouse Gases" appears in Transational Law and Contemporary Problems 2 (1992): 79-111. Also appears in A Global Warming Forum: Scientific, Economic, and Legal Overview, edited by Richard A. Geyer, 509-531. Boca Raton: CRC Press, 1993.]
• "Multilateral Lending Activities/Development Assistance and Sustainable Development." Yearbook of International Environmental Law 1 (1990): 211-215.
• Remarks (as panelist) on "International Law: The Year in Review." In American Society of International Law, Proceedings of the 84th Annual Meeting (1990): 145-151.
• "Greenhouse Implications of Energy Policies of Multilateral Development Institutions." In Coping with Climate Change: Proceedings of the Second North American Conference on Preparing for Climate Change: A Cooperative Approach, John C. Topping, editor, 660-665. Washington, D.C.: The Climate Institute, 1989.
• With Glenn T. Prickett. "Environmental Impact Statements and Climate Change." Environment 31 (March 1989): 44-45.
• "International Technology Transfer and Environmental Impact Assessment." In Transferring Hazardous Technologies and Substances: The International Legal Challenge, edited by Günther Handl and Robert E. Lutz, 83-105. London: Graham & Trotman, 1989.
• "Keeping the Courthouse Door Open." Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy 3 (Fall 1988): 85-87.
• Remarks (as panelist) on "Environment, Economic Development and Human Rights: A Triangular Relationship?" American Society of International Law, Proceedings of the 82th Annual Meeting (1988): 45-50.
• "Cooling the Chemical Summer." Amicus Journal 8 (Fall 1986): 13-15.
• "The World Bank and the Environment." Environment 28 (December 1986): 33-34.
• With William H. Timbers. "Private Rights of Action and Judicial Review in Federal Environmental Law." Cornell Law Review 70 (1985): 403-417.
• Remarks (as panelist) on "International Transfer of Hazardous Technology and Substances: Caveat Emptor or State Responsibility? The Case of Bhopal, India." American Society of International Law, Proceedings of the 79th Annual Meeting (1985): 310-314.
• "FDA on Food Additives and Salt." Environment 26 (Jan./Feb. 1984): 3-4.
• "Trade Union Rights in the Workers' State: Poland and the ILO." Denver Journal of International Law and Policy 13 (1984): 269-282.
• "FDA Flip-Flops on Antibiotic Hazard." Environment 25 (June 1983): 4-5, 42.
• "Multilingual Treaty Interpretation and the Case of SALT II." Yale Studies in World Public Order 6 (1980): 429-470.
• Review of Public Policy for Chemicals: National and International Issues, by Sam Gusman et al. Columbia Journal of Environmental Law 7 (1980): 121-125.