Dan Farber is the Sho Sato Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He also has leadership roles at two Berkeley research centers: the Center for Law, Energy, and Environment; and the Edley Center on Law and Democracy. Professor Farber is a member of the American Academy of Arts.
Professor Farber is a graduate of the University of Illinois, where he earned his B.A., M.A., and J.D. degrees. He graduated, summa cum laude, from the College of Law, where he was the class valedictorian and served as editor-in-chief of the University of Illinois Law Review. After law school, he was a law clerk for Judge Philip W. Tone of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and then for Justice John Paul Stevens of the U.S. Supreme Court. Professor Farber practiced law with Sidley & Austin, where he primarily worked on energy issues, before returning to the University of Illinois as a faculty member in 1978. He taught at the University of Minnesota Law School faculty from 1981 to 2002, where he was the McKnight Presidential Professor of Public Law. He also has been a visiting professor at the Stanford Law School, Harvard Law School, and the University of Chicago Law School.
His most recent book is Contested Ground: How to Understand the Limits on Presidential Power (UC Press 2021). His earlier books include Research Handbook on Public Choice and Public Law (Elgar 2010) (with A. O’Connell); Judgment Calls: Politics and Principle in Constitutional Law (Oxford University Press 2008) (with S. Sherry); Retained by the People: The “Silent” Ninth Amendment and the Rights Americans Don’t Know They Have (Basic Books 2007); Lincoln’s Constitution (University of Chicago Press 2003); and Eco-Pragmatism: How to Make Sensible Environmental Decisions in an Uncertain World (University of Chicago Press 1999).
Education
B.A., University of Illinois (1971)
M.A., University of Illinois (1972)
J.D., University of Illinois (1975)
Daniel Farber is teaching the following courses in Spring 2025:
• 206C sec. 001 - Note Publishing Workshop
• 272.3 sec. 001 - Climate Change and the Law
• 274.7 sec. 001 - Environmental Law Colloquium
Courses During Other Semesters
| Semester | Course Num | Course Title |  Teaching Evaluations | Summer 2025 | 201S sec. 001 | Business Torts | 206.51S sec. 001 | Advanced Writing Project | Fall 2024 | 201 sec. 003 | Torts | Summer 2024 | 201S sec. 001 | Torts for LLMs | View Teaching Evaluation | 206.51S sec. 001 | Advanced Writing Project | View Teaching Evaluation |
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Could Texas Really Secede? Experts Weigh in
“Secession is clearly unconstitutional. There’s a reason the pledge of allegiance refers to ‘one nation, indivisible’,” Professor Daniel Farber says. “That’s as much true now as it was in 1865 when the South (including Texas) lost the Civil War, or 1868 when the 14th Amendment guaranteed all Americans the rights of citizenship.”
Abortion, Climate, Guns, and Religion: Supreme Court Poised for a Sharp Right Turn
Four Berkeley Law professors, including Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, discuss the court’s anticipated conservative decisions on some of America’s most divisive issues.
Move to Scrap Roe Opens Justices to ‘Politicians in Robes’ Label
Professor Dan Farber says the draft Dobbs opinion appears to go out of its way to decide issues that the justices don’t need to reach in order to resolve the case
Supreme Court leak strikes fear among environmental lawyers
Professor Dan Farber predicts that the Supreme Court’s dismissive attitude toward precedent in Roe v Wade is another signal of a conservative majority that’s eager to roll up its sleeves and “fix” all the issues in the law that conservatives have complained about for years
The Kochs’ Dream of Smashing Climate Action May Be About to Come True
Professor Dan Farber says the Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in West Virginia vs. EPA is likely to curtail not just EPA’s ability to combat climate change but the government’s ability to protect the public from other threats, from financial fraud to public health
Turn the Page: A Prolific Year of Powerful and Pathbreaking Books from Berkeley Law’s Faculty
A recent celebration of 39 works that probe compelling issues across and beyond the legal landscape highlights the faculty’s far-reaching expertise.
Next justice unlikely to make a difference in climate law
Professor Daniel Farber says that the new justice should be able to work with other justices on the court but also have the ability to write strong dissents and appeal to the public sense of what the court has done
Climate ‘champion’ sought to replace Breyer
Professor Daniel Farber comments that Justice Stephen Breyer’s “contribution has taken the form of low-key concurrences and dissents” in the subject of environmental law
Supreme Court Vaccine Decision Signals Trouble for Climate Rule
Professor Daniel Farber says that any bold actions like a vaccine-or-test mandate or climate change policies through agencies is going to have tough sledding in the Supreme Court
Roe v. Wade on the line as Supreme Court takes up Mississippi abortion rights case
Major Gift Expands Environmental Law and Social Justice Work at Two Berkeley Law Centers
The gift from Ruth Greenspan Bell ’67 and her husband Joseph Bell will fund scholarships and programming at Berkeley Law’s environmental law and social justice centers.
Mission Control: Jordan Diamond Expands and Elevates Berkeley Law’s Environmental Program
The next president of the Environmental Law Institute, Diamond greatly expanded the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment’s programming, expertise, and impact.
Contested Ground: A New Book by Professor Daniel Farber Confronts Presidential Power and Its Abuses
Farber says failing to strike the right balance between curtailing executive power and enabling its use when needed carries major consequences.
The Unbearable Summer
Professor Daniel Farber says the physical and legal infrastructure of the West is geared toward a certain climate regime and, at great expense and effort, dams, canals, and irrigation systems have been carefully engineered for a climate that no longer exists
Generous Gift Expands Center’s Ability to Confront the Growing Climate Crisis
Berkeley Law alumnus Stuart K. Gardiner ’73 provides funding to help the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment identify, analyze, and elevate new climate solutions.
Big oil and gas kept a dirty secret for decades. Now they may pay the price.
Professor Dan Farber discusses the unprecedented wave of lawsuits, filed by cities and states across the US, aiming to hold the oil and gas industry to account for the environmental devastation caused by fossil fuels – and covering up what they knew along the way
No room for novelty in ‘climate kids’ and Biden admin negotiation – experts
Professor Dan Farber says the Biden administration is unlikely to offer much in the way of concessions to a group of young Americans suing the federal government over actions they say contribute to climate change
Faculty, Friends, and Students Past and Present Toast Professor Stephen Sugarman’s Stellar Career
A recent event and a special tribute issue of the California Law Review celebrate Sugarman’s indelible mark on the school and his fields.
High Court Ruling on Jurisdiction Thaws Some Climate Cases
Professors Dan Farber and Andrew Bradt discuss the Supreme Court’s resolution of Ford Motor Co. v. Mont. Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct., a product liability case that clears a hurdle for a group of idled climate lawsuits
Biden EPA Ponders ‘Hail Mary’ Move on Greenhouse Gas Air Limits
Professor Daniel Farber discusses the Biden administration’s consideration of a push for national ambient air limits on greenhouse gases