Craig Johnston Steps Down as Director of Earthrise

Professor Craig Johnston has stepped down as director of Earthrise law center, passing on the role to attorneys Allison LaPlante and Tom Buchele. As one of the original founders of the clinic, Craig’s leadership has been a great benefit to Lewis & Clark law school, the students, and the planet.

“Craig’s passion for Earthrise is inspiring and he has spent countless hours in assuring its success from litigating cases, supporting all of the clinical faculty and staff, rallying community members and alums for support, and mentoring students to become the next generation of successful environmental advocates,” said Janice Weis, Associate Dean & Director of the Environmental, Natural Resources & Energy Law Program. Craig will continue to be involved with Earthrise, and will continue to teach at Lewis & Clark Law School. For his part, Craig is proudest of the fact that Earthrise is on a firm financial footing, and has a fantastic team of lawyers and staff, a truly national caseload, and satellite offices in both Boston and San Francisco.

New co-directors, Allison LaPlante and Tom Buchele are excited to be stepping into their new roles and have the full support of the staff behind them. Over the years Allison and Tom worked alongside Craig, helping him manage Earthrise.

Allison LaPlante is an Earthrise alum and one of the organization’s most experienced attorneys. While at Lewis & Clark she was active in a wide variety of environmental law activities, including Earthrise, NEDC, and environmental moot court. She is a nationwide expert on water quality issues. 

Prior to joining Earthrise, Tom Buchele was the director of the environmental law clinic at University of Pittsburgh for seven years, staff attorney at the Environmental Law & Policy Center of the Midwest, and a partner in the Chicago office of the prestigious national law firm Jenner & Block, where he focused on complex commercial and natural resources litigation. Tom leads Earthrise’s land management and natural resource practice, including logging and mining issues.