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Professor Seema Kakade, a member of the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law Environmental Law Program faculty, has returned to the law school after a two-year leave of absence serving as senior counsel in former President Biden’s White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
“It was an honor to help advance environmental initiatives as part of the Biden administration,” said Kakade. “I am deeply grateful to Dean Renée Hutchins Laurent and the entire Maryland Carey Law community for encouraging and supporting me in taking this incredible opportunity.”
At the White House, Kakade provided legal support for multiple high-priority initiatives addressing infrastructure and permitting, climate change, and environmental justice. They include Build Back Better, which sought to rebuild America’s infrastructure to be climate adaptable and sustainable, and Justice 40, the former president's plan to flow 40% of the overall benefits of certain federal climate, clean energy, and affordable and sustainable housing to disadvantaged communities overburdened by pollution. She also worked on the former president’s strategy to combat plastic pollution in both domestic and international contexts.
Brenda Mallory, an Obama administration veteran, served as chair of the Council on Environmental Quality during Biden's presidency. She appreciated the knowledge and skills Kakade brought to the position.
“It was both an honor and a privilege to have Seema Kakade serve on CEQ’s legal team, offering deep expertise along with thoughtful and pragmatic counsel on a variety of critical environmental issues for the nation,” said Brenda Mallory, former chair of CEQ. “Her understanding of how government works and skill at engaging with people from all walks of life was a tremendous asset in serving our country. I am grateful for her service and her leadership.”
Now back at the law school, Kakade will apply her expanded expertise to her research and coursework she will offer in the spring. Her upcoming research will build on her existing scholarship in environmental law. Kakade has published articles in top legal journals including the Harvard Environmental Law Review, Ecology Law Quarterly, New York University Environmental Law Review, and University of Colorado Law Review. Her most recent article in the American University Law Review was selected as a top environmental law article for 2024 and was featured on a podcast in May 2025.
This upcoming academic year, Kakade plans to focus her scholarship on challenges and opportunities for advancing clean energy and combatting pollution in the face of significant legal and policy shifts in the United States. Her work will examine both public and private law arenas.
In the spring semester, Kakade will teach two new courses at Maryland Carey Law. In Clean Energy Law & Policy, she will provide students with an in-depth study of the legal frameworks that shape clean energy. Kakade is also participating in UMB’s Costa Rica Faculty Development Institute in December 2025 and will use that experience to develop a global and comparative law component for the course. Additionally, she will launch an environmental law Legal Theory and Practice course for evening students.
“I am particularly excited about offering the practice-based course for evening students,” said Kakade. “It will expand offerings for that population to gain clinical experience, which is a hallmark of a Maryland Carey Law education.”
Before joining Maryland Carey Law, Kakade was an attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy. She has also previously worked in private practice, and for the Washington, D.C.-based think tank the Environmental Law Institute.
Kakade is the recipient of the 2019 Environmental Law Institute’s Futures Award and is a fellow with the American College of Environmental Law.