Jessica Bacher

Jessica Bacher is the Executive Director of the Land Use Law Center and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Elisabeth Haub School of Law.

Established in 1993, the Land Use Law Center is dedicated to fostering the development of sustainable communities and regions through the promotion of innovative land use strategies and dispute resolution techniques. As Executive Director, Ms. Bacher’s responsibilities include development and implementation of projects relating to local land use practice, distressed property remediation, energy siting, transit-oriented development, sustainable communities, land use responses to sea level rise, and code enforcement, as well as providing strategic assistance to numerous municipalities. She also manages the academic programs of the Center and guides student research projects. Most recently, Ms. Bacher led the City of Newburgh, NY in the development of a distressed property remediation implementation plan that focuses on land banking and code enforcement. Additionally, Ms. Bacher serves as a principal trainer for the Center’s award-winning Land Use Leadership Alliance Training Program that has educated over 3,500 local leaders in land use strategies, consensus building, and regional stewardship. Ms. Bacher is a Clinic Lecturer at Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, where she manages the School’s Land Use Clinic. Ms. Bacher authors regular land use features in New York and national publications and has edited numerous small books in the fields of Land Use and Real Estate Law, including Breaking Ground and Planning and Building in Priority Growth Districts. She also presents at regional and national conferences and served on the New York State Sea Level Rise Task Force Legal Work Group. Ms. Bacher was selected by the American Bar Association to receive the Jefferson B. Fordham Award, an award presented to a young practitioner who has shown great promise through her contributions to the field. Ms. Bacher received her J.D. summa cum laude from Pace Law School in 2003, along with a certificate in Environmental Law.