Erin Laurel Gaines

Biography

Erin Gaines is a Clinical Professor at the University of Texas School of Law in the Environmental Clinic. She represents environmental justice communities and non-profit groups in cases addressing air and water pollution and climate change and is also a supervising senior attorney at EarthJustice, a national environmental law nonprofit.

Previously, Erin was an Equal Justice Works Fellow and team manager at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, where she represented low-income community groups in environmental justice cases along the Texas Gulf Coast and the Texas-Mexico border. Her work included civil rights and fair housing complaints, permit challenges under the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act review cases, and citizen suit enforcement.

After law school, Erin was a law clerk for the Honorable Gregg Costa on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division. Erin has been awarded the State Bar of Texas Poverty Law Section’s Impact Award and the Texas Low Income Housing Information Service’s Houser Award for her work alongside the Environmental Clinic in the Hillcrest neighborhood in Corpus Christi’s Refinery Row.