Mr. Slade graduated from Lewis & Clarke School of Law, Portland, Oregon, in 1982, earning a Certificate of Excellence in Environmental Law.  Prior to Law School he received his Masters Degree in Marine Biology from the University of Puget Sound in 1978.  In 1999 Mr. Slade received the Distinguished Environmental Lawyer award from Lewis & Clarke School of Law.

A member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar since 1986,  Mr. Slade has been involved with several constitutional law cases before the Court, including the landmark Public Trust Doctrine decision of Phillips Petroleum v. Mississippi.  Mr. Slade was the Counsel of Record for the Thirteen Original States in support of Mississippi.  The Court, citing the 13 States brief, affirmed the original states’ claim that all lands washed by the ebb and flow of the tide – regardless of navigability – were held by the State in trust for the benefit of the public, substantiating Mississippi’s claim to her tidelands.  The Phillips Petroleum v. Mississippi decision also affirmed that each state that joined the union also received her trust lands under the Equal Footing Doctrine.  

Mr. Slade served in the General Counsel Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce, as Chief Counsel to the National Advisory Committee on Oceans and Atmosphere, and as General Counsel and Director of the Coastal States Organization in Washington, D.C, representing the views of the 35 governors of the coastal States, Territories and Commonwealths of the United States.  He has testified before the United States Senate and House of Representatives on topics ranging from fisheries, environmental law, constitutional law and international affairs.

During his tenure with the Coastal States Organization, following up on the Phillips Petroleum v. Mississippi decision, Mr. Slade was the Project Manager for the National Public Trust Study.  This culminated in the first edition of Putting the Public Trust Doctrine to Work, published by the CSO in1990.  In 1997, CSO hired Mr. Slade to produce the second edition of Putting the Public Trust Doctrine to Work.   His current book, The Public Trust Doctrine In Motion builds on these previous editions, covering the Public Trust Doctrine cases from 1997 up to the current time.

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