Christopher J. Tyson,
Assistant Professor of Law, Paul M. Herbert Law Center – Louisiana State Univ.
Christopher J. Tyson is an Assistant Professor of Law at the Paul M. Hebert Law Center at Louisiana State University (LSU). His teaching and scholarship focuses on the areas of local government law, property law, real estate development and urban land use. His interests also include matters of race, politics and youth mentoring. Prior to joining the faculty of the LSU Law Center, he practiced as a real estate and land use attorney with the law firm Jones Walker, LLP, specifically focusing on negotiating and drafting purchase agreements, commercial leases, servitudes, title opinions, municipal annexations, the creation of special taxing districts and other real estate transaction-related matters. He continues to consult clients on real estate development matters.
He has written in the areas of law, politics and public policy. In addition to commentaries that have appeared in online and print periodicals, his published works have appeared in the Harvard Journal of African American Public Policy, the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law, the Howard University Law Review, the Louisiana Progress Journal and as a chapter in the edited volume Authentic Leadership Theory and Practice: Origins, Effects and Development. Professor Tyson holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree, with honors, from Howard University (1998); a Master of Public Policy degree from the Harvard Kennedy School (2003) and a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center (2006) where he was an articles editor for the Georgetown Journal of Gender and the Law and a recipient of the Dean's Certificate of Recognition of Special and Outstanding Service to the Law Center Community.
His professional experiences have spanned the private, non-profit and governmental sectors. Most notably, he worked on the legislative staff of United States Senator Mary Landrieu's Washington, DC office, a position he began a day after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Louisiana and the gulf coast. During his tenure in Senator Landrieu's office, he was responsible for monitoring Katrina-related legislative developments in addition to coordinating the Senator's engagement with various Louisiana-based organizations working in the Katrina aftermath. Prior to working on Capitol Hill, he worked for two years as a volunteer prison educator in Boston, Massachusetts, tutoring and teaching a class at Suffolk County Prison. He has also worked in management consulting for Accenture and led his own marketing research and strategy-consulting firm with clients that included the Coca Cola Company and Microsoft.
Professor Tyson is an experienced public speaker who considers mentoring one of his passions. Professionally he has delivered several Continuing Legal Education Seminars in the areas of local government law, real estate development and land use. He is currently a mentor to several young men in high school, college and graduate school. He is civically active in the local Baton Rouge community and is currently a member of the boards of the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, Baton Rouge Big Buddy and FuturePAC, the political action committee of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a Senior Fellow with Louisiana Progress, an organization focused on the development of progressive policy solutions for Louisiana. He is also a member of the 2009 class of the Council for a Better Louisiana's Leadership Louisiana program and is a 2010 Fellow of the New Leaders Council, a national organization focused on developing progressive political leaders.
In 2007 he was appointed by the East Baton Rouge Parish Metropolitan Council to the Board of Commissioners of the Capital Area Transit System (CATS) and was President of the Board in 2009. As Board President, he led the regional transit organization through a major financial streamlining effort and an executive leadership search and transition. His advocacy on the importance of mass transit to economic development, urban development and social justice needs of the community attracted frequent media attention locally and throughout Louisiana. Since leaving the CATS Board, he continues to be an ardent, visible and vocal proponent of mass transit.
Professor Tyson was selected as a member of the Baton Rouge Business Report's 2010 Top 40 Under Forty. He is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and the National Bar Association.
He maintains a blog at www.chrisjtyson.com where he writes on urban issues, politics and mentoring. He is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is married to Dr. Gia Landry Tyson.
