Adam Cowing

Biography

Adam Cowing, J.D., is Assistant Clinical Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Community & Economic Development Clinic at the University of California, Irvine School of Law. His work focuses on affordable housing and community economic development, with particular attention to affordable housing programs and the relationship between housing and inequality. Before joining UC Irvine, Cowing served as Clinical Lecturer in Law and Eugene Ludwig/Robert M. Cover Fellow at Yale Law School.

Cowing's recent scholarship examines ownership models in affordable housing. His article "Equity and Ownership in Affordable Housing" was published in the University of Illinois Law Review in 2024. He is currently working on a project examining collective ownership in California's Central Valley. His earlier work has addressed the relationship between race and property valuation in housing markets and the issue of expiring affordability restrictions in publicly financed, privately operated affordable housing.

Cowing practiced affordable housing law for a decade before entering academia. As an associate at Bocarsly Emden Cowan Esmail & Arndt LLP, he represented developers and investors in affordable housing and community development projects financed through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit and New Markets Tax Credit programs. Prior to that, he served as a staff attorney at Public Counsel, where he represented low-income tenants and advised community development corporations on governance and regulatory matters. Cowing received his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School and an M.P.P. from the University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy.

Education

• B.A. in Visual Arts, Bowdoin College, 2001
• M.P.P. in Public Policy, University of Michigan, Ford School of Public Policy, 2008
• J.D. in Law, University of Michigan Law School, 2010

Distinctions

• Eugene Ludwig/Robert M. Cover Fellow, Yale Law School, 2021-2023
• Equal Justice Works AmeriCorps Legal Fellow, Public Counsel, 2011-2012
• Clara Belfield and Henry Bates Overseas Fellow, Legal Resources Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2011
• Sarah and James Bowdoin Scholar, Bowdoin College, 2001