Etienne C. Toussaint is an Associate Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law. His research focuses on the intersections of race, poverty, and environmental injustice in the U.S. political economy, investigating how racial dynamics influence legal systems and economic structures. He examines how contemporary social movements confront private law’s role in reinforcing economic inequality, contributing to the broader fields of law and political economy, critical legal studies, and legal history. He teaches Contracts, Business Associations, Law and Political Economy, and Critical Legal History, among other courses. His scholarship has been published or is forthcoming in leading law reviews, including the Columbia Law Review, California Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Boston University Law Review, Harvard Environmental Law Review, and Columbia Human Rights Law Review. He has presented his work at prestigious venues such as the Harvard/Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum and the University of Pennsylvania's Junior Faculty Business & Financial Law Workshop. Nationally recognized for his contributions, Toussaint received the National Bar Association’s 40 Under 40 Award in 2024 and the Junior Great Teacher Award from the Society of American Law Teachers in 2022. Before joining USC Law, he taught at the University of the District of Columbia and worked as a project finance associate at Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and holds degrees in Mechanical and Environmental Engineering from MIT and Johns Hopkins University, respectively.