Charles (Chase) Hamilton

Charles (Chase) Hamilton, Duke Law J.D. 2021, is a cofounder, team leader, and the Project Manager for the 2020–21 Bass Connections project DECIPHER: Going to Mars—Science, Society, and Sustainability. He is interested in high-magnitude existential risks, the impacts of various decisions in space development on humanity’s prospects for survival, the risks posed by emergent technologies and competition between nations, potential psychological biases that impact our perception of risks, and the importance of protecting future generations of people. In 2021 he finished in the semifinals of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Tournament with the highest-scoring individual brief. He has also published on issues in environmental law, including the impacts of climate change on endangered species and the benefits of renewable energy.

At the law school, Chase was Executive Editor for the Alaska Law Review, Senior Research Editor for the Duke Law & Technology Review, Special Editor for the Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy, member of the Moot Court Board, and Graduate Fellow at the Duke Center on RIsk.

Before Duke, Chase started and ran a speech and debate coaching business to help students and business professionals analyze policy issues and tradeoffs. He is a pledged member of Giving What We Can and longtime supporter of the effective altruism movement which advocates using evidence and reasoning to best help others, including by comparing the relative importance of different causes and the most cost-effective ways of affecting them. Chase also has a background in analytic philosophy and a B.A. in Philosophy and Government from the University of Texas at Austin where he received the College of Liberal Art's most selective award.

As an attorney, Chase will work in Dallas, TX as an associate for Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in its litigation practice group and on matters related to space development.