Sean Lyness is a Faculty Fellow at New England Law. While pursuing his law degree, Lyness interned for both the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice. He served as a Law Clerk for the Rhode Island Superior Court before gaining further experience as the Special Assistant Attorney General at the Rhode Island Attorney General's Office. There he was lead counsel on the successful defense of Rhode Island's emergency vaping ban, briefed and argued over thirty dispositive motions, and presented over two dozen open government trainings.

Lyness' passion for teaching the next generation led him to join New England Law in 2019. In addition to teaching, his background has inspired him to further explore the power of state and local governments to pursue environmental goals, and the common law doctrines and/or statutory frameworks that permit or hinder these efforts.