Environmental Law Clinic
| LW.11120 / LW.10633 Professor Eric A. Goldstein Professor Nancy S. Marks Open to 3L (preferred) and 2L students Maximum of 8 students |
Fall and Spring semesters 5 credits* No prerequisites or co-requisites. |
Course Description
Fieldwork
The Environmental Law Clinic program emphasizes environmental litigation and advocacy from the public interest point of view. Clinic participants will work under the supervision of attorneys at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Approximately 12 to 15 hours of work per week is required. This is a one semester clinic that is offered in both the fall and the spring. Up to eight students per term are accepted for the clinic. Typical issues that students have worked on recently include: pollution from shale gas extraction, energy efficiency, protection of fisheries, policies related to New York food supplies, stormwater pollution, and environmental justice litigation.
The Seminar
The group meets for a two-hour session on Wednesdays from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm. These sessions are devoted to discussion of environmental law practice, led by NRDC attorneys and visiting experts. At the seminars, speakers lead discussions on current issues in environmental law, as well as environmental lawyering skills, strategies and tactics. At one session, students participate in a moot court argument of a pending environmental case. Interested students will be given a copy of the term's current seminar schedule by contacting the clinic's support person, Elizabeth Horvitz, via email.
Application Procedure
Applicants should submit their application, resume and transcript via the CAMS system. Applicants are interviewed at the NRDC's offices, 40 West 20th Street. Ms. Horvitz will contact students to arrange an interview with either Professor Goldstein or Marks. While third-year students are preferred, second-year students will be considered. If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact Ms. Horvitz.
The Environmental Law Clinic also welcomes LL.M. enrollments and will consider taking one LLM student each semester, but does not specifically reserve space for LL.M.s. The application deadline for LL.M. students is August 15, 2012 for the fall term and October 15, 2012 for spring. (Please note there is a separate application form for LL.M. students.)
Student Contacts
Students are encouraged to speak with current and former Clinic students listed below:
| Fall 2011 | Spring 2012 |
| Thomas Glazer Benjamin Levitan Sheila McAnaney Priya Murthy Daniel Shapiro Relic Sun Carson Thomas Smita Walavalkar |
Akari Atoyama Dylan Casey Leslie Coleman Elspeth Faiman Elizabeth Verity Hallinan Heather Lewis Martha Roberts Claiborne Walthall |
* 5 credits includes 3 clinical credits and 2 academic seminar credits.