NYU School of Law

International Environmental Law Clinic

Introduction

This Clinic offers students opportunities to bring together theory and practice to provide innovative situations to cutting-edge problems in international and developing country environmental law and sustainable development. Clients include environmental groups located in the U.S. and abroad; the United Nations and its various agencies; the World Bank and other multilateral development agencies and other international organizations; and governments of developing countries and countries with transition economies. Depending on the client assignment, students may draft laws or regulations; research and prepare position papers for clients on the negotiation and implementation of international and regional environmental agreements; or analyze and develop strategies on environmental law reforms and policy initiatives.

Course Description

Fieldwork
The instructor will develop a portfolio of placement opportunities and seek to match student’s interests and experience with client needs. He will meet with students on a regular basis to review progress and provide assistance. Most placements call for student preparation of a substantial memorandum, together with supporting documentation, analyzing the legal and policy issues presented by the client project and presenting options and recommendations for client action. Some projects may involve drafting laws or regulations or the development of annotated drafts of proposed international environmental agreements or reports. Students will be expected to devote approximately 10-12 hours a week to client projects (15-18 hours/weeks for 3 credits). Given that international and developing country environmental law is still in a relatively early stage, students will have to develop innovative approaches to the questions of law and policy involved in their projects. Accordingly, students will have to function as law reformers as well as attorneys working within an existing body of law.

Projects that students in the Clinic have worked on during the past several years include the following:

• Preparation of a handbook on Chinese citizens’ legal rights to public access to environmental information for the Beijing office of a major US-based environmental organization.
• Identification and development of legal and institutional options to improve the resolution of international conflicts over environmental regulation of genetically modified crops and foods, as part of a Rockefeller Foundation project to address current controversies over GMO technologies, especially with reference to developing countries.
• Research for a group of multilateral development banks and international environmental NGOs preparing an agreement on environmental guidelines for bank-funded dam projects in developing countries.
• Development of legal strategies for the government of Palau to fight biopiracy and protect marine resources.
• Work for a leading U.S. environmental group on the international environmental legal implications of steps to reduce the use of antibiotics in mass production agriculture in order to prevent the development of antibiotic-resistant pathogens.
• Analysis and recommendations for a major U.S. environmental group of options for strengthening existing international agreements to protect fisheries and marine resources in the South Pacific.
• Research for an environmental organization based in the UK on an amicus brief in the US WTO case against EU GMO regulation.
• Assistance to an environmental group in Spain on the development of legal principles and regimes to ensure environmentally sound management of rivers shared by Spain with France and with Portugal.
• Research for the United Nations Development Program and the Regional Environmental Center in Budapest, Hungary, on implementation of provisions for public participation in environmental regulatory decision making and water pollution control in countries in Eastern and Central Europe.
• Assistance to the leading environmental public interest group in Israel for the development of a legal framework for joint management of Israeli and Palestinian water resources.

Application Procedure

All J.D. students interested in applying for the Clinic should submit via CAMS the standard application, résumé and unofficial transcript, and a writing sample. 3L applicants will receive a preference over 2Ls. To arrange an interview, please contact Professor Stewart's assistant, Basilio Valdehuesa, Vanderbilt Hall, Room 411, (212) 992-8165, basilio.valdehuesa@nyu.edu.

The International Environmental Law Clinic welcomes LL.M. enrolments. Please note that the deadline for LL.M.s applying to this clinic is August 4, 2008. LL.M. students should submit their application materials directly to Prof. Richard Stewart at the email address which follows. If you have a background in environmental / international law and are interested in taking this Clinic, please contact Prof. Stewart at stewartr@juris.law.nyu.edu.

* 3L applicants will receive a preference over 2Ls. The International Environmental Law Clinic welcomes LL.M. enrollments. Please note that the deadline for LL.M.s applying to this clinic is August 4, 2008. If you have a background in environmental/international law and are interested in taking this Clinic, please contact Richard Stewart at stewartr@juris.law.nyu.edu as soon as possible.

** 2-3 clinical credits, depending on clinic project scope. There is also a possibility of developing some Clinic projects into written work as a directed research project for two credits that can satisfy the JD written work requirement.

*** Students enrolled in the Clinic must either (1) have taken or be taking concurrently with the Clinic the International Environmental Law course offered in the Fall semester; or (2) have taken an equivalent course in international environmental law, or (3) be taking or have taken courses in environmental and/or public international law or have relevant practical experience. Please address any questions about these requirements to Professor Stewart.

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