Careers in Environmental and Land Use Law

Opportunities for Professional Work and Career Development

NYU School of Law offers students numerous opportunities for practical experience in solving challenging environmental issues and building professional careers in environmental and land use law. In addition to the clinics, the Law School funds summer public interest internships for students interested in working for environmental and land use organizations and in government service. The Law School 's placement services and faculty and alumni networks facilitate students in obtaining these positions, as well as positions after graduation. Students also have a range of opportunities to work closely with faculty on environmental and land use law reform initiatives for governments and international organizations, as well as on academic research.

Center Fellowships

Through the generosity of two alumni, Herbert Gold ('40) and Ronald Moelis ('82), two student fellowships have been endowed in the Furman Center For Real Estate and Urban Policy . Each year, students compete for the opportunity to receive the fellowships, which also include the opportunity to work on research projects with Center faculty.

Summer Internships

To provide students with public interest environmental and land use experience, and to encourage and support future careers in public interest environmental and land use law, the Law School provides grants for summer internships with environmental and land use groups and government offices. Two internship programs provide students with a unique opportunity to work on national, regional, and global environmental problems.

Center on Environmental and Land Use Law (CELUL) Summer Internships in Public Interest Environmental and Land Use Law. First-year and second-year students with grants to support summer internships with leading environmental and land use organizations, both in the United States and abroad. These placements create valuable training and networking opportunities that help students secure full-time positions in environmental and land use organizations following graduation. Approximately ten students serve as CELUL Fellows each year, working for such organizations as Sierra Club, Environmental Defense, the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, the Institute for Environmental Law and Economics in Paraguay , Earthjustice, and the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. In the fall following their placements, the fellows participate in the course on Public Interest Environmental Law Practice, drawing on their summer experience in addressing the theoretical and programmatic issues of practice in this field. Link: Recent CELUL Internships recipients.

Public Interest Committee Internships. In addition to the Korein internships, NYU School of Law Public Interest Law Center provides Public Interest Committee (PIC) grants to support first-year and second-year students who wish to participate in environmental and land use and other public interest or public service summer internships. Among the approximately 300 students receiving PIC grants for work in the United States in the summer of 2006 were many who worked for environmental and land use organizations, such as the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition; Earthjustice's International Program; New York Environmental Law and Justice Project; Santa Barbara ChannelKeeper; and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Another 60 Law School students used PIC grants to undertake internships in other countries, including positions on environmental law projects for the International Law Commission and other international bodies.

For a more complete list of where NYU students have interned in the past, NYU students can review the student intern reports available at the Public Interest Law Center.

Career Opportunities

The Law School and its faculty and alumni also provide information, counseling, and assistance in developing future professional careers in environmental and land use law.

Public Interest Law Center . The Public Interest Law Center's counselors assist students who want to learn more about summer internships, postgraduate fellowships, and permanent career opportunities in public interest and public service. Counselors advise students on job search and interviewing strategies, assist students in networking with alumni and employers who have previously employed Law School students, and help students navigate databases and directories. The Center sponsors various educational programs throughout the year and hosts brown-bag lunches for students to share their internship experiences. The Center also administers a Peer Mentor Program, which matches first-year students with second- and third-year students who intend to work in the public service after graduation. NYU School of Law also sponsors the annual Public Interest Job Fair, which draws almost 200 public interest and public service employers to the Law School for two days of interviews with our students.

Because of the Law School 's reputation for excellence in environmental and public service law, students can spend summers interning at prominent environmental organizations throughout the nation and the world.

Office of Career Services. The Office of Career Services (OCS) also provides assistance for students seeking both summer and post-graduation placements. OCS coordinates faculty research assistant positions for current students, has an extensive library of private-sector career resources, provides assistance to students seeking judicial clerkships, and provides individualized career counseling. The office includes a counselor specializing in environmental, land use, and other public interest placements.

Financial Assistance for Public Interest Practice. The Law School provides significant financial support to students contemplating public interest and government careers. In addition to the Korein Foundation and PIC grants supporting summer public interest and public service internships, the Law School's Loan Repayment Assistance Program repays all or a portion of the educational loans of most students who choose public interest or public service careers.

Faculty Contacts and Environmental and Land Use Law Alumni Network. The environmental and land use law faculty, including adjunct faculty, have extensive contacts with government agencies, international organizations, law firms, environmental and land use organizations, and other public interest organizations. Faculty use their contacts to assist students in finding summer internships and positions following graduation and also counsel students about career options and opportunities. In addition, the Law School has a network of distinguished environmental and land use law practitioners that students can tap. Students seeking opportunities in environmental and land use public interest and public service work have access not only to the scores of alumni working directly in those areas, but also to a broad public interest network fostered by the Law School's extensive public interest programs, such as the Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship Program, the Hays Civil Liberties Program, and the Global Public Service Law Project. Students interested in private-sector employment may call on our alumni in firms that specialize in environmental or land use law and those in environmental departments within larger firms, as well as those working as in-house counsel.

Post-Graduate Fellowships for Academic Careers. Responding to the needs of alumni interested in pursuing teaching careers in environmental and land use law, the Law School 's Center on Environmental and Land Use Law began several years ago to offer post-graduate research fellowships to help promising young scholars embark on academic and public service careers. Under close faculty supervision, academic fellows work on research projects that culminate in law review articles, and thereby develop a credential essential to land teaching positions in law schools today. Fellows have included ; Joel Beauvais, who is now clerking with U.S. Supreme Court Justice O'Conner; Jonathan Nash, now on the faculty of Tulane Law School; Samuel Rascoff, who joined Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz after clerking for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter; Ansley Samson, who is now working with the Natural Resources Defense Council; and Laura Tesser [ask Ricky what she's doing now].

Links

Domestic and International Environmental Organizations

Past CELUL Internship Recipients

Domestic and International Environmental Organizations 

*Always check the organization's website or talk with the NYU contact for the most up-to-date contact information.