Clinics
To put what is learned in foundational courses, seminars, and colloquia to the test of practice, many students take one or more of the Law School 's clinical courses.
Environmental Law Clinic
The Environmental Law Clinic, co-taught by Adjunct Professors Sarah Chasis and Eric Goldstein, involves students in public interest environmental litigation and policy initiatives in the New York City office of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), one of the nation's leading public interest environmental groups. Students work under the close supervision of NRDC attorneys and attend a weekly NRDC seminar to review and discuss a range of cases and projects being undertaken by the organization.
Recent NRDC projects on which NYU students have been working include environmental justice litigation under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act seeking to protect a predominantly African-American neighborhood in Jersey City, New Jersey, from long-term exposure to chromium, and the defense of New York City's new electronics waste recycling law, which is being challenged in federal court on constitutional grounds by electronics industry trade associations. Other ongoing clinic matters have included settlement negotiations in a state court public and private nuisance case brought on behalf of Mothers on the Move, a local community group, against a sewage sludge treatment plant that has been emitting noxious odors in the South Bronx, and the legal regimes governing offshore wind energy in the E.U. and in the U.S., an emerging issue of concern given the push for ocean-based renewable energy resources.
For more information on this clinic, please follow this link.
International Environmental Law Clinic
The International Environmental Law Clinic, taught by Professor Richard Stewart, involves practical projects for real-world clients on cutting-edge international environmental issues such as climate change, environmental law reform in developing countries, biodiversity protection, resolution of international water conflicts, public access to environmental information, and controls on genetically modified organisms. The clinic places students with public and nonprofit clients, including U.N. organizations, developing countries, international and domestic environmental groups, and international development banks. Students research and prepare legal briefs, position papers, and law reform strategies for the negotiation and implementation of international and regional environmental agreements and domestic law efforts to ensure sustainable development.
The International Environmental Law Clinic and the NYU Institute for International Law and Justice (IILJ) have provided technical assistance to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Palau to the U.N. on a number of significant projects, exposing students with a strong interest in international environmental issues to the realities of international diplomacy while assisting the small island nation in exercising its voice at the international table. In 2008, students helped research and represent Palau's negotiating position for the General Assembly's 2008 Sustainable Fisheries Resolution, as well as the annual Oceans and Law of the Sea Resolution. They briefed key issues, submitted Palau's proposals for the resolutions, and negotiated with representatives from other countries to effect their inclusion in the final resolutions.
For more information on this clinic, please follow this link.