Course Overview and Logistics – Fall 2009
The Yale Environmental Law Clinic is designed to introduce students to several major environmental policy questions and a variety of methods of advocating for environmental improvement. Students work in teams of two to four, for a single client organization (environmental groups; local, state, and national government entities; international organizations, etc.) on a specific project or series of projects that involve environmental law, science, and policy issues. Each team is expected to produce a major work product by the end of the semester for the benefit of its client, and to provide a mid-term and final briefing on its project to the class.
The class meets on a weekly basis, alternating between project team meetings and seminar discussions focused on various approaches to environmental problems. Students are expected to participate in the seminar discussions of assigned readings and to work 10-12 hours per week on their team projects. The seminar will include at least one negotiation simulation exercise.
The seminar is held on Thursday from 12:10-2 p.m. at the Law School in Room 111. Team meetings are scheduled at mutually convenient times and meet in the instructor’s office. The Clinic has offices outfitted with computers, fax machines and speaker phones, at both the Law School (Room 070) and the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (301 Prospect Street, Room 206), where students can work on projects and conduct conference calls with clients. Non-law students who are interested will receive basic legal research training on Westlaw or Lexis.
Students should purchase Fisher and Ury, Getting to Yes (Viking 1991).
Syllabus and Assigned Readings
| September 3: Initial Course Meeting |
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| Goals and Structure of Clinic; Review of Projects | |||
| September 10: Environmental Law Bootcamp & Climate Policy Basics | |||
| Introduction to the basics of administrative and environmental law and climate and energy policy |
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| September 17: Project Team Meetings | |||
| September 24: Negotiations Workshop |
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| October 1: Field Trip to NRDC, New York | |||
| October 8: Environmental Justice: Guest Speaker TBA |
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| What strategies have poor and over-burdened communities used to prevent further degradation of their neighborhoods, or to actually improve them? How can people with limited time and resources mount effective campaigns? |
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| October 22: YLS Fall Break - no class |
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| October 29: Project Team Meetings |
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| November 5: Appellate Litigation and the Whale Sonar Case |
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| Guest speaker: Joel Reynolds, Director, Southern California Program, Natural Resources Defense Council |
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| Discussion of the 2008 Supreme Court case Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as other litigation, political, legislative and public advocacy efforts that NRDC is undertaking to protect whales from sonar. |
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| November 12: Moot Court |
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| November 19: Project Team Meetings | |||
| November 26: Thanksgiving Recess - no class |
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| December 3: Government Environmental Litigation/Advocacy |
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| How do Attorney Generals approach environmental litigation, New Source Review enforcement actions, independent powers and global warming work? |
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| December 10: Project Presentations to Seminar Class | |||
| December 17: FINAL WORK PRODUCTS DUE TO CLIENTS | |||