A summer course for foreign lawyers interested in US environmental law

This summer Berkeley Law is providing an exciting opportunity for lawyers around the world who are interested in learning more about US environmental law. Our seventeen-day course in late June and early July provides a thorough grounding in all the major issues in US environmental law (ranging from air pollution to natural resources, water rights to environmental justice). The course will be taught by the excellent teachers and scholars here at Berkeley using a ranging of innovative techniques: Not just lectures, but also interactive group projects and oral presentations, and field trips. I’ve put further details below the fold, including contact information for more information if you are interested.

This course provides an overview of US environmental law, including air and water pollution, environmental review, natural resources, climate change, land-use and urban development, and energy.  Students will learn the fundamental ways in which US environmental law functions, and will also participate in group projects that will help them learn how to apply US environmental law to real world situations.  The course will also provide basic background information about the US legal system, including the constitutional and administrative processes that shape US environmental law.

Curriculum

The course will be divided into two modules. The morning will consist of lectures.  In the afternoons, students will be divided into groups, and each group will be given a group project related to the day’s lecture topic; the students will work as a group to develop an oral presentation that is responsive to the assignment in the group project; during the last hour of the afternoon, the students will make presentations to the entire class, with the professor providing feedback.  The course will also provide two full-day field trips (e.g., a visit to a local national park to talk with park staff and community members about legal and policy issues related to natural resources management); these field trips will give the students the opportunity to observe real life environmental problems in the United States and talk with lawyers and citizens who are trying to resolve those problems.  The course will last about two and one-half weeks.

Evaluation

Participants will be evaluated with a capstone project.  Again, the students will be divided into groups; they will be given a project similar to the group projects throughout the course, but one that is more ambitious and covers a wide range of material from across the course. They will be given time to work on the project and prepare an oral presentation which will be presented to entire class and the professor, who will provide feedback. Berkeley Law will provide participants with a certificate of completion.

Logistics

The course starts on June 24th and ends on July 10th 2014. The following will be days off: June 29, 2014, July 4-6, 2014.

Contact Berkeley Law’s International and Executive Legal Education program at [email protected] for more information.