Where the land meets the law

By Kayla Hollingsworth ’25

When I am in the mountains, I find a version of myself that is so much more than a law student. When I am in the mountains, I am also reminded of the physical places and spaces that we all intimately rely on and that our laws should seek to protect. I am reminded of how much work needs to be done and how that work is always worth it. It is worth the progress and the setbacks, and even the emotional burden of simply grappling with what climate change is doing and will do to this planet. The absolute silence on a white glaciated expanse meets the need to confront the alarming messages that the world we rely on is giving us.

Like many who come to this work, my passion for environmental law derived from the environmental changes I have witnessed in my hometown. I grew up in southern California and the reducing water supply along with the increasing unpredictable and severe droughts made climate change real. Hiking in the Sierras, I could see where the historic lakes used to reach. Standing in Central Valley, you could see how far the land had sunk. Standing on their front porches, my friends witnessed what a terrifying wind of fire could do to neighborhoods.

I came to Harvard Law School knowing that I wanted to work with the incredible clinical staff at the Emmett Environmental Law & Policy Clinic. The clinic gives students an opportunity to concretely use their legal skills for the benefit of communities and the environments they rely on, and I was inspired by that public service mission.

During my time at the clinic, I drafted portions of an amicus brief responding to Iowa v. EPA, a D.C. Circuit case challenging the traditional notion of the equal footing doctrine and California’s ability to enact emissions standards for new motor vehicles under the Clean Air Act. I also worked with a team of students and a group of ERISA scholars on a filed amicus brief in Utah v. Su, a Fifth Circuit case challenging the Department of Labor’s “2022 Investment Duties Rule.”

I also had the opportunity to intern with the Natural Resources Section of NOAA’s Office of General Counsel. Throughout the semester, I learned what being a federal government lawyer looks like and about the absolute commitment to public service that drove my mentors to work on environmental law issues. I attended meetings with scientists and Department of Justice lawyers, finalized a memo on CERCLA ripeness provisions, and gave a final presentation to the lawyers in the Natural Resources Section.

Throughout my two years at the clinic, I participated in a moot court with the Conservation Law Foundation, traveled to the First Circuit to witness the oral argument in Nantucket Residents Against Turbines v. U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and partook in a group presentation on recent environmental law cases at the Cambridge Patagonia store.

In the end, my experience with the clinic is one that surpasses simply the legal substance I learned when engaging with NOAA or legal experts on ERISA and natural resources. Through my work with clinical staff and peers, I gained confidence in my legal writing and my oral presentation skills. As someone who doesn’t enter a room with the confidence that they always know the “right” answer, this clinic helped me find my own voice.