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Winter 2021 Clinic

Environmental Law and Policy Clinic

Enrollment in this clinic will fulfill the HLS JD pro bono requirement.

Required Class Component: Environmental Law and Policy Clinical Course (1 winter classroom credit). This clinic and course are bundled; your enrollment in this clinic will automatically enroll you in the required one-credit course.

Additional Co-/Pre-Requisites: None.

By Permission: Yes. Applications should include a resume and one-page statement of interest. Applications should be sent directly to Clinic Director Wendy Jacobs (wjacobs@law.harvard.edu) and Jacqueline Calahong (jcalahong@law.harvard.edu) by October 31, 2020.

Add/Drop Deadline: November 13, 2020.

LLM Students: LLM students may apply to this clinic by submitting an application.

Placement Site: HLS. Students are carefully matched to their projects/placements by the Clinic Director approximately 4 weeks in advance of the semester. Certain projects and placements have a longer lead time. The Clinic Director speaks with each enrolled student to determine the appropriate project or placement.

The Emmett Environmental Law and Policy Clinic (ELPC) offers students an opportunity to do hands-on, meaningful, real-life, and real-time environmental/energy regulatory, policy and advocacy work. Clinic offerings include local, national, and international projects covering the spectrum of environmental, energy and administrative law issues, under the leadership of Director and Clinical Professor Wendy Jacobs. Clinic students work on policy projects and white papers, regulatory and statutory drafting and comments, manuals and guidance to help non-lawyers identify and protect their rights, litigation and advocacy work, including developing case strategies, research and drafting briefs (filed in state and federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court), preparing witnesses and their testimony, meeting with clients and attending and presenting at administrative and court hearings. Our clients include state and municipal governments, non-governmental organizations, advocacy and community groups, and research and policy institutions. The subject matter varies each semester, but often includes climate change mitigation and adaptation, offshore drilling and water protection, sustainable agriculture/aquaculture, ethics in the study of human exposure to environmental contaminants, development of legal frameworks for emerging technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration, extraction of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing, “green” infrastructure for management of storm water, and aiding environmental protection and advocacy groups to identify opportunities and strategies for participating in the review and permitting processes for significant energy infrastructure projects.

This winter term clinic is limited to 10 students and is by application only.