Environmental Law Concentration and Area of Focus

As part of our Environmental Law Program, our environmental law Concentration and Area of Focus help prepare students for careers in the environment. Businesses, activists, and governments must be well-versed in environmental law as they seek to comply with environmental regulations and push for changes. As environmental concerns accelerate, lawyers in all fields will need to grapple with the implications of climate change and related issues. Environmental lawyers work closely with clients across many industries. It is a complex and often continually growing area of law involving ethics as well natural and social sciences. Students will learn the importance of statutory and administrative while considering how to grapple with community impacts and environmental justice issues.

Concentration Requirements

This Concentration requires a total of 25 credits, 7 from required courses, 6 from distribution courses, 2 from a writing requirement, and 10 from elective courses.

• Required (7 credits)

  • Environmental Law (3) – offered every year
  • Administrative Law (4) – offered every semester

• Distribution (6 credits)

  You must take two of these four courses. At least three of these classes are taught every year. If a student takes more than two, the other credits go toward the elective requirements.

  • Natural Resources Law (3) – offered every other year
  • International Environmental Law (3) – offered every other year
  • Law of the Sea (3) – offered every spring
  • Coastal Law (3) - offered every spring

• Writing Requirement (2 credits)

  Students must write a substantive research paper on an environmental law topic. This could be done as an independent study or a law review note. Writing an appellate brief in an environmental moot court competition also qualifies. With advisor approval, you may also use a seminar paper written on an environmental topic.

• Electives: (10 credits)

  Not all of these courses are offered every year.

  • Administrative Law Research (1)
    
  • Admiralty Law (3) 
    
  • Affordable Housing (1) 
    
  • Animal Law (2)
  • Climate Change Law & Policy (2) 
    
  • Climate Change and Human rights (1)
    
  • Climate Finance (2)
    
  • Coastal Law (3) 
    
  • Companion Animals and the Law (1) 
    
  • Conservation, Tourism & Development (3) 
    
  • Energy Regulation in an Age of Transition (1)
  • Environmental Justice Clinic (max of 4 units toward the concentration) 
    
  • Enviornmental Legal Research (1)
  • Environmental Litigation and Policy (2) 
    
  • Environmental Planning and the Environmental Impact Statement (3)
    
  • Environmental Regulation of Real Estate (1) 
    
  • Human Rights and the Environment (1) 
    
  • International Climate Negotiations (2) 
    
  • International Law (3)
    
  • Law of Green Buildings (1)
    
  • Law of International Treaties (1) 
    
  • Legal Environment of the Cruise Industry (3)
    
  • Legislation (3)
    
  • Marine Ecology & Law (2) 
    
  • Planning and Zoning (2) 
    
  • Pro Bono / Public Interest Law Ethics (2)
    
  • Protection of Living Marine Resources (1)
    
  • Public Interest Law Seminar (2)
    
  • Public Interest Litigation in the Private Practice (2)
    
  • Real Property & Government (2) 
    
  • Researching the Administrative State (1) 
    
  • Scientific Evidence (2)
    
  • Space Law (1) 
    
  • State and Local Government Policy (3)
  • Statistics for Lawyers (3) 
    
  • Toxic Torts (2)
    
  • Urbanization, Capitalism, and Development (3)
    
  • UN Negotiations (2)
    
  • Water Resources Law and Policy: Vietnam and China (3)
    

  With advisor approval, students may also take a class outside the law school that would qualify as an elective.

This Area of Focus requires a total of 15 credits, 6 from required courses, 3 from distribution courses, and 6 from elective courses.

• Required (6-7 credits)

  • Environmental Law (3) – offered every year
  • Administrative Law (3 or 4) – offered every semester

• Distribution (3 credits)

  You must take one of these two courses. These courses are currently taught in alternating years. If a student takes both classes, 3 credits go toward the elective requirements.

  • Natural Resources (3)
  • International Environmental Law (3)

• Electives (5-6 credits)

  Not all of these courses are offered every year.

  • Administrative Law Research (1)
  • Admiralty Law (3)
  • Affordable Housing (1)
  • Animal Law (2)
  • Climate Change and Human Rights (1)
  • Climate Change Law & Policy (2)
  • Climate Finance (10
  • Coastal Law (3)
  • Community Equity Innovation and Resource Lab (2)
  • Companion Animals and the Law (1)
  • Conservation, Tourism & Development (3)
  • Emerging Forms of Philanthropy and the Role of Private Foundations in Effecting Social Change (1)
  • Energy Regulation in an Age of Transition (1)
  • Environmental Justice Clinic (only credit for 4 credits)
  • Enviornmental Legal Research (1)
  • Environmental Litigation and Policy (2)
  • Environmental Planning and the EIS (3)
  • Environmental Regulation of Real Property (1)
  • Human Rights and the Environment (1)
  • Independent Study (if approved in advance by Faculty Coordinator) (up to 3 credits)
  • International Climate Negotiations (2)
  • International Law (3)
  • Law of Green Buildings (1)
  • Law of International Treaties (1)
  • Law of the Sea (3)
  • Legal Environment of the Cruise Industry (3)
  • Legislation (3)
  • Marine Ecology & Law (2)
  • Planning and Zoning (2)
  • Pro Bono / Public Interest Law Ethics (2)
  • Protection of Living Marine Resources (1)
  • Public Interest Law Seminar (2)
  • Public Interest Litigation in the Private Practice (2)
  • Real Property & Government (2)
  • Researching the Administrative State (1)
  • Scientific Evidence (2)
  • Space Law (1)
  • State and Local Government Policy (3)
  • Statistics for Lawyers (3)
  • Toxic Torts & Toxics Regulation (2)
  • Urbanization, Capitalism, and Development (3)
  • Water Resources Policy (3)
  • Water Resources Law and Policy: Vietnam and China

Faculty Coordinator

Jessica Owley who:

• Coordinates assignment of faculty mentors (from among formally affiliated faculty) to students
• Coordinates information sessions and facilitates concentration declaration
• Runs environmental law program meetings

Affiliated Faculty

• Tony Alfieri
• Abigail Fleming
• Jessica Owley
• Bernard Oxman
• Ileana Porras
• Daniel Suman

Contact Information

For questions, please contact Professor Jessica Owley at jowley@law.miami.edu.

Register for this Concentration