A limited number of volunteer opportunities are available to law students interested in attending the 28th Annual Water Law Conference, being held from February 17-19, 2010 in San Diego, CA. To be considered as a law student volunteer you must be a member of the ABA Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources. You must also submit a 2-3 paragraph letter indicating your interest in environmental, energy, or resources law and why you wish to attend the meeting by Friday, January 22, 2010. The letters will be reviewed and volunteers will be selected and notified no later than Monday, February 1, 2010. Send all letters to Julie Connell, Section Assistant, or fax: (312) 988-5572, or by mail to American Bar Association, Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources, Attn: Julie Connell, 321 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60654.

Co-sponsored by:
The Environmental Law Institute
The American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
The National Association of Environmental Law Societies

Topic: Any topic addressing recent developments or trends in U.S. environmental law that have a significant constitutional or “federalism” component.

Eligibility: Students currently enrolled in law school (in the U.S. or abroad) are eligible, including students who will graduate in the spring or summer of 2010. Any relevant article, case comment, note, or essay may be submitted, including writing submitted for academic credit. Jointly authored pieces are eligible only if all authors are students and consent to submit. Previously published pieces, or pieces that are already slated for publication, are ineligible.

Award: $2000 cash prize and an offer of publication in the Environmental Law Reporter.

Deadline: Entries must be received no later than 5:00 PM ET on April 12, 2010.

For more information about the competition click here.

The ABA and EPA are sponsoring the Law Office Climate Challenge. This program is designed to encourage law offices to take steps to conserve energy and resources, as well as reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. The Law Office Climate Challenge is now applicable to law schools.

Participating law schools will receive recognition from the ABA and those that join the EPA programs will receive recognition from EPA, in accordance with each programs' requirements. Specifically, a law school that adopts best practices for office paper management, or that meets the minimum requirements for participation in at least one of the EPA programs, qualifies for recognition as a Law Office Climate Challenge Partner. A law school that achieves a higher level of participation in at least one of the EPA programs qualifies as a Law Office Climate Challenge Leader. All qualifying law schools will be recognized. For those schools that participate in EPA programs, the amounts of greenhouse gas emissions avoided by their actions will be posted on the ABA's Law Office Climate Challenge Website.

This is a great program for your school’s environmental law society to promote to your school administrators. Specifically, a school stands to gain public recognition of its green achievement, at the same time that it can promote its accomplishment in its marketing materials.

More details, including enrollment forms and rules, are available here: http://www.abanet.org/environ/climatechallenge/overview.shtml

Career Series Teleconference Program:
Thursday, January 10, 2008 (Part 1)
Free Podcast/MP3 Download (1:09:34 | 96 kbs | 47.7 MB)
Thursday, January 17, 2008 (Part 2)
Free Podcast/MP3 Download (1:09:12 | 96 kbs | 47.5 MB)

Two free downloadable podcasts are available that provide insight on career paths from a variety of leaders in environmental, energy and natural resources law. Lawyers from private practice, state regulatory agencies, government agencies, corporations, and associations provide practical guidance on various career options and achieving your career goals. (more).

Please share with us your personal story of how your law school debt is currently impacting your life and how it affects your future career choices. Are you interested in working in public interest or the public sector? And if so, do your loans affect the possibility of you working in these industries? Your story will aid in our efforts to advocate on behalf of both federal and state LRAP's in order to enable law school graduates to enter into public service careers. Your story may be shared with the appropriate members of Congress. Complete Our Questionnaire

There are several ways that law students can work as volunteers at the Section programs. In exchange, the Section offers opportunities for students to participate free of charge in education programs taking place at the meeting. For additional information, please call (312) 988-5577.

The Law Student Program Division of the ABA's Section of Environment, Energy and Resources is pleased to announce that the following schools/classes have been selected as winners of the 2008 Law Student Programs Writing Competition:

Thomas Jefferson School of Law -- Environmental Law Writing Seminar
University Michigan School of Law -- Environmental Justice
William Mitchell School of Law -- Environmental Regulation - Policy Issues

Each class' professor will submit the five best class papers to the Committee, which will then publish up to nine of the papers on this web page. The winners are posted below:

2008 Law Student Writing Competition

2007 Law Student Writing Competition

2006 Law Student Writing Competition

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Studyin’: Don’t Waste Effort; Goof Off Before Your Bar Exam
ABA Journal - May 19, 2006

2009 Fellowship Interns
Twenty-three law students from nine different states were selected to participate in the 2009 Fellowships in Environmental Law Program. [more]

2008 Fellowship Interns
Twenty-five law students from eight different states were selected to participate in the 2008 Fellowships in Environmental Law Program. [more]

2007 Minority Fellowship Interns
Twenty-four law students from eight different states were selected to participate in the 2007 Fellowships in Environmental Law Program. [more]

2006 Minority Fellowship Interns
Twenty-five law students from eight different states were selected to participate in the 2006 Minority Fellowships in Environmental Law Program. [more]

ABA Career Counsel Links

• Read Hot Practice about environmental legal careers
• Read some of our attorney's profiles on environmental law
• Career Counsel Student Home Page
• Job Search Q&A
• State and Local Career Resources
• Pre-Law Toolkit
• State and Local Bar Association Career Resources
• ABA Source Law Student Home

Student Section Programs

• Pace Moot Court
• The National Association of Environmental Law Societies
• The Section is proud to underwrite educational opportunities for Howard University Law School students

The Basic Practice Series

2005 ABA Awards and Grants Listing