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| Private Bar’s Commitment to Environmental Justice |
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The “Private Bar’s Commitment to Environmental Justice” helps
private law firms integrate the issue of environmental justice into the
services they provide clients and helps match resources to needs through pro
bono efforts. The purpose of the program is to integrate better the issue
of environmental justice into the practice of law and to increase the level of
high quality representation available to clients with environmental justice
issues. Examples: Beveridge and Diamond held a daylong seminar, in the Spring of 2003, on the Use of Supplemental Environmental Projects in enforcement or compliance actions to achieve community and client-based goals. Morrison and Foerster revised and produced a new edition of A Citizen’s Guide to Environmental Justice in cooperation with the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights under Law. Commitments should be tailored to firm needs and resources, and designed so as to avoid conflicts. Examples of commitments could include the following: Development of Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”) courses on issues relevant to environmental justice (i.e., Title VI and/or 14th Amendment compliance, compliance with residential lead-based paint disclosure rules, etc…); Providing a specified number of pro bono hours (whether litigation, transactional, training, counseling, or government relations) to clients with environmental justice issues. Clients could include: government entities; individuals; organizations, etc…. For more information contact Nicholas Targ, Committee Chair. |
