Environmental Law @ Duke

The Law School/Nicholas School of the Environment Program

The original script was provided by Cathy Bramlage, J.D./M.E.M., '99 (September, 1998), and will be periodically updated by the administration.

Environment and the Law at Duke

Duke is one of the few schools that offers students the opportunity to pursue the degrees of Juris Doctor and Master of Environmental Management (M.E.M.) or Master of Forestry and Environmental Studies (M.A.) concurrently. This joint degree program combines the resources of two acclaimed professional schools in a flexible program. It allows students to link their study of law with specific environmental interests. Students may take science, policy and management courses at the Nicholas School of the Environment and take environmental law courses at the Law School.

At the Nicholas School of the Environment, students become familiar with handling scientific data and concepts, including quantitative methods of resource analysis. At the Law School, students combine these skills with legal reasoning and analytical expertise, preparing them for all aspects of work in environmental law.

Students in the joint degree program have the opportunity to become involved in a number of student-run environmental organizations while at Duke. Organizations at the Law School include the Environmental Law Society (ELS) and the Duke Environmental Law and Policy Forum (DELPF). DELPF is one of the Law School's academic journals and is staffed by students on a volunteer basis from both the Law School and the Nicholas School of the Environment. Organizations at the Nicholas School of the Environment include several student-based chapters of environmental professional societies: Society of American Foresters, International Society of Tropical Foresters, National Association of Environmental Professionals, and American Water Resources Association. Additionally, the university-wide Duke Center for Environmental Solutions draws from the resources and scholarship of the Nicholas School, Law, School, Terry Sandford School of Public Policy, Fuqua School of Business, Medical School and Pratt School of Engineering to bring an interdisciplinary approach to address environmental problems. The Center is headed by the Law School's own Jonathan Wiener. Students can also take advantage of the nationally-renown Center for Sustainable Enterprise at the University North Carolina Keenan-Flagler School of Business, headed by Professor Stuart Hart. The Keenan-Flagler Business School offers classes studying the role of business and industry in environmental management.

Students in the joint degree program also have an opportunity to participate in environmental pro bono projects through the Law School's Pro Bono Program. Organizations for which students have worked in the past include the Southern Environmental Law Society, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, and the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources.

The J.D./M.E.M. or M.A. program provides students with an advantage in the environmental law job market. Environmental and natural resource issues increasingly require legal and regulatory knowledge for resolution. There is a growing demand for resource managers and scientists who have legal credentials; similarly, attorneys are facing more situations in which knowledge of natural resources and the environmental sciences is critical to the resolution of disputes.

Students at the Law School and the Nicholas School of the Environment have diverse interests, perspectives, and accomplishments. J.D./M.E.M. or M.A. students have the opportunity to learn from both groups. Furthermore, the small size of both schools facilitate interaction between the students and faculty. Professors at the Law School who teach environmental law and related classes are Jonathan Wiener and Christopher Schroeder. The Nicholas School of the Environment assigns a faculty advisor to each student and this advisor assists in course selection each semester.

Admission and Financial Aid

Admission to the J.D./M.E.M. or M.A. program is highly selective. Candidates for the J.D./M.E.M. program must submit applications to both the Law School and the Nicholas School of the Environment and be admitted to each school. Applicants are required to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). To increase chances of admissions, applicants should apply no later than January 15. Through financial assistance programs, the Law School and Nicholas School of the Environment seek to make it possible for admitted students to receive adequate financial aid to complete the joint degree program. There are three types of financial aid available: merit-based scholarships, need-based scholarships, and loans.

In addition to being eligible for scholarships from the Law School and the School of the Environment, J.D./M.E.M. students are automatically considered for the Jasper L. Cummings, Jr. Scholarship. This scholarship was established in 1995 to recognize outstanding candidates for the J.D./M.E.M. degree.

Requirements of the Program

The J.D./M.E.M. program requires four academic years of study. Students typically spend the first year in the Law School and the next year in the Nicholas School of the Environment. However, students have the option to spend their first year in the Nicholas School of the Environment and start Law School during their second year at Duke. During the last two years, students may structure an elective program of combined study that meets the requirements of both programs. J.D./M.E.M. students must complete 36 credits and a Master's Project in the Nicholas School of the Environment and 72 credits in the Law School.

The J.D./M.A. program takes three years of study to complete plus one summer session before the first year. Students in this program must start at the Law School during its summer session, and then include classes at the Nicholas School of the Environment in their course schedule. J.D./M.A. students are required to complete 24 credits in the School of the Environment and 72 credits in the Law School. J.D./M.A. students are also required to pass a comprehensive exam at the School of the Environment before being awarded their M.A.

Prerequisites for study at the Nicholas School of the Environment include statistics, calculus, and computer literacy. Students may fulfill these prerequisites during their time at the School of the Environment, although these classes will not count toward the credit requirements.

Structure of the Program (Helpful Information for Current Students)

1. Choosing between the J.D/M.E.M. and the J.D./M.A. program:
The J.D./M.E.M. is intended for students who, in addition to being trained as lawyers, seek to become fully qualified environmental managers. The J.D./M.E.M. student must pick a program of study at the School of the Environment and fulfill the program's requirements, including three quantitative courses. The J.D./M.E.M. student has the opportunity to do in-depth research and analysis on a topic of the student's choice for the Master's Project. Four to six credits are given for work on the Master's Project and participation in the corresponding Master's Project seminar.

The J.D./M.A. is intended for students who primarily identify themselves as attorneys, whether in environmental law practice or in other positions, but who wish to increase their knowledge in one or more areas of environmental management. The program thus has a great deal of flexibility; the only schooltime requirement is that nine units of the School of the Environment work be in natural science courses.

Student comments: Students planning on practicing law after graduation may want to consider the J.D./M.A. route instead of the J.D./M.E.M. option because (1) they will have greater flexibility in planning their School of the Environment courses (i.e., will be able to take classes they want to instead of classes they have to for their program area) and (2) they will graduate with their law school class at the end of the third year.

2. First year options:
Students in the J.D./M.E.M. program have the choice of starting at the Law School or the Nicholas School of the Environment. Whichever school chosen, the student spends the entire first year at that school and the entire second year at the other school. The third and fourth years are spent taking classes at both schools.

3. Choosing a program of study for the J.D./M.E.M.:
The program areas at the Nicholas School of the Environment include Resource, Economics and Policy; Water and Air Resources; Resource Ecology; Coastal Environmental Management; Ecological Toxicology, Chemistry, and Risk Assessment; and Biohazard Science. Each program area is designed to give students a high degree of specialization as well as general professional competence and requires natural science and quantitative course work. Students will be assigned an advisor in their program area to assist with course selection.

4. Environmental law classes:
Duke Law School offers Environmental Law and Administrative Law every year. In addition, several environmentally-related seminars may be offered, including Risk Assessment, Mass Torts, and International Environmental Law. Students also have the opportunity to take law classes at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill School of Law . UNC also offers Environmental Law as well as Advanced Environmental Law, Coastal and Fisheries Law, and Land Use Planning. Students are encouraged to take advantage of the course offerings at UNC to round out their environmental law education. Additionally, the University of North Carolina Keenan-Flagler School of Business offers a nationally-renown Sustainable Enterprise program. A list of MBA-level classes relating to the topic can be accessed here.

Student comments: Professor Hornstein, a professor at UNC, is an excellent professor and teaches Environmental Law, Advanced Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, and Administrative Law. The Advanced Environmental Law class provides practical skills and essential knowledge for those planning a career in environmental law. Professor Stuart Hart, the Director for the Center for Sustainable Enterprise at the UNC Keenan-Flagler School of Business, has also received many positive reviews.

5. Registering for classes:
Typically, registration for the Nicholas School of the Environment classes occurs several weeks before registration for Law School classes. To register for School of the Environment classes, students need to get a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from their advisor each semester, choose their classes from the course offerings provided by the School of the Environment, get the registration number for the classes listed on the Duke University web page, and call into ACES, (919) 613-9999, with this information.
To register for the Law School, students list the classes they would like to take in order of preference on a selection sheet and submit it to the Law School Registrar.
Students in the joint degree program, especially the J.D./M.E.M. program, should make an effort to plan out their third and fourth years of elective study in advance in order to ensure they fulfill all the requirements of both schools. Students need to keep in mind that the two schools have different class meeting times and that there is about a 10 minute walk time between the two schools.
If a student plans to register for a class at the University of North Carolina, it is necessary to get permission from the Duke University administration as well as the UNC administration; certain forms will be required to be completed. For more information, ask the Law School Registrar or the Nicholas School of the Environment Associate Dean for Academic Services.

6. Master's Project:
Students in the J.D./M.E.M. program must complete a Master's Project of four to six credits. In completing the project, the student applies theoretical and analytical training acquired during the previous years of study to actual natural resource or environmental problems. Students generally begin and complete the Master's Project during their fourth year of study at Duke. Students are required to register for and participate in a Master's Project seminar. For the J.D./M.A. program, a 24 hour take-home final examination is required instead.

7. Tuition:
Students in the J.D./M.E.M. program will pay one year's tuition to the Nicholas School of the Environment and three years' tuition to the Law School. During the year the student is registered and paying tuition at the School of the Environment, the student may be eligible for an assistantship position in addition to financial aid. The student assistantship program provides the opportunity to be paid while working for a professor at the School of the Environment. Joint degree students are only eligible to participate in the assistantship program for one year.
Be prepared to encounter billing problems. The Duke University Registrar creates two billing accounts for joint degree students, and often times students will be billed by both schools for a given year. This problem can be solved by notifying the Financial Aid Officer at the school which should be handling the billing for that year.

8. Job Searching:
The joint degree demonstrates that the student has a breadth of knowledge in environmental issues and has made a significant commitment to the practice of environmental law. Private law firms, government agencies, policy institutions, and the corporate sector all need the expertise of lawyers who also have training as environmental scientists. As a professional degree, the M.E.M. degree also provides students with the qualifications to pursue environmental policy or science jobs that are not directly related to the law.
The Office of Career Services (OCS) at the Law School provides help in searching for legal jobs. OCS is available to assist first-year law students after December 1 of the academic year. OCS coordinates an on-campus interview program for second-year law students starting in September of the academic year. Joint-degree students need to check OCS's policy for participation in on-campus interviewing because usually law firms do not wish to interview students who are not in their second full year of law school.
Student comments: OCS focuses most of its resources on helping students find jobs with law firms. Students wishing to find jobs with government agencies or non-profit organizations will have to do most of his/her job searching independently and should make use of alumni contacts as valuable information sources.

The Office of Career Services at the Nicholas School of the Environment also assists students in finding environmentally-related summer internships and post-graduation jobs. Career Services regularly posts job announcements via email and in the office.

9. Email:
Both schools maintain all-school and all-class email distribution lists by which they send important announcements to students. It is important for joint-degree students to make sure they are on the applicable lists. For example, a third-year joint-degree student may want to be on both the law school's third-year and second-year student email lists in order to receive information sent to their starting class as well as job information sent to the second-year class. Similarly, third-year joint-degree students will want to be on the School of the Environment's first-year and second-year student email list in order to receive registration information as well as Master's Project information. Finally, J.D./M.E.M. joint-degree students will need to let the computing services at each school know that they will not be graduating after their third year.

Joint-degree students will be provided with two email accounts -- one at the Law School and one at the Nicholas School of the Environment. The School of the Environment runs on the acpub@ system and the email address will look like: "lcg3@acpub.duke.edu." The Law School runs on a different system and the email address will look like: AL2823@student.law.duke.edu.@
Previous joint-degree students have found it helpful to choose one system to use as their primary email system and forward all mail from the other system to it. Because joint-degree students generally spend more time at the Law School, most choose to forward their acpub email to the Law School's system. Additionally, the Law School's system is easier to use. Joint-degree students will not need to do this until their second year at Duke (i.e., once they have be registered in both schools and have been given email accounts in both schools).
To forward email from acpub to a law school account:
1. Log on to the dedicated email computers in the Nicholas School of the Environment reading room (directions are posted)
2. Type in your id and password
3. At the % prompt, type Astart-forward@
4. This starts a program that is self-explanatory from that point on. You will need to know your law school email address in full
5. Log off by typing Alogout@ at the % prompt
6. To stop email from being forwarded, repeat steps 1 and 2 and at step 3 type Astop-forward@

Environmental Law Courses

This rapidly growing field deals with efforts of societies and governmental units at all levels to manage risks to public health or the environment, and to manage the use and conservation of many resources. Courses in this area address the operation of all levels of government, including legislatures, courts, and the executive. Because so much environmental law is implemented by administrative agencies pursuant to statutory delegation and subject to judicial review, Administrative Law is recommended as a basic offering in this area along with the substantive Environmental Law course.

Core Courses
Administrative Law
Environmental Law