To earn this certificate, J.D. students must complete a package of coursework totaling a minimum of 14 credit hours, submit a research paper on a topic relevant to the field, and complete 20 hours of service work relevant to the field. Students must maintain an average of 3.0 or better in all classes taken to satisfy the course requirements for the concentration (including any course with which the required research paper is associated), while also graduating with an overall G.P.A. of at least 2.50.
**Please note: Not all courses are offered every semester.**
A. Required Courses (9 credits)
- LAW-L858 Environmental Law (3 credits)
- LAW-L844 Administrative Law OR LAW-L847 Legislation and Regulation (3 credits)
- One experiential offering (3 credits), or other pre-approved equivalent offering or experience, including:
- LAW-L897 Clinical Seminars (various topics, 5 credits)
- LAW-L900 Academic Externship (3 credits) (with approval of Program Director)
- LAW-L974 Advanced Legal Research: Community-Based Research Lab (3 credits)
- LAW-L976 Environmental Law and Policy Lab (3 credits)
- LAW-L976 S50 Environmental Law and Policy: Florida Keys (3 credits)
- LAW-L977 Environmental Litigation: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
- OR another skills-based alternative, (with approval of Program Director)
B. Choice of Elective Courses (5 credits minimum, and may not use same course in Part A and B together)
- LAW-L817 Mediation and Arbitration (3 credits)
- LAW-L819 Construction Industry & Sustainability Seminar (2 credits)
- LAW-L834 Environmental Justice (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW-L835 Natural Resources Law (3 credits)
- LAW-L837 Property and Land Use Seminar
- LAW-L838 Oil and Gas Law (3 credits)
- LAW-L856 State and Local Government Law (2 credits)
- LAW-L864 Admiralty 1 (3 credits)
- LAW-L879 Admiralty Seminar: Marine Pollution (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW-L879 Admiralty Seminar: Intro to International Law of the Sea (1 credit)
- LAW-L886 Environmental Law Seminar (2 credits) (may take more than one)
- LAW-L900 Academic Externship (3 credits) (with approval of Program Director)
- LAW-L911 Introduction to American Indian Law: Overlapping Jurisdictions (3 credits)
- LAW-L913 Disaster Law and Policy (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW-L917 Public Health Law (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW-L922 Toxic Torts (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW-L929 Energy and the Environment in International Law (2 credits)
- LAW-L974 Advanced Legal Research: Community-Based Research Lab (3 credits)
- LAW-L975 Energy Law and Policy (2 or 3 credits)
- LAW-L976 S50 Environmental Law and Policy: Florida Keys (May Term, 3 credits, in Florida)
- LAW-L976 Environmental Law and Policy Lab (3 credits)
- LAW-L977 Environmental Litigation: Theory and Practice (3 credits)
C. Research Paper
Students must complete a research paper of high professional quality concerning environmental law. They may fulfill this requirement in conjunction with a course listed above, as part of Legal Research Supervised Paper (LAW-L898), Advanced Legal Writing (LAW-L905), or through one of the College of Law's journal offerings. This paper must be written for a grade. Advance approval of the topic by the program chair is required. Papers must be at least 30 pages in length.
D. Service Hours
Twenty (20) hours of pre-approved public service work in the field of environmental protection or study. (Public service work is broadly defined to include work performed for a stipend, in additional to pro bono work.) Specialization students would certify their 20 hours using the same monitoring mechanisms already in place. Public service hours used to satisfy the Specialization in Environmental Law may not be used to satisfy other requirements in other law school programs except in special circumstances and with the joint permission of the heads of those programs.
E. Performance
Students must complete the specialization requirements with a combined overall grade point average of 2.5 or higher, and with no individual grade below "C" in a course needed to satisfy the Certificate of Concentration in Environmental Law.