The School of Law is currently in the process of transitioning its longstanding Environmental Law, Science & Policy Certificate Program into a new Energy & Environmental Law Area of Concentration:
The law around the development, sale, use and preservation of natural resources is the practice framework for energy and environmental lawyers. Pitt Law offers a flexible concentration that allows students to pursue transactional, regulatory, litigation, or policy-based courses in the area of energy & environmental law. Students pursuing this concentration may explore the law of shale plays, utility law, international commercial transactions, pollution control laws, conservation statutes, renewable energy incentives, and climate law and policy.
Energy and environmental law is often practiced in or through interactions with administrative agencies and tribunals. The Concentration exposes students to administrative decisionmaking, statutory interpretation, rulemaking and adjudication, and judicial review of agency decisions.
Students may pursue this concentration by taking foundational courses in environmental or energy law, 5-6 credits of electives, and 4-6 skills-based credits.
By completing these courses, it is expected that students enrolled in the concentration will learn and understand the substantive and procedural law in the area of environmental and energy law and will acquire the ability to apply subject-matter expertise in the area of environmental and energy law in experiential settings (e.g., clinics and externships or through classroom simulations) that will benefit them as they enter a career in the environmental or energy field or in another field in which knowledge of environmental or energy law is important.
Please note that this program may require that you complete an internship, externship, or other field work at a facility or facilities external to the University and that such facility or facilities may require a criminal background check, an Act 33/34 clearance (if applicable), and perhaps a drug screen to determine whether you are qualified to participate.
Faculty
Faculty Advisor:
Professor of Practice:
Visiting Associate Professor of Law:
Adjunct Faculty:
- Prof. Kevin Abbott
Reed Smith - Prof. Michael George
- Prof. Penina Kessler Lieber
Dinsmore & Shohl - Prof. Blaine A. Lucas
Babst, Calland, Clements & Zomnir, P.C. - Prof. J. W. Montgomery, III
Jones Day - Prof. David Overstreet
Overstreet Law, LLC - Prof. Jon Perry
Rosen, Louik & Perry, PC - Prof. Jennifer A. Smokelin
Reed Smith
Advisors
Advisory Committee Present Members:
- Chester Babst, III (Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir, PC)
- John E. Childe, Esq.
- George Jugovic, Jr. (Dept. of Environmental Protection)
- Jeffrey J. Lettrich (ALCOA)
- Emily Lewis (Babst Calland Clements & Zomnir, PC)
- Jennifer Smokelin (Reed Smith)
- David Wagner (Reed Smith)
- Howard J. Wein (Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney)
- Mary Anne Wesdock (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board)
- Maxine Woelfling (Morgan Lewis & Bockius)
- Tishie Woodwell (U.S. Steel Corporation)
Past Members (including, but not limited to):
Cynthia D. Driscoll (Jones Day); Paul King, QEP (Duquesne University); Robin Reed Lunn (Mayer Brown); Louis A. Naugle (Reed Smith, LLP); Elissa Ann Parker (Environmental Law Institute); Anthony P. Picadio (Picadio Sneath Miller & Norton); Michelle I. Ritter (PPG Industries, Inc.)
Thanks to the members of the Advisory Committee for providing guidance in administering the Environmental Law, Science and Policy Certificate Program and aiding in fundraising efforts.
If you would like to support the Environmental Law, Science and Policy Certificate Program, please visit: Support Pitt Law.
Careers
- Air and Waste Management Association - Members Job Board
- Professional Development Office, University of Pittsburgh School of Law: various environmental career resources are available in the office, including:
- A book entitled, "The Complete Guide to Environmental Careers in the 21st Century" (1999)
- National Wildlife Federation's "Conservation Directory"
- Center for Biological Diversity
- Center for International Environmental Law:
- Jobs
- Internships/Externships
- Fellowships
- Chesapeake Bay Foundation
- DC Department of Health (DOH)
- Defenders of Wildlife
- Earthjustice
- Earth Share of New England
- Earthworks
- Ecology Law Quarterly
- EnvironmentalCareer.com
- Environmental Career Opportunities
- The Environmental Careers Organization
- Environmental Construction Engineering Architectural (ECEA)
- The Environmental Council of the States
- Environmental Enforcement Project Rockefeller Family Fund
- Environmental Expert.com - Environmental Business Information Center
- Environmental Health and Safety Network
- Environmental Jobs and Careers
- Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (Job postings and resources for environmental attorneys and scientists around the world)
- Environmental Law Institute
- Environmental Law and Policy Center
- Environmental Organizations: listings in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Nearby States, the U.S. and International
- Environmental Organizations WebDirectory
- EPA ezhire (EPA's automated recruitment and job application system)
- FindLaw's Environmental Information
- Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development:
- Jobs
- Internships
- Global Volunteer Network
- GovernmentJobs.com
- Jobs with the United States Government (US Government's official site - has recent EPA position listings)
- The Land Trust Alliance
- Lewis and Clark College Natural Resources Law Institute Fellowship
- Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory Online
- National Wildlife Federation
- Natural Resources Defense Council
- Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
- Pittsburgh Technology Council
- Pollution Online Career Center
- PSLawNet (public interest job posting database that includes opportunities in public interest organizations and government agencies)
- Professional Outlook, Inc. (environmental health and safety)
- Public Interest Research Groups (nationwide listings)
- The River Network
- Sierra Club
- Southern Environmental Law Center
- Sustainable Business Network
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- United States Environmental Protection Agency
- United States Environmental Protection Agency - Region 3
- Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
- The Wilderness Society
- Wilderness Watch
- World Bank Career Opportunities
Requirements
Foundational Courses
(1 course required)
- Environmental Law & Practice (4 cr.) or Environmental Law (3 cr.)
- Energy Law & Regulation (3 cr.)
Elective Courses
(5-6 credits required)
- Administrative Law (3 cr.)
- Oil & Gas Law (2 cr.)
- The Law of Shale Gas Regulation (1 cr.)
- Environmental Policy & Politics (2 cr.)
- Environmental Justice Law Seminar (3 cr.)
- Climate Change and the Law (2 cr.)
- Land Use (3 cr.)
- Scientific Evidence (2 cr.)
- Expert Witness (2 cr.)
- Toxic Torts (2 cr.)
- Environmental Litigation (2 cr.)
- Mining Law, History & Practice (2 cr.)
- Pittsburgh Journal of Environmental and Public Health Law (1 cr.)
- Water & Shale Gas Development (1 cr.)
- Energy & Environment (3 cr.)
- International Energy Transactions (3 cr.)
Skills Component
(4-6 credits required)
- Environmental Law Clinic (6 cr.)
- Environmental Moot Court Competition (1 cr.)
- Energy Law Moot Court Competition (1 cr.)
- Environmental Litigation (2 cr.)
- Externship in the area of Environmental Law or Energy Law (4 cr.)
- Semester in D.C. Program Externship (8-10 cr.)