The following courses are related to the practice of environmental law and may be beneficial to students pursuing careers in environmental law.
Administrative Law (3)
A study of the structure, powers, and process of administrative agencies that our the source of a lot of US law. Topics include delegation of power to agencies, the constitutional right to a hearing, agency procedures of adjudication and rulemaking, information law debates, judicial review of agencies, and administrative reform.
Admiralty Law (2)
Examines issues relating to law on the sea including: maritime law, jurisdiction, the maritime lien, carriage of goods, salvage, collision, claims of seamen, limitation of liability, the application of state law, and sovereign responsibility.
Advanced Problems in Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy (2)
Combines a focus on advanced doctrinal issues in administrative law with a semester-long problem devoted to writing, commenting on, and presenting oral argument about a major proposed rule. Topics to be addressed include regulatory reform, innovated regulatory approaches, negotiated rule making, cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment, the role of administrative law judges, the controversy over court's reliance on legislative history, the need for specialized courses for review of agency action and openness statues.
Comparative Law (3)
An examination of various legal traditions (e.g. common law, civil law, traditional law, and religious law) through the identification of similarities and differences among them using inter alia, an approach that shows how common problems are solved in the practices of the legal cultures involved. Participants develop a general theoretical framework for comparison and a better understanding of their own legal culture.
Conflict of Laws (3)
Considers the rules applicable in private law where at least one of the operative facts in the case is connected with some state or country other than the one in which the suit is brought. The areas examined include torts, contracts, property, commercial law, administration of estates, and family law. The course also considers the recognition and enforcement of judgments of sister states and foreign countries.
Current Issues of International Organizations (3)
Focuses on selected legal issues confronting international organizations, particularly the United Nations and regional agencies under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter. Investigates a number of contemporary problems, including the rights and obligations of membership; privileges and immunities; peace and security questions (including the question of the use of force and of self-defense, dispute settlement methods and enforcement techniques); the structural and procedural difficulties impeding the work of the United Nations; the work of the International Court of Justice and the role of international organizations regarding the protection of the rights of individuals.
Federal Law on Indian Tribes (3)
Analyzes and challenges assumptions underlying the major themes in Indian law: that Indian tribes are not juridical entities in international law because their sovereignty is dependent on the United States government; that Indian tribal people have a ward-guardian relationship with the government arising from this dependent status; and that Indian tribal property is justifiably treated differently from other property. In addition to sources of federal law dealing with Indians, the class will examine tribal court opinions and the developing international law regarding rights of indigenous peoples.
Federal Regulatory Process (3)
Provides an introduction to, and an overview of, the regulatory process, including components of the regulatory systems, landmark decisions, its impact on domestic and foreign enterprise, rate making, entry, and deregulation.
Food and Drug Law (2)
Examines the ways in which Congress, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and courts have regulated the food, drug, cosmetic, and medical device industries. The course will look at the historical development of food and drug law, as well as at current issues, for example, those involving carcinogens and risk assessment in food safety, regulation of nutrition, and approval of new drugs, devices, and vaccines.
Global Public Interest Practice (2)
Examines the history and growth of public interest law practice from its early days in the United States to contemporary models, both in the developed global north and the developing global south. The course looks at such types of public interest lawyering as charitable lawyering, movement lawyering, resistance lawyering, rights-based lawyering, and emancipatory lawyering. It also encompasses a wide range of lawyering activities for social change, including legal aid, movement advocacy, public defense, impact litigation, human rights advocacy, pro bono lawyering, cause lawyering, and other kinds of legal action that share a common commitment to justice for those who would not otherwise have access to the legal system. The course will explore the ways in which these various approaches to legal practice share common values, and the ways in which those values sometimes come into conflict. It also will provide practical insights into the strategies and tactics of public interest law practice for those who are interested in careers in that field or in volunteer efforts through pro bono activities
Human Rights Law (3)
Examines the historical development and substantial body of substantive and procedural rules comprising the contemporary international law of human rights, UN human rights programs, and regional programs for human rights protection including the Inter-American and European systems.
International Business and Human Rights (4)
Examines the policies underlying various regulations of transnational business practices designed to promote respect for international protected human rights and explores potential conflicts between those policies and corporate business objectives. Students also analyze the appropriate limits of restrictions on overseas corporate practices.
International Finance Law and Development Finance (3)
Examines the international borrowing and sovereign debt renegotiation processes. Focuses on key policy and legal issues in negotiating and structuring international borrowing transactions, and current issues in the international debt crisis.
International Law (3)
Examines the rules governing the conduct of states inter se and their relations with individuals and legal entities; jurisdictional concepts; the status, application, and litigation of international law rules in U.S. courts; sovereign immunity; recognition; international agreements; the Law of the Sea; human rights; and international claims and adjudications.
International Organizations and Multinational Institutions (2)
Examines regional and worldwide structure concerned with political, economic, social, and functional objectives; their impact on developed and less-developed countries; and their potential for promoting social and economic progress. Selected international organizations are studied in depth.
Introduction to International Trade (3)
Gives a basic overview of international and US domestic systems of regulating the export and import of goods. Topics include trade theory, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the World Trade Organization (WTO), trade relations with developing countries, US trade agreements and current trade policy, responses to fair and unfair trade practices, political restriction on trade, and national security controls on the export of technology.
Land Transfer and Finance (4)
Conveyance and the law of secured transactions involving real property.
Law of Nonprofit Organizations (2)
Introduces the regulation of nonprofit organizations from both the federal tax and state fiduciary regulatory standpoints. Students consider the major aspects of nonprofit regulation, including substantive law, and the major public policy controversies over the proper role of tax-exempt nonprofit organizations emerging today.
Legal Aspects of Foreign Direct Investment (3)
Considers the ways in which developing countries seek to control and structure international investment, trade, and financial transactions. Topics include the international framework for international transactions; development and trade institutions; promotion, protection, and divestment of foreign investments; structuring investment transactions; international lending; transnational enterprises; and trade-related aspects of foreign investments.
Legal Issues of Multinational Corporations (2)
Issues of the new economic order. Includes reference to transnational corporations in the banking field, their responsibilities for creation of problems of debt in developing countries, and their responsibilities or activities in the matter of debt rescheduling.
Local Government Law (3)
An intensive theoretical and practical inquiry into the history, theory, meanings, and possibilities of local government in American society. This seminar combines a variety of techniques with fieldwork placement to immerse students in issues of local governance. Placements include the D.C. Corporation Counsel, D.C. City Council, D.C. Legal Aid Society, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's office, and the Montgomery County Council.
Public Health Law (3)
Focuses on measures intended to protect or improve the health of populations or the community, as distinct from the health of particular individuals. Public health law raises issues of federalism, privacy and other individual rights, criminal law, First Amendment law (particularly the commercial speech doctrine), and takings law. Particular attention is given to difficult policy issues raised by HIV/AIDS, the tobacco industry, the use of illegal drugs, and the threat of bioterrorism. These issues of public policy and legal doctrine also provide an opportunity to look at several fundamental questions underlying our legal system, society, and culture. Among these are justifications for and dangers of laws intended to protect people from the consequences of certain activities that are dangerous to them; social and economic determinants of ill health, including inequality, racism, sexism, and homophobia; and relationships between moral values, science, and the law.
Seminar: International Financial Institutions (2)
Study of the principal international financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
The Washington Lawyer (2)
Gives students an overview of what it means to be an effective "Washington Lawyer." Topics include the importance of the Administrative Procedure Act; navigating the White House, Justice Department, and executive agencies; influencing the legislative process and the appointments process; using openness statues and the media; and ethics and lobbying restrictions.